International Business Networking

Business networking habits play an important role in international business.  It’s how we discover international opportunities and avoid cultural blunders.  Our business networking habits help us to learn how to do business in other cultures.

One of the important things about international business networking is that it needs to be done consistently.  It needs to become a long term habit. You cannot jump in, network for a month or two, and then stop because you think you have all the answers you need to take action.  The risk of making a cultural blunder is too great.  Consistent networking ensures that we stay current and it’s how we verify our understanding of our international markets.

This explains why networking has become second nature. And why I’ve used this networking habit to build my international business network after first connecting online.

Daily Skype Calls To Connect With New People On Twitter

At the beginning of last year I decided to implement a new business networking habit by regularly speaking to interesting people I meet on Twitter. It was simple: I tried to Skype one person every day as often as I could.

This may seem a lot, especially when you consider calls almost always last more than 30 minutes and often a full hour. But I’m lucky, the time difference plays in my favor. You see, I try to schedule these calls late in the afternoon just before wrapping up and this happens to be mornings on the other side of the Atlantic.  And I although I’m fairly flexible on the time, I always keep the calls limited to an hour.  So I aimed to spend an hour every day whenever possible to connect to someone I had never spoken to before.

The first 6 months of last year I probably averaged about 3-4 calls to new people I met on Twitter each week. After a while this lead to regular Cross-Cultural Twitter Interviews. And again I called first and got to know each person before the Twitter interview.

In the second half of the year I paid less attention to how many new people I connected with. This was partly because I started speaking to several people on a regular basis and did not keep track of how many new people I spoke to during the week.  And after 6 months of consciously choosing to spend an hour to reach out and connecting with people on Skype it simply became a habit at the end of my day.

The results?  To put it simply: this works. While networking on Skype I meet valuable people to add to my international business network. I don’t add everyone I speak to.  But I now have a great list of valuable business contacts.

Weekly Guest Posts To Connect With A Broad Audience

As last year’s business networking tactic has now become a habit, I’d like to start using another business networking tactic on a regular basis. The habit I’d like to install this year is weekly guest posting. As you may know, I already write content on a regular basis for several different blogs:

• Social Media Examiner
• Top Sales Experts
• ClickInsights
• Bloggertone
• Sales Bloggers

But I’d like to add a bit more variety to this mix to fit some of my other online activities.  Two things happened recently to make me take this decision.

Guest Posting. I read Chris Garrett’s ebook which explains how to guest post and why you should do it. It costs about $10 and yes, this is an affiliate link.  After reading this ebook I was convinced of the value in adding more variety to my guest posting.

My Blog Guest.  I discovered Ann Smarty’s online community where you can both ask for guest posts and also find blogs open to publishing your guest posts.  It’s also a great place to share guest posting tips and experiences.  Ann has set up a grading system for the blogs open to accepting guest posts.  I have to say I’m impressed with how this is set up and the quality of members there.  My Blog Guest makes it easy to find guest posting opportunities.

My Guest Posting Plan

So this year my business networking plan is to write at least 1 guest post a week in addition to my current activities.  Why?

• To reach a wider audience
• To also write articles on 2 new web marketing activities: WishList membership sites on WordPress and product launch management

My core expertise is international marketing and sales strategy for international business development through social media.  This involves several different domains of competence and I need to stay current to apply these skills online.

This is why I’ve decided to use guest posting to expand my international network within the areas of my different skills.

What about you?

• What tactics do you use to grow your international business network?
• Do you think guest posting would help your online business networking?
• Would you like me to write a guest post for you on membership site marketing or business networking for product launches?

More on International Business Networking:

• Networking With The Wrong Questions
• 2 Habits To Grow Your International Network
• The Biggest Mistake In International Networking
• Follow Up With Your First International Clients
• Online Business Networking When Cultural Communication Styles Clash

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Two Great Business Networking Habits To Grow Your International Network

Cross-Cultural Differences

Cultural mistakes can happen when doing something as simple as setting an appointment. This follows on from by recent article on cultural confusion about the date of a deadline.

Here are five cultural differences in how we communicate times and dates that can lead to misunderstandings.

1. Fun With Half Hours

Some cultures use expressions where a “half hour” can mean 30 minutes before the hour referenced and not after the hour. This can lead to confusion when “half nine” means 8:30 and not 9:30.

