International Sales Best Practices
I live in an area south of Paris with a large number of small and medium-sized businesses. When I meet people locally, they often tell me they want to develop their business internationally. And the next sentence invariably has something to do about risk.
Today’s best practice is of great importance in international sales. It is about dealing with risk.
International Sales Success
Good salespeople know how to reduce the risk for the customer. International sales often create a higher perceived risk for most customers.
Quote From Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book Of Selling
 |
Principle of Sales Greatness
Reduce their risk, and you’ll convert selling to buying |
Last Month’s Cross-Cultural Communication Tip 20
 |
Allow for extra time to get things done in international sales |
Need Extra Time To Identify Risks
You often need extra time to determine the risks perceived by your international customers.
- These risks may not be the same in different countries
- International customers may not show their emotions as you would expect
In addition to extra time, you must also listen actively and ask smart questions in order to find out the best way you can reduce these risks.
Need Time To Create Trust
In many cases, you also need to establish and constantly maintain trust in parallel to reducing risk. In international encounters a lack of trust is a very common cross-cultural barrier.
There are two main lines you must always maintain to build trust with cross-cultural encounters.
- Clarity
- Consistency
People with strong international skills take clarity and consistency to whole new level. The idea here is to never assume that you have achieved 100% clarity and consistency. You must constantly work at it.
The biggest barrier to a sale is the unspoken risk that a prospect perceives – Jeffrey Gitomer
Want To Get The Cross-Cultural Communication Tips?
Get all of the Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tips here:
Want All Of The International Sales Best Practices?
 | Want to learn how to avoid cultural blunders? Subscribe to this blog feed. Need to turbo charge your cultural skills? Get my short cross-cultural communication tips. Ready for serious international marketing? Skype me or email me & let's grow your business. |
