Cindy King's International Business Blog » expectations

The Biggest Mistake In International Networking

Cindy King — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:00:49 +0000

Like most bloggers I often get link exchange requests. I usually just delete the ones that look like standard form emails. After all anyone who reads my blog knows how to easily get a link from me. But yesterday I had a request come in through Twitter and the person said something that surprised me. This person said “I always reciprocate”. And this struck me as somehow being negative and I had to think about this for a while before I discovered why.

Free Links To Share Value

You see, I don’t do link exchanges. I give my links freely to people I find have something valuable to add to my blog. Now, although I give links freely, I do have my quirks:

I decide where the link goes and what it looks like. When people ask me to change their links once too often I usually simply delete the link. The drawback of giving lots of links freely is there is not much time for maintenance.
I notice others who network “freely” too. People who give simply because they like what you do. This is natural isn’t it? And it’s natural that I like networking more with these people too.

This lead me to dig deeper to find out what bothered me so much about this statement: “I always reciprocate”. Well, I noticed there was no giving freely, and no giving first. It is surprising the number of people who wait for you to give first before they give anything to you… and these are almost always the people who give less than you do. But this does not bother me. I’ll still put a link through to content I find of value for my own blog readers. So that wasn’t what bothered me with “I always reciprocate”. Then I realized something else.

Networking For International Business Development

I’m totally focused on networking for international business development. And this is where this “you give first before I give you anything” attitude just does not work. Now, I network heavily for my business. I have to. I’m based in France and I like working with English speaking clients. I network to develop my international business. Luckily the time difference works in my favor. The only time I can work with North Americans is from mid-afternoons my time onwards. So before my day comes to I end, I usually spend a good hour or two networking on the phone and by Skype. Of course, I also network through email too. That’s for the direct networking. But I also network extensively on social media, by providing useful information to my followers. This is how I identify the people I want to connect with. I share non-stop because at the same time I actively work on developing my international business networks. Does this work? You bet it does. I’ve met some great professionals all over the world.

Some of them are great sources of referrals for my business
Some will become joint venture partners
Some are just becoming good business peers right now

Give First And Give Freely

These are people I would never have been able to meet without giving first. These are also people I would never have thought of seeking out. My sharing information first an giving links first created the beginning of some very useful dialogues for my business. And you know what, it all starts with the attitude of giving and sharing first. This is what bothered me with the remark “I always reciprocate”. I was interested in connecting with this person much more than a link exchange, but she does not have the right attitude for international business development. You simply need to be someone who shares first, without any expectations of anything in return.

Nurturing Trust In International Networking

This is one of the secrets to successful international networking. You have to be comfortable making the first step. In fact, you have to be very comfortable going down half of the path separating you from your international contacts. Occasionally it feels like I go three quarters of the distance alone. This does not happen often, but it is this willingness to turn and go as far as necessary to greet people in their own comfort zones that creates international business opportunities. The biggest mistake you can make is not giving first. This is a sign you are not really open to doing business with people outside of your own comfort zone. You do not have what it takes to develop an international business. If you have issues about giving your time and effort first then you need to do some personal work and carefully examine the personal baggage you have with regards to this. This is the only path to successful international networking. It is linked to several important factors in building strong international relationships, the most important one being trust. Trust across cultures is difficult to establish. Cross-cultural differences create a minefield of potential trust breakers. And when you do not give first, but sit back and wait, or expect others to give first, this does not create a good environment for reciprocal trust in cross-cultural relationships. Besides, you don’t build a business by sitting back and waiting for someone to give you something to which you can reciprocate. Do you? Start sharing and building your international business networks now. What about you?

How do you go about international business networking?
What do you like most about international business networking?
What are you biggest challenges in international business networking?

Please leave your comments below.

Trust In Cross-Cultural Communication – Tip 12

Cindy King — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:00:59 +0000

Cross-Cultural Communication 30-Day Challenge – Build Trust

Trust is delicate to nurture in everyday situations. You can only build trust with the right foundation and in the right environment. In cross-cultural situations trust is so delicate to establish it can seem elusive. This is because:

The foundation for trust needs different care
The “right” environment to build trust might be a different one

Do What You Promise

There are times when international business seems impossible. There is a general feeling of not being able to keep your international clients happy… no matter what you try.

When this gnawing feeling hits, and the promise you make to your clients is involved, step back and look at things a bit differently. You might simply be missing something. And this one thing that is missing can do two things:

Help you to build trust with your international clients
Find the right alignment for your offer and the promise you make to them

Trust In Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge – Tip 12

Be sure you know what your international client expects of you

Different Expectations Disconnect

A very common disconnect in cross-cultural communication is created by differences in expectations. You see, people forget to talk about their expectations. Expectations seem obvious. Even worse… sometimes people do not realize they have expectations until there is a cross-cultural incident and they take the time to analyze where the difficulties occurred.

