Cindy King's International Business Blog » flexibility

12 Reasons Why International Selling Is Harder

Cindy King — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:00:39 +0000

Before I started my own consulting business I worked for a variety of industries, mainly related to communication and new technologies. I had daily contact with clients in a sales capacity, sometimes with more marketing responsibilities than others. But I always dealt with international clients. Clients from different cultures to the company I represented. I negotiated sales, facilitated sales and over the years I worked in all of the functions within the international sales process.

International Selling Was The Only World I Knew

International selling was easy for me because I developed cross-cultural skills very early on. And I always try to find the right way to connect with people, even across cultures. Besides, living in a foreign country and being fully integrated inside this foreign country, adapting to different cultures comes naturally to me.

Dealing with international clients was the only thing I knew.

The Differences In International Selling

I’ve had my business for almost 2 years now, and I now see how big the differences are between selling to international clients and selling to people from your own country.

Here are 12 reasons why international selling is harder:

When you’re selling to international clients you have to focus on trust all the time. Losing trust is one of the biggest reasons why you lose international sales. Cross-cultural differences create a minefield of possible trust breakers. All salespeople know they need to build trust and actively do this. But in an international environment the cultural differences increase the difficulty in nurturing, building and maintaining trust on many different levels.
When you’re selling to international clients you might not notice when you lose trust. This is the hardest one to deal with. Just as cultural differences create trust breaking situations, they also make it difficult to see when you lose trust. And when you lose an element of trust without realizing it and continue selling, this creates complex situations which are not good for sales.
When you’re selling to international clients you also have to deal with your own personal reactions to different cultural situations. Learning how to deal with our own personal cultural baggage and not let it interfere with international business takes work. And it can also raise difficult questions to answer concerning personal integrity and personal ethics. Learning how to separate reactions to these and how to act appropriately is hard work.
When you’re selling to international clients you have to identify any differences in doing business, often beyond the scope of sales. Different countries do things differently, we all know that. And yet it is surprising how many of these differences can pop up and effect your business and your selling.
When you’re selling to international clients you have to look for wrong assumptions which can pop up in unusual places. Many cross-cultural blunders happen because of wrong assumptions. In sales wrong assumptions can be disastrous.
When you’re selling to international clients you have to monitor what is said and the different understandings of what is said. People can take away different understandings for a variety of reasons: wrong assumptions, cultural differences in communication, and different levels in language skills. You simply cannot do business when both parties have different understanding of what is said. So you have to keep your ears open continually and summarize understandings at regular intervals.
When you’re selling to international clients you need to become skilled at multitask monitoring. There are many different things to monitor in international sales. Trust, mutual understanding, wrong assumptions are just a few related to the communication. You also need to monitor how cultural differences impact certain aspects of the business deal itself. There are also risk elements to monitor. International selling requires excellent multitasking skills just to monitor the different levels of what’s going on.
When you’re selling to international clients you have to be flexible and maintain your business focus at the same time. Different cultures have different styles of doing business. So you need to be flexible and adapt to these differences. When you are not used to certain situations it is easy to lose your business focus. Being both flexible and business focused can be challenging at times. It takes practice and skill to master this.
When you’re selling to international clients you must always be ready to adapt to unexpected situations. Both the ability to adapt and the readiness to adapt are important. Unexpected situations are common in international business. Dealing with this change demands personal energy.
When you’re selling to international clients you have different risk factors to take into consideration. There is always a more elevated risk factor in international business. Successful international salespeople know how to be the lookout post for any relevant risk factors for his business. International selling is a more varied occupation.
When you’re selling to international clients you need to adopt a marketing hat as well. The role of lookout post also involves marketing feedback. Most sales professionals understand the valuable role they play to their companies marketing functions. In an international environment this marketing role is critical. The international salesperson is usually the only person with constant direct insights into his company’s market.
When you’re selling to international clients you must have a very clear vision of your business goals and the framework you work in. Without an accurate and clear vision and understanding of your company’s goals you will not be able to find the best way to do all of the above. In international sales negotiations this alone is a very powerful tool.

The Multiplying Effect

Skilled sales professionals will probably nod their head and say they do all of the above already. But there is a multiplying effect which makes these tasks harder in international sales.