This can happen when a non-native English speaker uses literal translations from their own language which uses such expressions.  But there are even native English speakers in some parts of the world who use similar expressions.

This type of mistake usually happens when speaking as most people write out the numbers.

Takeaway: Always be clear in how you say the time.

2. At Ease With 24 Hour Clocks

Here in Europe most businesses refer to time using the 24 hour clock.

The trouble is that there are many areas of the world where people are not at ease with this.  It takes them too long to calculate 16:00 as being 4pm. Confusion rarely happens with this, but it does make things easier for everyone and shows a bit more respect if you take the time to verify that everyone has the right time.

Takeaway:  Pay extra special attention to all references to time when dealing with people who may not be familiar with the 24 hour clock.

3. Different Dates

You also need to pay attention when writing numerical dates.  If you have an international audience it is much wiser to spell out the relevant month.  Instead of writing either “01.12.2010″ or “12.01.2010″ use either “12 January 2010″ or “January 12, 2010″

Most of the online forms have now solved this problem.  The confusion today is related to people not being aware of their global audience.

Takeaway: It is probably best to get into the habit of spelling the month when you can and then pay attention to clear instructions on all of the places where you have to use numerical dates.

4. Confusion With Next Tuesday

Another area of confusion is how some people refer to upcoming days of the week. If today is Monday December 28th and I refer to “This Friday” most people will understand Friday 1st January 2010.

The trouble is that not everyone would use the words “This Friday”. Some people would refer to Friday 1st January 2010 as “Next Friday”. It the next Friday to come.

Now I know there are grammar rule books that give the “proper’ way of saying this.  But you still need to communicate with different people who do not use the same rule book.

Takeaway: Use a date and if you do not have a calendar handy, explain what you mean.  ”Next Friday, in 4 days time” or “next Friday, at the end of next week”.

5. Acronyms For Time Zones

Navigating time zones for international meetings has become more complicated.   Not only do countries change the acronyms for their own time zones, but I have also encountered companies who use different acronyms for far away regions.

This can work within a company, but you cannot expect those far away regions to understand your own acronyms.  I won’t give any acronyms here because you should avoid them in all cross-cultural communication.

Speaking for time zones, if you are familiar with Greenwich Mean Time, did you notice that it now changes every summer?  So London is no longer on Greenwich Mean Time all of the time.  And did you notice how different countries use different start and end dates to change their summer time  zones?

Setting appointments across international time zones has become such a minefield that I now like to state the nearest big city for all people concerned when I confirm times.  This means there is no mistake with acronyms and the time for big cities can be found quickly online.  

Takeaway: Create a time on an easy to read global online clock and share the link.  Once you enter in your own time, let everyone check the time themselves.

Where Is Your Audience

Many people only think about the people they are interested in reaching.  There are also many people online who are not used to communicating with international audiences. And let’s face it… you need to pay attention to many little details if you want to communicate with international audiences.

But let me leave you a good reasons why you should remember to pay attention to these little details the next time you set up appointment with people who do not live next door to you.

Building trust across cultures is much harder to do.  You can lose it in a second… and you don’t always realize when you have lost trust.

People notice your cultural differences and these little mistakes stand out.  Your trust building capacity takes a hit when someone feels frustrated at having to make the extra effort to get an appointment right, or when someone feels hurt at having missed an appointment due to a cultural blunder.

No matter how much you appoligize and how well they seem to take it, cultural mistakes like these always make all of the other cultural differences stand out. The perception of dealing with foreigners is strengthened. And this is not the best environment to conduct business.

It’s just not worth it. A little discipline at this early stage can go a long way in building good international relationships.

Now over to you…

• What other cultural differences have you noticed people making that lead to confusion when setting up appointments?
• How do you make sure your international meetings are well organized?
• Do you have a favorite online world clock?

More on Cross-Cultural Differences:

• A Comparison Of Words In Different Cultures
• Cultural Differences In Doing Things
• Culture Changes How Brains Work
• Different Countries = Different Rules
• Different Eye Tracking For Different Cultures
• Free Courses, Content And Culture Scams
• Music In Cultural Differences
• Why These Colors?