Learning how to uncover differences in expectations is a cross-cultural business skill used by seasoned international professionals.

Differences In Expectations Can Lead To Mistrust

The problem with differences in expectations is that it creates a slippery environment for trust. When your international client has a different expectation to what you promise to deliver, he will naturally be disappointed. And mistrust installs.

No matter how you look at it differences in expectations and trust usually do not mix well.

Discover Your International Clients’ Expectations

Now, differences in expectations also happen in our everyday lives. So you probably already know how to recognize cultural differences in expectations to some extent. Although there are similarities in discovering differences in expectations with your own countrymen, in cross-cultural situations, this usually requires extra cross-cultural skills.

International professionals are always on the look out for differences in expectations.
There are cross-cultural communication skills involved. Without these skills, you might miss the signs of cultural differences.

Discovering the expectations your international clients have for what you promise them or what you offer them helps your business in many ways. for the purpose of this article we have concentrated on building trust.

Don’t forget to look at how an accurate appreciation of your international clients’ expectations can help you improve your international marketing. This is one reason why international sales and marketing teams need to work closely with international business development teams.

What about you?

Do you know what your international clients expect from you?
How do your international clients’ expectations effect your international marketing?
What are you doing to find out what the cross-cultural expectations are for your business?

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Cross Cultural Customer Service Expectations

Cindy King — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:07:28 +0000

International Customer Expectations

I have two teenage kids I’m trying to bring up to be ready for the working world.

They are French. I’m not. Or at least I’m only partly so. And I have the part with North American service expectations.

Culture shock.

I won’t talk to you about my service experiences when I take them to McDonalds in France. I want to talk to you about something I was not really expecting.

This is a topic I’m often confronted with. I’m North American. I have always worked up to North American levels of quality of service. Even if I’ve lived in Europe all of my professional life.

But I’ve live in France for 20 years or so: Culture shock.

I chose my bank because they were the most expensive. They charge for service. I want a decent level of service. Nothing fancy. Just the normal stuff. But I want it to run smoothly at all times. I don’t like having to run to the bank every time someone somewhere sneezes or changes jobs.

I have been with the same bank for over 20 years, two different branches, but the same bank. No problems….until I started my company two months ago.

It first started when the bank staff did not understand the difference in international practices of changing credit card numbers with the companies I had automatic debits set up on my credit card. I live 40 kilometers south of Paris. My local bank assumed all companies everywhere would operate just like in France. I was told to bugger off and left with a mess to sort out by myself right over Christmas.

The bank took my money for my business bank account at the end of January and said they had set up my business account. But I couldn’t do anything with my account until I had the means to do it: check book and credit card. Those arrived at the very end of February – over 4 weeks later. So they were late. You would expect the card to work, right? Wrong. I could not get the card to work even though my bank’s computer system said it should work.

There begins all the fun with the differences in what I expect in a service I’m paying for and what my bank staff feels is giving their maximum service.

Our definitions of service and our service expectations are very different.

I expected my bank to help me. I needed my bank card to work to do any online business.
My bank thought they had done everything they could because their computer system told them everything was fine. They gave me a card. They upheld their part of the service.

It took several weeks and several phone calls to every possible contact in my bank.

The result is that according to my bank, there is nothing wrong with the credit card they gave me. They do not know why my credit does not work. But its not their fault. It’s the other guys fault. Their hands are washed.

Not once did I get any form of an apology that my credit card and check book took so long to get to me. And when faced with the problem, the only reaction was to “prove” it’s not their fault.

Not one employee at my French bank would even think to ask: “How can I help you?” and actually follow through. That kind of service is not included in their line of duty.

I’m still left with the problem this card doesn’t work for me. My bank is situated in a major town 40 miles south of Paris. The competition in Paris is greater. I could expect a slightly better level of service in Paris. The temptation to change banks is great. But I’ve been with this bank for over 20 years.

When I changed house a few years ago I did a wide survey of the other local banks. I actually opened bank accounts in three other banks because I wanted a second account in a different bank. But I closed all three accounts because it just wasn’t what I expected from a bank.

Solution: Change branch? Travel into Paris every time something comes up?

My experience was linked to a clash in differences of expectations. I expect a certain service from my bank. For example, I expected my bank to at least be interested in why the credit card they gave me was not working.

But in France they don’t feel it the same way. They offer a certain service. It’s up to me if I want to buy it or not. I can’t question it.

The service I’m expecting as a North American and what they are offering, as a French company, are two different things.

This is easy to see at McDonalds in France if you open your eyes and listen up. McDonalds uses the same system worldwide. It works. But here they employ French staff. In Paris you may or may not notice the difference due to the large number of clients they have to serve and the number of foreign students doing the job. But 40 miles south of Paris, a North American, who understands French, picks up the cultural difference in attitudes towards service.

Service is just different in different cultures.