International Sales Best Practices
Today we are still concentrating on assumptions. Wrong assumptions usually play a key role in most cross-cultural blunders. International professionals learn to question themselves continuously about their own assumptions and what assumptions others might make.
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CCCC Tip #9 -
Be aware of any assumptions you make and be sure to confirm these during your conversation. |
This month’s series takes last month’s tips to get extreme clarity in cross-cultural communication and brings them into an international sales perspective. Remember to download the free calender for an easy reference to all of the 30 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tips on clarity. Get the complete International Sales Best Practices series here.
It is by becoming aware of one’s own assumptions that you improve your ability to recognize them in yourself… and in others.
Cross-Cultural Communication Skills & Sales Best Practices
In international sales, this reminds me of a quote from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book Of Sales Answers.
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“Why did the last five prospects say no? What am I doing about it?” – Jeffrey Gitomer |
By constantly being aware of the assumptions we make, it is easy to look back at a cross-cultural encounter and guess the assumptions made by the other person.
Now, this is not to be taken as criticism. Reviewing a cross-cultural conversation is not about finding fault. Cross-cultural communication is about flexibility and adapting to unique situations. It is a skill and not a list of “right” and “wrong” things to do. In fact, if you try to go into a cross-cultural conversation with a pre-set notion of what it should be like, you will probably encounter serious difficulties at some point, no matter how good the list is. Not only are cultures complex, but they are also “alive”. They morph. Things change. And you need to adapt too… so be careful of your assumptions.
Instead of looking for fault, review your sales failures to try to identify where the wrong assumption first slipped into the cultural encounter. Get curious about the cultural differences. Try to find the moment where a little misunderstanding first cropped up. Sometimes this moment happens before you realize there is a problem.
The better you become at pinpointing the precise time this happens, the easier it will be during your next cross-cultural encounter. You will be able to guide the conversation away from wrong assumptions. This is why I think this exercise of reviewing your past cross-cultural communication is one that helps the most in improving cultural skills. It is cross-cultural communication in practice.
What Is Your Experience Of This In International Sales?
- Do you think you know all of the assumptions you make during a cross-cultural enconter?
- Can you identify when wrong assumptions are made during a cross-cultural blunder
- What do you think you can do to avoid your cross-cultural friends coming to wrong assumptions?
Please share your comments below. I’d love to hear your stories!
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