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Connect With Your International Markets
• Culture Customized Content
• Cultural Web Tools

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

5 Cultural Differences In Understanding Appointments

Cross-Cultural Differences

I recently got myself into a little bit of trouble in misinterpreting instructions on a deadline. Now this is my fault because I tend to scan most of the information I consume online. But the instructions were not very clear and explicit either and I naturally assumed the most obvious interpretation to me. This is the problem with reading like this.  Scanning favorizes assumptions and assumptions can lead to errors.

Different Meanings In How You Use The Word Deadline

My downfall came because people can use two ways of giving deadlines:

• Deadline December 23rd = meaning this is the last day for you to take action
• Deadline December 23rd = meaning you need to take action before this date. In this case your last day for taking action would be December 22nd.

And I navigate almost exclusively in circles where people use the first example with the deadline date given is the last day to take action. But there are people who give the date to mean the first day after you must take action. And this is what happened to me. I had left taking action to what I thought was the very last day, but I was already one day too late.

Different Ways Of Communication

Let’s look at some differences in language:

• By December 23rd
• Before December 23rd

What do these mean to you? I have actually met different people who use either of these examples with the two different meanings above. This is why setting and interpreting deadlines is not as straightforward as it seems.

Clarify Your Deadlines

When you set deadlines for people who speak a different language, you usually make sure to communicate with extra clarity.  But when setting deadlines for people who speak English too, it’s easy to lose that clarity and assume everyone uses your own communication style. This was a reminder to always clarify deadline dates even within cultures where I expect easy communication.

An Inconvenient Outcome For Both Of Us

Fortunately I was able to get this resolved. But this incident was inconvenient to me for 3 reasons:

• It required 2 hours of my time to resolve this which I would happily have avoided
• It was not resolved properly and brought extra attention to myself
• I hate getting myself noticed like this and feel a small degree of resentment for this service provider’s sloppy instructions for putting me in this situation

The embarrassment and inconvenience was slight, but I will remember this incident in any other future miscommunication. And it’s a shame for this service provider to lose trust points through such a small lack of clarity. As it turned out I was not the only one who had a different interpretation for deadline dates. The instructions were simply not clear enough.

More on Cross-Cultural Differences:

• A Comparison Of Words In Different Cultures
• Cultural Differences In Doing Things
• Culture Changes How Brains Work
• Different Countries = Different Rules
• Different Eye Tracking For Different Cultures
• Free Courses, Content And Culture Scams
• Music In Cultural Differences
• Why These Colors?

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Connect With Your International Markets
• Culture Customized Content
• Cultural Web Tools

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Cultural Differences In Understanding Deadlines

International Business Networking

Most of the business owners I speak with say they want to develop their international business and then end their sentence with a “but”…  and something usually related to “risk“. In digging a little further I find that part of the reason behind this “but” is because they do not know where to start.

Although you may have clients from all over the world this does not mean you are in control of an international business. An international business means you know how to adapt what you sell and how you sell it to different cultures. This is how you begin to develop a truly international business. And this always starts by learning how to:

1. Sell to one country
2. Start with one product first
3. Target your marketing and sales practices to sell this one product to people in this one country

But many people get stuck on the very first step above.

• Where do you start?
• Which country should you target?
• Which country would be easiest to sell to?

International market research is easier to carry out now than ever before. Most businesses can do parts of their market research in-house.  And they probably should do this in-house simply to come to terms with the “risk” involved.

The problem is that you need a clear plan to help you find where your best international market opportunities lie. Here are 7 things you can do to help you make that first choice: the first country where you want to expand your business.

1 – Research Your Own Client And Prospect Data Base Thoroughly

It is worth the effort to go back as far as you can in your international sales records and try to identify any trends in the sales you made.

• Are there any similarities in previous sales?
• Did sales come from a specific country or area?
• Were sales made following an event or particular circumstance?

If you can identify any trigger events influencing your international sales, you have valuable international market knowledge to use to generate future sales.

This is the most useful resource you have because it is the most relevant one to your own business. If you have any international clients this is always a good place to start to identify the first country to develop. But don’t forget to do the following research.

2 – Identify Where Your Competitors Are Overseas

Have a close look at what your competitors are doing abroad.

• Is there a particular country where your competitors seem to be doing well?
• Can you identify a country where you competitors want to get into?
• What trends do you notice and are there any obvious trigger events?

In addition to identifying your competitor’s international penetration, what can you find out about the answers to the questions above with regards to your competitors? You can pick up a wealth of information just by observing others.

3 – Research Industry Data

Be sure to research the differences in industry standards and regulations on the foreign country.

