When it comes to market research for international audiences, it’s tempting to outsource everything if you can afford it. And today many people today try to do their international market research online. But when you do lots of online research you can get complacent.

No matter what your business is, there comes a time when you must have direct contact with the people. People in your international markets.  You can pick up lots of useful information when you communicate with others in person. And this information can prove to be vital when it comes to people who live in a different country, have a different lifestyle and a different way of thinking. Unfortunately I meet a number of people who seem to avoid picking up the phone.

Here are the most useful tips I have found when connecting with people in your international markets by phone.

#1: Do Your Prep Work

First of all, remember why you are seeking direct contact. Take a few steps back and review your situation. You want to see the big picture and not get bogged down in too many details. You’ll hear more feedback when you are open to what could be of interest to you.

#2: Get Comfortable With The Phone

Get social!
(CC licensed Flickr photo by the waving cat)

 
Sometimes it’s easy to pick up the phone and call people located in your target country. And this is great!  Phone calls can be a great starting point.

And if you think it’s impossible to reach the right people by phone, try thinking outside of the box.  Look at the contacts you do have. Look at the social media contacts you already have, and the ones it would be easy to cultivate. With the notion of six pixels of separation, slowly start networking and look for a way to begin to get feedback from the right source.

#3: Who To Connect With

This is where many people jump into sticky mud.  In some cultures you could get away with reaching out directly to the person you’re interested in. But in many cultures this is not the best place to start.  And you could hinder relationships by Why not start with the outer circle of your contacts and gradually move inwards towards the people you are most interested in connecting with? This takes a bit longer, but if can give you insights into how best to proceed.

#4: Review Context Before You Call

Context is everything. Review the reasons why you are calling this particular person before you pick up the phone. Think of what you’re going to say. Now imagine the person on the other end of the phone. Will this seem normal to him?

One clear goal per phone call usually works best. Because if you ask for too much information or want to get too much out of a call, this can confuse people from different cultures or send wrong messages. You want them to quickly understand why you are calling them and the context has to be relevant to both of you.

#5: Stay Focused

There’s a balance to find in being clear about what you want and remaining open for helpful feedback. And this is how a few well planned questions can come in handy. But in order to get useful feedback from your international contacts you’ll also need to go with the flow because that’s where you can uncover some gems of information. So, you’ll need to remember to stay focused on the big picture.

#6: Keep A Mental Tab Of What You Can Say

I just mentioned having a few well planned questions, but you can also review a few other things you can say to get the conversation going. And when talking to people of different cultures over the phone you might find you need to adjust your usual communication tactics. Here are some good things to keep in mind.

• Confirm what you know, what you understand from this and ask if this is accurate.
• Ask if there’s more information you need to know
• Ask for suggestions and then try to understand the relevancy

When doing international market research by phone I like to cross-reference the same general questions with several sources. This makes it much easier to understand cultural differences.

#7: Get Over The Fear

It is normal to be apprehensive about calling someone you do not know.  And when you are calling to a different country it can even be daunting.  Add in the factor that you may not know if the person speaks English and you may not feel like reaching out. There’s no need to be afraid. People are basically polite.  Even more so when they feel they are helping you.

#8: Cultivate Curiosity To Open Communication

When you call someone thousands of miles away, they will be curious why. This can be a great way to start conversations and get the information you’re looking for.

#9: Create Better Connections With Your International Markets

Make these eight steps a habit. Whenever you interact with someone related to your international market be open to feedback and try to learn a little bit more. This is how you’ll learn to build stronger connections and ultimately have a better foundation for understanding your international markets.

A Better Understanding Of Your International Markets

The knowledge you can gain through simple phone conversations with your international markets can help you improve your international strategies and get more international clients. Of course you’ll need more research, and even in-person meetings, but connecting by phone is very easy to incorporate into your schedule and can help you to understand your international markets much better.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

9 Tips To Learn More About Your International Markets Over The Phone

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge – Personal Development

This is Day 2 of the 30-day challenge to focus on your personal development in cross-cultural communication. Each day there is one short topic to reflect on and try to improve.

Day 2 – Curiosity for Cross-Cultural Competence

Once you have recognized the importance of your own mindset in cross-cultural communication and need to look for the next step in developing your cross-cultural competence.  And this involves preparation to turn towards, accept and understand people who are different.

Curiosity is often a very good tool to have.  Simply preparing your mindset to be open to curiosity can often help you to avoid initial cross-cultural hurdles.

Curiosity Is A Key To Opening Cross-Cultural Competence

Curiosity is a good thing. Curiosity:

• Helps us to get past our own cultural baggage
• Prepares us to greet other people’s cultures
• Begins one side of the dialogue

And it does something very important.  Curiosity helps many people to take that very first step towards empathy.  You absolutely must have strong skills in empathy to develop your cross-cultural skills.  Empathy helps us to understand and connect with different cultures.  For some people empathy comes naturally.  In business it is not always easy.  

A curious attitude is a very healthy attitude to have in international business.  It gets you to ask the little question you would almost overlook.  And this little question can lead to many valuable insights.

