International Sales Best Practice – Use Stories

International Sales Best Practices

Extreme clarity in any communication is not easy to attain. In cross-cultural communication a basic level of clarity requires a attention. This is because your international clients may need explanations you are unaware of. Today we are looking at one of the easiest places to stumble into a cross-cultural misunderstanding.

CCCC Tip #23 - Do not forget to mention the information you think is obvious.

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.

When you constantly try to see things from your international clients’ viewpoint, you will often realize that what is obvious to you is not obvious to everyone else. When you realize this it is easy to provide the explanations and extra information needed by others. This happens often in cross-cultural communication.

The best solution is to pay attention to the conversation and occasionally ask questions to confirm mutual understanding. But there is something else you can do…

Cross-Cultural Communication Skills & Sales Best Practices

First, let’s look at today’s quote from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book Of Sales Answers.

When communicating with some cultures it can still not be obvious whether they need further explanations or not. And if they do need explanations, it is not always easy to understand exactly what they need.

One technique is to bring in a testimonial from another client. This works well when the testimonial tells the story of something relevant to your international client. Remember, testimonials are stories and they come in short and long versions:

• Quote
• Short testimonial
• Success story
• Case Study

We all respond to stories. When your prospective client hears a story where they can identify themselves, this usually brings their questions to the surface. 

When you sense there is a disconnect somewhere, or questions that need to be raised, try telling a story.  This can open discussions and help you to find out which unspoken questions you need to answer.

What Is Your Experience Of This In International Sales?

• What stories do you tell your international clients to make the sale?
• How do you find out what information your international clients need from you?
• Where do you look for your international sales success stories?

Please share your comments below. I’d love to hear your stories!

Want To Get The Cross-Cultural Communication Tips?

Two Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges are currently available:

• Expand Your Mindset
• Get Extreme With Clarity

Get all of the tips from these 30 & 31 day challenges, and learn more about the other planned later this year:

• 2009 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges

All International Sales Best Practices

You can find the complete list of International Sales Best Practices published to date here:

• International Sales Best Practices

Tagged as: best practice, best practices, clarity, cross-cultural sales, cross-cultural selling, explain, global sales, international competence, international negotiation, International Sales, international sales skills, international selling, international skills