Improve Your International Sales Skills

Readers often ask me questions about how to get international sales that show they do not have a clear vision of what international sales means to them. And of course, it is hard to answer unclear questions.

Let’s Clarify

Imagine if it was not a question of international sales.  Imagine you owned a fishing shop and wanted more sales.

• What sort of questions are you asking yourself?
• What sort of clients are you looking for?
• Where do you look for those clients?

These are some basic questions.  And you should have some basic answers to these questions.

Let’s Add A Difference

Now, let me throw in a monkey wrench.

• What if your fishing store were nowhere near water… and live fish?

Some of you may give up right now.

…But there is no need to give up.

Let’s Clarify Again

Have a closer look at those questions.  You should be able to come up with some answers.  Even if your fishing shop is nowhere near water, you should be able to come up with some basic guidelines of how to run your business.

What sort of questions are you asking yourself?

• What am I doing here?
• How can I sell to people who need fishing supplies?
• Are there any people around me that travel to go fishing?
• What do I have that fishermen cannot get elsewhere?
• How can I make my products more appealing to make the sale?
• What else can I sell to attract clients?
• Who can I team up with to make sales easier?

What sort of clients are you looking for?

• Fishermen
• Friends and family of fishermen
• Business that sell to fishermen
• People who want what I have.
• People who would want to order from me instead of going into a shop
• Fishermen who live far from a fishing shop

Where do you look for those clients?

Well, it will probably not be at your local diner.  You are going to get out there and start asking questions to people that have direct contact with your fishermen and their family and friends.

Ask Yourself Questions To Clarify Your International Sales

Can you see how these questions can help you clarify where you can start to look for sales outside of your own familiar territory?

This is just the same for international sales. To get international sales you need to know where you are going.  You need to have answers to questions like these.

The only real difference at this stage is that your answers also need to include the countries where you want to sell your products.

With a clear vision, it is easy to find the path that leads to international sales.

More On Improve Your International Sales Skills:

• Basic Skills You Need To Stand Out Today
• Do Not Give Up Too Soon On Your International Business
• Do You Have A Clear Vision Of How To Get International Sales?
• Do You Know The Real Questions Your International Clients Are Asking?
• Emotion Buttons For International Sales
• How Good People Skills Also Grow Your International Business
• Improve Your International Sales Skills For Your Competitive Advantage
• Learning International Skills From A Course Or A Book
• The Multiple Facets Of International Sales Preparation

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Discover Your International Business
• Cross-Culture Sales
• Cross-Cultural Negotiation
• Cultural Web Tools

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Do You Have A Clear Vision Of How To Get International Sales?

International Business Development Strategy

When I first speak to clients who are not familiar with international business development I almost always have to do the same thing.

• Get back to basics.

You see most clients call me when they are ready to go into international markets.  They have already made a few outlines in their strategy, but they realize they need a stepping stone to help they get into action.

But their questions are already too far advanced.

They have not answered the more basic questions.  And you need the answers to these basic questions before you can go any further.

You know…

The difference between the questions most businesses ask me and the information they need to know before anyone can answer these questions reminds me of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid.

A Quick Exercise

Look at this pyramid and think of the questions you need to ask your foreign market with regards to the product or service you want to sell to them.

Yes, you do need to stretch your imagination a little.  But if you do this, you can see where a common problem lies.

Optimizing Business

You see…

Most of my clients start off by asking me questions that are too advanced for a new foreign business.  They assume that their new international business is an extension of their basic domestic business model.

So their questions fit more in the green or blue part of this pyramid:

• How do we sell our products to an international market?
• What do we need to sell our products abroad?

Understanding Your Foreign Prospects Uniqueness

But no one can answer these questions without looking at your international market through a different lens than the one you use for your domestic market.  Yes, it is a completely new market.

You need to know the answers to questions that fall in the red and orange part of this pyramid.

• What does your client need?
• Are your clients needs different?
• How will your prospects respond to you?
• Will they feel threatened in any way?
• Will you appear friendly, in the right area of communication they need?

Now, you do not always have the answers to these questions.  In fact you should not hang around to get them.  Besides, even if you do have answers, they may be wrong.

In Maslow’s pyramid these are after all very personal questions.

So…

How can we find out what the answers to these questions are?

Communication

The key is in the yellow part of the pyramid.  This is where you need to start.

Because you need to:

• Make contact with your foreign prospects.
• Communicate with them.

Before you can get anywhere else.

And…

This is very important…

During this “get to know each other” phase you must not forget to verify your assumptions about the answers to all the questions you can think of in the red and orange areas.

This is why you must start here before you can answer any of the more advanced questions.  If anyone answers any of your green or blue questions before this, you risk making false assumptions.  And in cross-cultural business relations this can happen without you realizing it.

Ongoing market research and business intelligence limits this risk.

Don’t forget to have a look at these two articles.  They do not speak about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  But they also explain the sequences involved in international business and why certain questions need to come before others.

• The 7 Traditional Paths To International Business Development
• 5 Traditional Marketing Steps To Become An International Business

Start With Relationships

Let’s look at it another way.

• International business is based on international sales.
• International sales are based on relationships.
• And relationships need to start someplace and then grow.

When you begin to develop your business abroad you will have to do some very basic tasks first.

These basic tasks will involve market research or the gathering of information.

The problem is that most business forget to ask the basic questions, or enough of these basic questions, during this market research phase.

Without the answers to these basic questions you can easily assume your new international market is like the markets you are familiar with and get off on a bad start.

Both Sides Of The Coin

This can work for you and against you.

Of course, you can be lucky and make all the right assumptions.

But you can also waste time and money creating the wrong offer or the wrong sales message for your foreign market.

And don’t forget this last scenario…

I have come across a  number of businesses who do not believe they could sell their wares to foreign shores.  Business is a struggle in their own domestic market and they cannot believe all the hassle of foreign exchange rates and foreign clients can be worth the effort.

And yet, these are the businesses that miss real opportunities.

More On International Business Development Strategy:

• 5 Actions To Start Developing Your International Markets
• Action Strategy For International Business Development
• Aligning Your Questions To Build Your International Business
• Are People In Small Countries Better International Business Developers?
• Are You Outsourcing Too Much?
• Define International Business
• Global Or International Business?
• Is The Expense Of Foreign Travel Stopping You From Getting International Clients?
• Market Research For International Business Development
• New International Business Development Phase Today With The Right Marketing Mix
• Online Success? Study Traditional Paths To International Business Development For More
• Plans With Adaptability, Flexibility And Agility
• Small Businesses Need To Take Action To Uncover International Business Opportunities
• When Discrimination Is Useful In International Business

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Discover Your International Business
• Plan Your International Sales Road Map
• International Market Research
• International Web Visibility
• Connect With Your International Markets

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Aligning Your Questions To Build Your International Business