• Are there any reasons why an international business would be difficult to establish in these countries?
• What are the hurdles?
• What trends do you see in current international business in this industry?

This will help you evaluate how to proceed in developing your international business.

4 – Research The Press

When you research the press, don’t forget to look for what is published both in your own country and in the foreign country as well as in the world region you are looking at. Use the free online instant translation tools to give you an idea of what is in the news.

• Can you identify current key players?
• Can you identify any current topics of interest to you and your business?
• What local topics could impact your business opportunities?

Try to get an up-to-date analysis for your industry in the foreign country you are interested in. Use your knowledge of recent events to connect with people when networking for further research.

5 – Do Some Local SEO Research

Once you have a short list of countries, check out the most popular local search engines and do some keyword research in those countries. Start by using the advanced search options on the free keyword research tools.

• Does this information give you ideas on how to position your products in these markets?
• Can you see any trends in keyword results?
• What differences and similarities do you notice?

This will give you a better idea of who your real competitors are in these countries.

6 – Go Beyond Online Research

Once you have the names of the players and have identified possible trends be sure to move to direct local contact. The best option is to move from online research to the telephone. Although networking for international market research on the phone can yield great results:

• Don’t start off with your most valuable contact. You might need to practice your international phone networking skills first.
• Be sure to aim to speak to people with real insider knowledge of your industry in your foreign country.
• Look for various sources from different angles to get a broad view.

Telephone conversation can provide you with more background information faster than you can get over the internet. And telephone networking has another great advantage; it helps you to adapt your mindset.

7 – Talk To Your International Clients

Do not underestimate the value of speaking to your current international clients.

• Ask them why they bought from you to uncover possible trigger events.
• Try to uncover the emotional hot buttons that triggered the purchase and try to get beyond your own cross-cultural filters to understand this fully.
• Find the reason why they chose your company and your product.

If you are not happy with the amount of information you get from speaking with your international clients, spend some time improving your cross-cultural communication skills. It is well worth the investment as speaking to the international clients you already have provides you with so much valuable feedback for your business.

Allow Time For Market Research

International market research takes time. The best thing to do is to allocate time to do the online research and then allocate a fixed amount of time each to do the networking tasks.

Consistency in doing these networking tasks will bring you the answers you need. So although you can do your online research in large chunks at a time, you will probably get more from an hour or two of international networking each day over a period of several weeks to a few months.

International Networking Is A Fundamental International Skill

Many of the businesses I meet say they want to develop their international markets but they are afraid of the risk. The one main advantage to carrying out this type of market research in-house is that you will have a better understanding of the risk involved.

The other advantage to starting with this type of research is that the skills you acquire in doing this type of international research through networking will help you to choose which product to sell and learn how to adapt it to your new foreign market.
What about you?

• How do you carry out your international market research?
• What do you like most international business networking technique to improve your market research?
• What are you biggest challenges in international market research?

Please leave your comments below.

More on International Business Networking:

• The Biggest Mistake In International Networking
• Follow Up With Your First International Clients
• Online Business Networking When Cultural Communication Styles Clash

Get International Clients – Business Guides

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

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

7 Ways To Find Your International Markets

International Business Networking

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.

More on International Business Networking:

• Networking With The Wrong Questions
• 2 Habits To Grow Your International Network
• Follow Up With Your First International Clients
• Online Business Networking When Cultural Communication Styles Clash

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

The Biggest Mistake In International Networking

International Sales Professions

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.

More on International Sales Professions:

• The Job Of An International Sales Specialist
• What Is An International Business Development Executive?
• What Is An International Sales Specialist?
• What Makes A Good International Sales Specialist

Get International Clients – Business Guides On Sales

• Cross-Culture Sales
• Cross-Cultural Negotiation

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

12 Reasons Why International Selling Is Harder

Cross-Cultural Communication 30-Day Challenge – Build Trust

Today we are going to look at one of the nuances in cross-cultural business. As we look at today’s tip to improve cross-cultural communication remember that we are looking at building trust. This is a reminder to question what your international clients think of what you deliver to them.