Steps To Get Curious

Now, most people do not have any issues in understanding how to get curious.  But for a few people maintainting a curious attitude can be a challenge, especially in a business world.  Here are a few things to help you:

• Put aside your own grading system
• Notice the differences
• Notice the similarities
• Assume others are human beings just like you and the people around you
• Wonder what you would do in their shoes
• Wonder why they do things differently
• Look for the reasons behind the differences you see and also the reasons for the similarities

Curiosity Opens International Opportunities

Most people learn to appreciate the value of curiosity in international business.  Of course it can help you to avoid embarrassing blunders.  But curiosity can also help you to discover different business environments.  And these different ways of doing business can lead to your:

• Discovering new business opportunities
• Better ways of doing the things you already do
• Developing new partnerships

Curiosity can help you build your international business in many ways.  Unfortunately you need to get curious before you can find out exactly how.

When Curiosity Is Difficult

The main difficulty people have in getting curious is because they have strong personal barriers or personal baggage.  This is why you need to be aware of the personal baggage you carry around with you.  And occasionally be willing to put this baggage down for a moment or two, just long enough to let yourself get curious.

Your Actions Today

This is a very easy day and fun for most people.  Do it well and it can take you far.

• Don’t take yourself too seriously
• Be open to learn more about what you don’t know

Where To Get Your CCCC Tips Every Day:

• Here on this blog: Four Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges In 2009
• Follow me on Twitter in March, June, September and December

Need Cross-Cultural Business Coaching?

Do you need help in navigating the cross-cultural minefields of international business? Sign up for confidential one-on-one coaching sessions.  Email me and ask to set up a call.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Personal Development In Cross-Cultural Communication – Day 2

Empathy

Some recent discussions have brought up a question on developing a good international mind-set.

In my experience empathy is more important than curiosity in productive cross-cultural relationships. In fact, there is no doubt in my mind. A person with more capacity to be empathic with others will create the strongest cross-cultural relationships.

But I stopped in my tracks when someone I respect said that she thought curiosity was the most important element in creating good cross-cultural communication.

Curiosity Opens The Door To Different Cultures

Curiosity does get the ball rolling in many cases. But then so can many cultural definitions of politeness. In some cultures curiosity might be needed more than politeness.

Of course, lack of curiosity is a barrier to effective cross-cultural communication.

• Someone who has no interest and no curiosity can interact with a different culture and never connect.
• Someone with some interest but no real curiosity will connect with different cultures, to a certain extent.

Empathy Creates The Cross-Cultural Relationship

I think empathy is what takes you further. Empathy is what helps you to create a real connection with different cultures.

When my natural empathy is stronger than the person I am communicating with, and this person is from a different culture, I feel it when I travel most of the distance to create more meaningful communication.

What is interesting is that I do not notice any extra “effort” on my part if I am communicating with someone from a similar culture. It is the difference in cultures that highlights the “effort”.

The “effort” here is not an effort. It is the process of adjusting your own mind-set to meet the other culture outside of your own culture.

Danger In Over Empathizing

When I first came to Europe almost 30 years ago, I did not know anything about this. I was a young adult happy to be in a foreign country, learning a foreign language, and eager to understand everything new around me. And I made the mistake of over empathizing.

The reasons why over empathizing is dangerous is a scientific discussion. You need to read about this in scientific journals if you are interested. I am not qualified to give you details. I just personally lived through the consequences for a while and had to learn how to track back quickly out of there.

The lesson I learned within the first 3-4 years of living in a foreign culture was that you do need to keep your own core culture and identity safe within yourself.

Empathizing with other cultures does not mean changing any of your own personal culture and values. What I can say is that knowledge of my own identity has helped me to adapt to other cultures more easily.

Creating Good Communication

Many years later, I learned that people have different capacities in empathizing with others. Your capacity to empathize with others is influenced through your upbringing and your environment.

When meeting other cultures, I find that having a solid identity and knowing my own limits helps me to stretch go as far as I can in meeting other cultures. Almost like an elastic band.

When other people are not as sure of their own identity, they are not able to meet me half way. This means I have to go a longer distance, if I want to create meaningful communication.

There is also another scenario.

When two people from different cultures connect with the same level of empathy, cross-cultural communication becomes a unique experience. It is a form of pure personal enrichment.

And this is when curiosity often kicks in again and takes the drivers seat. Curiosity then deepens the communication further.

Empathy is a driving factor in all cross-cultural communication.

Curiosity is a driving factor at both ends of good cross-cultural communication and is influenced by culture.

In the end, both curiosity and empathy create good cross-cultural communication.

More On Empathy:

• Curiosity Versus Empathy
• Why Empathy Develops Your International Business

And Don’t Miss This On Improve Your Cross-Cultural Communication

• 7 Tips For Easy Cross-Cultural Encounters

Have Fun With Culture Movies:

• Movies To Build Empathy

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Connect With Your International Markets
• Building Trust International Clients

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Curiosity Versus Empathy