What’s your experience?

Have you sold to both international clients and clients from your own country?
What differences do you see between selling to international client and clients in your own country?
What do you think, how is international selling harder?

Please leave your comments below.

Get International Clients – Business Guides On Sales

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tip 5

Cindy King — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:00:45 +0000

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge – Expand Your Mindset

Today’s Cross Cultural Communication Challenge Tip is key to international success. Without flexibility your international sales will suffer.

Why?

Because cross-cultural differences influence all aspects of international business. Even an experienced international marketer encounters the need for unexpected changes.

The truth is that it is best to plan for flexibility in your international marketing right from the start. This does not always mean having a “Plan B” for different scenarios. But flexibility does mean:

Systematically monitoring status to be able to implement change as soon as it is needed
Being ready for change when you need it – even a short delay can have disastrous effects

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tip #5

Plan your international marketing for cross-cultural success:
Plan for flexibility

Your challenge to improve you cross-cultural mindset:

Read your daily tips every day during the challenge
Think about what this means to you
Reflect on how this could help you get more international clients

Suggested Reading:

Get All Cross-Cultural Communication Tips:

Free Mini-Posters With Monthly Calenders

Mindset	Clarity	Trust

Expand Your Mindset	Get Extreme With Clarity	Build Trust

Basic Skills You Need To Stand Out Today

Cindy King — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:00:03 +0000

Improve Your International Sales Skills

There are numerous articles published today with advice on how to survive tough economies. And most of them give sound advice.

Comparison With International Sales Old Timers

As an international sales and marketing executive that has worked in Europe for over 25 years, I notice similarities between my personal experience and going back to the basics of business to survive the tough times today.

Years ago, the international sales offices here in Europe were often the neglected orphans for many large American companies.

I say international sales offices because the European headquarters usually ended up handling all international requests. This was before companies routinely opened up Asian offices.

The marketing and sales budgets were often so small it was ridiculous. For many companies, these budgets often barely covered printing costs for the basic sales and marketing collateral.

But as soon as the mother company experienced slow sales, the expectations for international sales grew beyond measure. Surviving with two conflicting guidelines meant the international field sales teams had to:

Stick to solid business basics
Become creative in finding solutions

Of course, after going through the previous North American recessions, companies realized the benefit of international sales. And many Fortune 500 companies expanded their investment in international sales offices.

Back To Basics Skills

Although my US colleagues seemed to have it easier at the time, this is how I learned:

Cross-cultural marketing – with international field sales
Specialized skills in positioning products to sell to new foreign cultures - direct field experience
International marketing – on limited budgets
Flexibility skills – for both emerging markets and tight budgets

Tough times get you to focus on the very basics of business. These fundamental business basics are solid. You learn how to identify :

A good business proposition
A valid offer that will work in your current market
When your business is in the wrong time, wrong place and cannot survive
When you need to look at a different way of making your business work

International Sales Focused On Business Basics

It is not always easy to return to business basics. But it is real. In international sales you always need to come back to the basics of business. Does your offer match the international market’s needs?

Different cultures have different needs. They want products for different reasons. If you lose sight of this you lose business opportunities. This is why international sales keeps you focused on business basics. And strong basic business skills are what you need in today’s economy.

Don’t Give Up Too Soon On Your International Business

Cindy King — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:00:20 +0000

Improve Your International Sales Skills

Are you giving up on your international business opportunities too soon?

It seems that there is never a week without an email from a reader asking for an international sales miracle. It is like they are expecting a magic software to instantly create international sales for their business.

Now, I can teach you how to adapt your offer to fit into a different cultural market. And I can share my simple 8-step process for developing your international business. This is what I do on Get International Clients.

But I cannot bring clients to you. Yes, you can hire agents to do this job for you. But if you want to develop an international business, you really need to do this work yourself. This is all about your business.

Some of these emails show people who are about to give up. They feel they have made an effort to get international sales. This did not bring in any results and they want to give up.

The Steps To An International Business

The first question is: did they make the right effort?

