International Sales Best Practice #23

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.

Do not forget to mention the information you think is obvious.

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.

“Personally, I believe the testimonial to be the strongest sales tool you can possess.” – Jeffrey Gitomer

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?

Check out the other International Sales Best Practices in this series.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts and comments below.

Photos from Shutterstock.

  Filed under: International Sales

Cindy King

Comments

• bizsugar.com · 23 July, 2009 · 

  Use Stories To Get More International Sales…

  When cross-cultural challenges effect international sales, remember that we all respond to stories. When prospective clients hear a story where they can identify themselves, this usually brings questions to the surface and opens the dialog….

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  Respironics · 23 July, 2009 · 

  Great site thanks for sharing.

  • 

    Cindy · 24 July, 2009 · 

    You are welcome. If you are interested in international business development, have a look at the Useful Resource Pages in the right sidebar… in yellow, towards the bottom. And if you cannot find what you are looking for, let me know.

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  Schody Drewniane · 24 July, 2009 · 

  You definitely need to avoid using proverbs and sayings. They can be very misleading for people brought up in different cultures.

  • 

    Cindy · 25 July, 2009 · 

    Hi Schody,

    Yes! The use of stories (testimonials, case studies, success stories) in business works well across cultures, when you use good cross-cultural communication techniques to tell the story.

    There are lots of other tips on cross-cultural communication here. Have a look at the Article Collections in the right sidebar.

• Cross-Culture Tweets – Week 30 of 2009 · 27 July, 2009 · 

  [...] What stories do you tell your international clients to make the sale? [...]