by Cindy on November 28, 2008
International Sales
Yesterday I talked about how some people want a quick solution to sell products abroad, almost like buying from a fast food joint. And how your current business structure, and your business operation practices dictate your international sales options.
An International Business Usually Starts With A Business
You see…
- If you do not have marketing processes in place, what are you going to do to get international clients?
- If you do not know anything about sales, how are you going to sell to international clients?
- If you are only just getting your business structure in place in your own country, what are you going to do to set up an international business strategy?
Now a few things are possible… and even a few more are possible if you have large sums of money to spend.
Many of these people should research options to work with export and import agents.
This is an easy solution if you do not want to do the work involved in building an international business.
Get Information And Connect With A Foreign Market
But where do you start? How do you look into your business options? How can you find out whether you have a good idea? [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 27, 2008
International Sales
My international business directory, Get International Clients, gives businesses an easy process to get international sales.
The wealth of information there attracts a wide variety of people. And today I want to address one particular type of reader.
- The individual with a single idea or product who wants to reach international clients.
The emails I get from this type of person are always the same.
- I have this wonderful widget or my widget is in this category or I don’t have a widget, but I can get which ever one it takes
- I want international clients
- Help me
Two thoughts that come to mind with this type of email:
- You need a business structure to build an international business. If you are sitting at home with an idea, a book or a product, this is not a business structure.
- I wonder whether international trade agents do not make themselves more visible online simply to filter out requests like these.
Let’s put this type of request into perspective: [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 26, 2008
Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges
When you just begin to develop your international business, you will probably be tempted to do as much as possible by email.
Reasons We Give To Use Email
There are some very good reasons to choose email.
- It is quick and easy
- There is less worry about time differences
- You are less intimidated than with direct contact
- You can contact more people
- You think it is cheaper
- And you may kid yourself into saying that it is “just” preliminary research and does not merit a personal phone call
But there are also some very good reasons why it is often better to take the time to use the phone.
When Emails Become A Skill
Email communication can be tricky within a common culture.
Some people know how to use good email etiquette and some people do not. For example, how many subject lines do you still get in your inbox that are misleading and end up wasting your time? [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 25, 2008
Improve Your Cross-Cultural Communication
It often seems as if cultural miscommunication crops up in the most unexpected place. If you take a closer look, misunderstandings happen due to the wide areas of cultural differences.
You can put most miscommunication between cultures into categories:
Different Values
Different cultures have different core beliefs and national traits. And this effects cross-cultural communication and international business across the board through different:
- Attitudes
- Reactions
- Expectations
Different Habits And Styles In Communication
Some people just communicate differently. There is no meaning to it. This is just what they are used to.
Different styles in communication can be: [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 24, 2008
Improve Your Cross-Cultural Communication
It is often very difficult to describe differences between cultures. And it is easy to fall into using generalizations.
The problem is that generalizations can easily be used in context where they lead to more frustration and miscommunication.
What Culture Is Made Of
The reason for this is because cultures are complex. Yes, we all have basic needs and characteristics as human beings. But people who live in different places can be very different.
The reason is culture.
All cultures are made up of different layers which are acquired by where we live and what we do.
People within a common national culture can be quite different depending on:
- Regional origin
- Ethnic origin
- Religion
- Age or generation
- Whether they are a man or a woman
- Social class
- Profession
- Education background
These are most of the different cultural layers. [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 23, 2008
Uniquely Cindy - Week In Review
What have you been up to this week?
Yes, it’s been a week since our last review. This means even more thoughts, ideas, requests and articles here and on the Get International Clients business directory.
Here On Cindy King.biz
Home for my personal opinions, experiences and frustrations… on anything cross-cultural and on international business.
Here are this weeks links: [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 22, 2008
International Marketing Review -
On Multicultural Matters
Click here for a list of previous International Marketing Reviews
Here is a list of links to other interesting articles elsewhere on the web
Welcome to the 22 November 2008 edition of the International Marketing Review.
Biscuet presents Adjustment posted at Biscuet.com Theme (Not so) Fresh –> saying “I think there are about four basic steps to adjusting to a new culture. Read over these and then check out the questions at the end.”
smallbizbee presents Small Business Communication: Multicultural (Global) Conversations posted at smallbizbee saying “Communication is the interpersonal process that you and I do everyday to transmit and understand information. Symbols, signs, and conversational rules that we automatically see as “common” within our own culture can hamper or enhance the effectiveness of communication with people from another culture who are not familiar with Western styles of conversation, or us of theirs.”
Karlene Lukovitz presents Obstacles To Effective Multicultural Marketing Persist posted at MediaPost Publications saying “While multicultural marketing (MCM) is more important and widespread than ever, the effectiveness of such efforts continues to be hampered by inadequacies in several areas: budgets, internal and top-management support, best practices and metrics, according to a new study from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).”
Act!vated Storytellers presents Multicultural Folktale Theatre posted at Act!vated Storytellers saying “What? Entertaining theatrical productions, based on multicultural folk tales and classical literature.
Where? The shows are presented at school assemblies and family nights, library reading programs and virtually any other place that wishes to provide educational entertainment for children and their families nationwide.”
Kathi Sharpe presents Gang & Multicultural Outreach posted at I am Healed saying “we want to do outreach and have a positive impact on the community. We want to get kids out of gangs, increase the standard of living, decrease crime, and most of all get people saved and on fire for the Lord.” [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 21, 2008
International Sales
There is often friction in cross-cultural communication. The differences in cultures become evident. When you do not make the effort to put these differences aside you can have an unfruitful conversation.
The problem is… if this is a sales conversation, you can lose your international sales.
It Is About Differences In People
Sales is a people job. In ordinary circumstances people can burn you out. When you meet another culture, people can potentially burn you out even faster. It is all about the friction due to the differences between two people.
Other factors also come into play. In addition to obvious cultural differences, the two people might have two different expected outcomes for a conversation. This is added friction.
Take An Active Role
There is some good news. You can directly influence half of the equation. You have control over your own reactions. The friction is caused by the differences between two people… and this includes yourself.
You can decide not to remain upset about having to deal with such different people. [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 20, 2008
Improve Your Cross-Cultural Communication
People from different cultures do things differently. This is often easy to see. But there are some cultural differences that are more difficult to see.
When developing cross-cultural skills, you need to know where to look…
…where you need to dig deeper, to increase your understanding of this different culture and then adapt your own communication.
This will help you to get beyond the visible cultural differences and develop your own cross-cultural communication skills.
Obvious Cultural Differences
Here are some cultural differences that are very easy to see: [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 19, 2008
International Business Development
Cross-cultural differences impact all interactions. Today we are going to look at how they impact the organization within a business.
Many readers may not quite be here yet. But I thought this would be interesting to look at.
Are There Differences?
- What makes an international business different?
- Does an international business function differently from one that is not international?
- Are there international growing pains?
Apart from the legalities of operating an international company, it is hard to identify any tangible differences.
In my personal experience, the differences are nuanced. They center around collective “soft” skills. This obviously stems from the nature of “international skills” and “cross-cultural skills”.
Cultural Influences
There are some obvious ways culture influences an international business:
- The way how we present ourselves
- How we express opinions
- Assumptions based on the environment and context
- Perceptions of voice, and other personal physical details
When you work inside an international company, you learn to adapt to these cultural differences. They stop interfering with communication.
Cultural Conflict Within A Company
Some people may think that conflict within an international company is a result of the confrontation between cultures. [click to continue…]