Most international companies went through a series of steps before becoming “international”. I have stopped counting the number of times I hear people say:

They have a website
They have a few international clients that come to them to buy from them
And they think they have an international business

Let’s put this straight. To get international clients you must:

Communicate with them in a way that is adapted to their culture
Sell to them in a way that is adapted to their culture
And possibly have a product adapted to their culture

You start by adapting your marketing and sales for one product to one foreign country. When you have done this for several products and to several countries, then you can consider your company and “international” company

A Process Of Learning To Adapt

The second question is: Are they giving themselves enough time to adapt personally to different ways of doing things.

I have to be honest with you. Developing an international business can be difficult. But the difficulty is in how you need to adapt yourself to respond to different cultures and different ways of doing things and doing business.

You acquire this through experience. You need to start someplace. When you first start learning how to do business in a different country you learn to:

Provide for flexibility
Predict areas of difficulty

These are personal international skills. And it can be rough the first time around. You can easily become frustrated and blame the “other” way of doing things. But it is only really a question of you learning to adapt to working in this sort of an environment. And this takes time.

Don’t Give Up Too Soon

These are the two main reasons why people start looking for miracles and want to give up. And when they give up at this stage, it really is too soon. You are giving up because:

You have not taken enough actions to give you results
You have not taken the time to learn the international skills you need

Sometimes you need to take a few extra steps before you can see where your international opportunities lie. So ask yourself:

Whether you are taking the right steps to develop your international business
Whether you are giving yourself enough time to adapt

Don’t make the mistake of giving up too soon.

Plans With Adaptability, Flexibility And Agility

Cindy King — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:00:57 +0000

International Business Development Strategy

If you are a business just starting your international business development you will be drawing up plans and strategies.

But, before you do, let’s look at a couple of personality traits.

Remember, international business means cross-cultural communication. Personal traits can influence the success of your business’ cross-cultural communication.

Two Extremes

First, let’s imagine someone who works well with plans.

And, let’s also imagine someone who considers himself more “creative”…adaptive, flexible, agile… and does not like planning things out.

These two people have different styles in implementing change.

The natural planner will go about implementing change methodically.

The natural creative will go about implementing change in an intuitive way.

In the end, a project’s success depends on many other factors. And both people have a good chance of getting the job done well.

Right..?

Well, in international business, this can really go wrong.

In The Middle

You might want to have a closer look at personality traits.

A business entering a new foreign market needs people who are good at both.

You need to plan your international development strategy, to make sure you cover everything you need to cover.
You also need a very high dose of “creativity”, or… adaptability, flexibility and agility.

If you are not familiar with a foreign culture you need to expect change… even if you are familiar with a foreign culture. Surprises still happen.

Some of the small businesses I meet question the risk involved. The risk involved in going international. This is a very natural concern.

So is another question that comes up: how can I anticipate and control the viability of my international project?

The answers to these questions are multifaceted. But…

There is one very clear place to start:

A good plan… with adaptability, flexibility and agility.

Learn Through Practice

Of course, there are also people who are naturally both planners and “creatives”. It is great if you can have such people on your international business team.

But it is not essential…

Most people learn to acquire the missing skills through practice. It is hard to hide from any cultural differences for a long time.

You simply cannot stay very long at either extreme without this interfering with your international business.

Your international business plan is important. And so is:

Your adaptability to a different culture, market, habits, expectations, laws.
Your flexibility to meet these differences.
Your agility to respond to these differences.

Planning and flexibility can go together. It just takes a little bit more work, and motivation, to integrate the two together.

My Own Case Study – Small Business Flexibility

Cindy King — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:00:12 +0000

International Web Marketing

As a very small business owner, I do have more flexibility in certain business strategies than many bigger businesses.

Content Creates An Online Communication Base

It has now been 7 months since I started my business directory.

Writing and publishing an article each work day for 6 months
Creating a business system
Recently color-coding on the website to make this system obvious to the readers

Of course, with over 200 articles there is now an obvious editorial direction for the website.

But I have always wanted an online communication base for my own business. Sure, I spent some time looking into the great Internet Marketing “Get Rich Quick” processes out there. It is a good way to pick up a lot of knowledge on web marketing practices.