Do What You Promise

There are many cultural differences in how people react in international business. The good business practices in one culture can come across differently in other cultures. Different cultures may:

• Be indifferent
• Not appreciate them as much as you believe
• Find your tactics as impolite
• Feel awkward and not know what to do
• Feel aggressed in some way
• Prefer something else
• Respond better to something else

Learning how to do business in foreign cultures is a process that can:

• Take time
• Require adjustments on your part

Trust In Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge – Tip 13

Deliver what you promise

Earlier in this series we saw that you need to:

• Clearly explain what you promise
• Be sure you know what your international client expects of you

As you can see, the question of both parties understanding what you promise is just as important as your actually doing what you promise.

Again, today’s tip will not effect all cross-cultural communication in the same way.  This is more important in some cultures than in others.  But in cultures where this is important, it can destroy trust in the blink of an eye.

Let’s assume you follow good company practices and deliver what you say you will deliver.  And let’s also assume that you are continually going through the process of learning more about your international clients’ expectations.  These are both crucial to building trust in cross-cultural communication and in business.

Instead let’s look at this from the other end of doing what you promise.

The Dangers Of Over Delivering On Your Promise

North Americans may have a hard time in appreciating this, especially in a bad economy and when faced with stiff competition… but you need to think twice before you decide to over deliver to your international clients.

Of course, it really depends on multiple factors, but please keep in mind that not all cultures will appreciate the “extras” you decide to give to them.   Most people will appreciate them… but not everyone.

This is similar to the cultural blunders of giving the wrong presents in certain cultures.

How can over delivering go wrong?  Well it depends on what you are over delivering. Here are a few questions to keep in mind:

• Is this going to be a problem for your international client in some way? With your action?  With what you are over delivering?
• Is there a potential cultural faux-pas? This can be with different cultural symbols and meanings to things.  It can also be how things are done and when things are done.

There is enough literature around to know which countries expect money under the table and where this same practice is officially illegal and where it is illegal and enforced.

One example is to look at how some restaurants believe that extra large portions are a good business practice appreciated by all, when some clients will think of this as waste the world cannot afford.

A simple way to avoid cultural faux-pas is to check everything with someone local and competent enough to give you meaningful feedback.

Here is another critical question to ask:

• Would over delivering in any way change your business relationship ? In what way? In a bad way? Would this give your international client “something else” to do? Would he want to do this “something else”?

Remember to least think of these questions and learn when you need to ask them.  With some cultures you would be surprised at the answers.  And this leads to my favorite question.  Instead of deciding how you want to over deliver, dig and find the answers to this question:

• What would your international client truly appreciate?  What would deepen his trust for your business?

Understanding The Scope Of Your Promise

Over delivering may effect expectations.  It may create awkwardness.  It may imply things you could not imagine.The best thing to remember here is to go back to your original promise.

• Outline your promise clearly
• Make an effort to understand your clients’ expectations

Understand the needs and expectations from your cross-cultural client’s perspective, there is a good chance you will have an idea when something is not quite right.

Compare the scope of your promise to your international client with an accurate appreciation of his expectations, will help you find the best way for your business to deliver what you promise.

Final Word Of Advice On Over Delivering

Don’t assume everyone appreciates the same things you do. Check before over delivering on your promise… it could have adverse effects on trust and your business relationship.

If you do have a good idea which delivers more than your international client is expecting, check with the right person, someone local, in the same business and who will share his thoughts freely with you. Give him all of the details so he can give you the advice you need.

Remember to put this into the right context.  For many foreign clients, American companies “over deliver” on service, they go further than companies would in many countries.  I have rarely heard a foreigner get upset about these practices when they take place in the United States.  However, there may be instances where the same “over delivery” that is acceptable in the United States may not “fit right” when received in the foreign country.  Context matters too.

Deliver What You Promise

A very large part of building trust in international clients is based on them getting what they expect and what you promised.  Do not underestimate this.

International clients are curious or nervous… they will probably have a certain apprehension about doing business abroad if it is their first time, or if this is the first time doing business with your company.  Once you are sure you both have the same understanding of what is promised, be sure to deliver it to them.

Over delivery works well in many cultures, or at least over delivery that means something to clients.   But remember to ask the deeper questions of finding out how to build trust with your international clients.

What about you?

• Have you over delivered an international client and not received the response you expected?
• Should businesses that strive to always over deliver keep the same practices for international clients?
• What cross-cultural blunders through over-delivering have you noticed?