This is what lead me into copywriting 3 years ago. But I chose to study copywriting because I already had good sales skills, and sales writing skills. Of course, you need good copywriting to make money on the web, whether you are in a typical get rich quick internet business or a brick and mortar business using the web as a tool. But recognizing good copywriting is already more than half the work done.

My situation was a little different. I already have valuable skills. I knew I wanted to use the internet primarily as a communication base for my own business services. My websites are there to communicate my international business development system.

All well and good. But how do you go about communicating your business system online to reach the right people, and to bring in the right clients?

Structure For Your Business

I found I needed matter to work with. Content. Lots of content. This took me 6 months of writing one article a day.

As a small business owner I had the flexibility to jump in and develop the structure on an on-going basis.

My primary focus was to write on and around my main business subject area. My articles are not primarily determined by niche keywords and research. Of course I tried to use appropriate keywords, and ran keyword searches from time to time. These searches often proved to me that I knew my subject matter well. My main focus was writing on my own clearly defined subject.

On a side note, my experience has shown this content strategy to give fantastic SEO results. I have come up on the first page of many different search results from month 3 onwards. Businesses from all over the world find me.

People pay money for SEO? Why don’t they sharpen their business perspective and knuckle down to work on exploiting what is basically a communication platform?

Now that the content structure is there, the content is extremely easy to create. This business directory has become very easy for me to feed.

Using the flexibility I had in the beginning probably gave me a better structure 6 months later than if I had planned everything offline first.

So, I now have time for the next business phase and it is now in progress. This is the phase which links my business directory to my business.

What does that mean?

A Real Specific Business Offer And Not The Get Rich Quick Web Marketing

First of all I have a several new URL’s, or domain names, for very specific landing pages. Now these landing pages are not the get rich quick type. These are simply landing pages targeting each of the specific products and services I offer.

These products and services form a lead generation strategy. This means:

There are some landing pages for free products, some for paid products and services.
There are also some landing pages for the same product, but written for different audiences.

This leads to a fair number of new websites, even if they are mainly mini-websites.

Ready Fire Aim

My immediate task is to set up 20 odd landing pages. This takes time. I am doing just about everything single handed:

Lead generation strategy
Web marketing strategy
Copywriting
International SEO

Yes, it is a fair task, even just for mini-sites.

But as a small business owner I do have some flexibility. Also as a small business owner I value batch processing.

So one of the first things I have done is to put all of the URL’s live. I simply put all of the websites up with an article or two from my main business directory.

As a small business owner, I feel I can do this.

It is essentially a Ready Fire Aim approach.

Having all of the websites up early, means that Mr. Google will find them soon. I will appreciate this when I actually get the website ready and want to promote it. Tomorrow I start writing a new landing page website one after the other.

Online Flexibility Brings Success

One of the basics of international web marketing is testing and adjusting your communication. Your communication needs to be live before you get any real market feedback.

Market feedback often shows you how to improve your message. The better your online communication is, the more sales you can expect.

Market feedback will also show you where your business potential lies.

So there will be lots of adjustments to the landing pages. That is my second business phase.

Cindy King's International Business Blog » flexibility

12 Reasons Why International Selling Is Harder

International Selling Was The Only World I Knew

The Differences In International Selling

The Multiplying Effect

More on International Sales Professions:

Get International Clients – Business Guides On Sales

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tip 5

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tip #5

Get All Cross-Cultural Communication Tips:

Free Mini-Posters With Monthly Calenders

Basic Skills You Need To Stand Out Today

Comparison With International Sales Old Timers

Back To Basics Skills

International Sales Focused On Business Basics

More On Improve Your International Sales Skills:

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

Don’t Give Up Too Soon On Your International Business

The Steps To An International Business

A Process Of Learning To Adapt

More On Improve Your International Sales Skills:

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

Plans With Adaptability, Flexibility And Agility

Two Extremes

In The Middle

Learn Through Practice

More On International Business Development Strategy:

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

My Own Case Study – Small Business Flexibility

Content Creates An Online Communication Base

Structure For Your Business

A Real Specific Business Offer And Not The Get Rich Quick Web Marketing

Ready Fire Aim

Online Flexibility Brings Success

More On International Web Marketing