Get All Cross-Cultural Communication Tips:

• Read more about all of the 2009 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges
• Cross Cultural Communication Challenge 1 – Expand Your Mindset
• Cross Cultural Communication Challenge 2 – Get Extreme With Clarity
• Cross Cultural Communication Challenge 3 – Build Trust

Free Mini-Posters With Monthly Calenders

Mindset	Clarity	Trust
Expand Your Mindset	Get Extreme With Clarity	Build Trust

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Trust In Cross-Cultural Communication – Tip 13

International Business Networking

How would you like to start your international marketing with one simple tactic? One you can start using with your very first international clients. Do this one tactic and you will also:

• Improve your international market intelligence
• Get the information you need to get more international sales.

Many small businesses put off doing this good international marketing tactic when they first begin to get international clients. There are several reasons for this.  They may:

• Imagine international marketing costs more money than they may have
• Simply not know how to go about marketing to foreign markets
• Feel awkward around different cultures
• Be afraid of making mistakes
• Think it requires a lot of time
• Feel inadequate with people that do not speak the same language

All of these reasons are normal the first time selling to a different country.  But your first international sales can be a source of useful information to use to close more international sales.

The problem with not doing anything is that it wastes time. How many sales slip by when you waste time without taking action?

So what is this one simple thing you can do to start your international marketing?

Follow Up All International Sales By Phone

This simple action often gives you more valuable market information than any other marketing tool for new international markets.

• Systematically follow up with all of your international customers.

And, the best way to follow-up for international clients is by phone. When you speak to your international clients in person, you will get much more than just feedback.

• Systematically following up your international clients by phone rapidly increases your market intelligence for specific countries.
• You will pick up buying patterns on different levels.
• You will identify how each specific foreign market responds to your communication, your product, your offer and your positioning.
• In addition, you never know what gems you may discover.

What To Say When You Follow Up

Do not approach this as a typical after-sales call.  Widen your scope.  Try to understand your international client’s entire sales process:

• Their initial problem and the reasons behind this problem
• Their motivations in looking for your particular product or service
• What they need to consider
• Why they were interested in your offer
• Why they bought from you when they did
• What are they happy about
• What they would change

Instead of treating this like a survey, strike up a real conversation.  Get curious and try to learn more about your international clients. Here are a few guidelines on how to call:

• Call them before they forget you. Do not wait or make excuses.
• Tell them how you value them as a client.
• Keep track of everything. Note the details. Do not summarize or make assumptions.
• Ask them to give you specifics, to explain why they say something.
• Dig a little to understand what got them to buy, what motivated them, what their problem was, what they like about your product and what they did not like, and what you can do to make it better.
• Keep your ears open for other marketing opportunities. Testimonials or referrals. Can you start a selection of international case studies?
• Share other ways clients use your products, give different perspectives on how your product is used.
• Afterward, try to find the little touch that says thank you and shows you listened to your client.

Before you start calling…

International Calls Can Go Wrong

Following up by phone sounds simple enough, right? It is. If do not forget some basic international business skills. Are you just beginning to sell to different countries? Then make sure you:

• Check your time zones before dialing.
• Check days considered as “weekend” days – in Middle Eastern countries.
• Avoid calling on Sunday’s for Saturday/Sunday weekend countries.
• Verify if the number you have is a home number, or an office number and which one is best for your client.
• Do not think that you need to speak their language.  If they bought from you, they must speak your language at least a little.  Be attentive to how they understand you, and adjust your communication to make it easy for them.

More Out Of Your Follow Up Calls

To get the most out of your follow up calls:

• First, remember to note details of the information you get back. You may not be able to identify triggers for sales until you can see a pattern. Review this information regularly.
• Second, try to have the same person call to follow up. If this is not possible, try to get one person per country. And, if this is not possible, arrange for everyone involved to share their information and review it regularly.

Follow-up phone calls are a fast way to get to know new foreign markets. They are simple to do, do not take up much time, and inexpensive with today’s international phone services. This is how systematic telephone follow-up becomes a key tactic for any international market entry strategy. Now, over to you…

• What is your favorite tip to follow up with international clients?
• How do you follow up with your first international clients in new markets?
• What stops you from following up with new international clients?

More on International Business Networking:

• Networking With The Wrong Questions
• 2 Habits To Grow Your International Network
• The Biggest Mistake In International Networking
• Online Business Networking When Cultural Communication Styles Clash

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Follow Up With Your First International Clients