International Customer Expectations

My phone rang last night. It was just as one of my favorite TV shows was starting.  Now the show was on a DVD, as I answered the phone, I heard the introductory music start…

….the caller spoke to me in English.

Now this might not be significant to you.

But I live in France.  And my family lives in various parts of North American.

So phone calls in English at night are usually not good news.

The caller got my attention immediately.  Because he was speaking to me in English.

The introductory music ended on my TV show.  I hesitated about going over to stop the recording. 

…I could always re-start it again later

The caller was not anyone in my family.

…what did he want?

…If this call is going to take too long I will not be able to finish the show tonight…or it’s another late night again!

A Sales Pitch Late At Night

What?

The second sentence from my caller is “now you are interested in earning an extra $50,000 a year, aren’t you?”

A sales call?  From an American?  On my home phone in France?

– “Where did you get this number?”

– “Well you must have bought one my Mr. Get Rich Quick Internet Marketer’s products at one time or another”

No Relationship With The Company Intruding On My Privacy

Hmm, this Mr. Get Rich Quick Internet Marketer did have a $1 offer with a semi-hidden membership plan a while ago.

– “Do you know what time it is where I am?”

– “Uhhhh.  No”

It’s not that a semi-hidden offer gets under my skin.  But I definitely prefer very clear up-front information when it concerns my credit card.

Besides, Mr. Get Rich Quick Internet Marketer’s follow up emails talked so much about how his Mom thought he was great that I never stayed around on his membership plan.  I am sure he is a good guy.  It’s just that I was too busy to get beyond his mother.

…So after a $1 offer good enough to spark my interest, but with a semi-hidden membership pulling you in, I now get a call late at night.

This is an up-sell?

– “Do you know that it is late at night my end?”

– “No, can I call you back in a couple of hours?”

– “No, I’ll be asleep by then”

…You know what, I don’t want to go to bed late because of someone like this.

– “Look, if you do not know how to check time zones for international calls, just take my name off your list.”

Bad Timing For An Up-Sell

Apart from the bad choice of time to call me, there was also one other major flaw with this call.

It was also a very bad time to call me with an up-sell.

First, I never hooked up with this particular Get Rich Quick Internet Marketer:

• The shady membership sign up was a turn off
• The “my mother loves me” series of emails bored me

Second, even if I had been hooked, the timing for the up-sell was all wrong:

• Jumping from $1 to several hundred dollars creates barriers in me
• Jumping from a massive launch campaign to the privacy of my home is too much, too soon

Different Personal Expectations

Let’s look at the personal point of view…

Depending where you live, and your own cultural background, you might have responded just like I did.  And you might not have. You might have immediately bought into the “you are interested in earning an extra $50,000 a year, aren’t you?” pitch.  And you might take phone calls later than I do.

Different Marketing Expectations

Now, let’s look at the marketing…

The “my mother loves me” series of emails were obviously trying to stimulate a positive reaction.  As I said, it is fairly credible that this guy is indeed a great person.  So this first series of emails may have been enough to prepare for a direct home call for an up-sell for some people.  But it would certainly not work in all cultures.

I have often noticed how the big Get Rich Quick Internet Marketers assume they have international businesses and that they do not need international marketing.

After all, they are popular enough to get large quantities of international orders. Their products and their sales and marketing appear to be working just fine.

Just A Little Thought Is All It Takes

Now what if…

…this Mr. Get Rich Quick Internet Marketer had…

• Targeted his original “my mother loves me” email series to markets culturally open to this sort of approach, and then used another set of emails with a more appropriate approach for other cultures.
• Given more thought to the timing and appropriateness of his up-sell strategy.

It would have been a different story my end.

But, right now he comes across to me as:

• A little bit of a simplistic jerk
• Definitely a person who wants to both waste my time and take my money before proving to me that he has any value to give me.

You need to give a little thought to how you go about marketing to your international clients.

It is not rocket science.

It is simply stepping down a moment to try to see things like they do.

And remember, selling products and services over the internet does not mean you have an international business.

In order…

• To develop,
• To up-sell,
• To use sales funnel, or sales pipeline strategies,

…to your international markets…You need sound international marketing practices.

More On International Customer Expectations:

• Cross Cultural Customer Service Expectations
• Customer Expectations, Satisfaction & Loyalty
• International Customer Experience
• Up-Sell Expectations Across Cultures

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Connect With Your International Markets
• Cross-Culture Sales
• Cultural Web Tools

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Up-Sell Expectations Across Cultures

International Lead Generation

Internet marketing can open your business to different countries. But it is not always easy to actually get foreign sales.

You need more than a website and basic internet marketing.

International Lead Generation System

You will only be able to make international sales if you have a good lead generation system.

This is not the only thing you need.

Marketing Pipeline

In order to get sales-ready leads from abroad you also need to set up a marketing pipeline in parallel with your lead generation system.

Good marketing combined with a solid lead generation strategy:

• Gets you international sales
• Save your company time and money chasing the wrong “leads”.

Combine both a lead generation with a solid marketing strategy to focus your actions for faster results. Without focused actions, you will not have a strong enough impact on your international markets.

International Market Research

You also need to learn from your international markets and adapt your strategies to fit your foreign prospects real desires and needs.

This means you also need to implement an international lead generation program with a marketing pipeline you can document, measure, track and refine.

Define What You Need To Measure

Tracking and measuring your results is vital to international online success. It is easy to misinterpret statistics and jump to the wrong conclusions. This happens even more often with different cultural markets.

It is important to prepare what you are going to measure and develop the right tracking process for your business.

An Online International Lead Generation System Right For You

Lead nurturing does take time. The earlier you create and nurture a relationship with your clients the more likely you are to sell to them when they are ready.

This nurturing process also gives you the time and space to get to know your international markets. A good tracking and measurement system will pay off.

Is an international lead generation system is right for you?

More On International Lead Generation articles:

• Create Front End Acquistion Information Products For International Sales
• How To Avoid Wasting Your International Potential
• International Lead Generation With An Information Product Strategy
• Up-Sell Expectations Across Cultures

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Run Your International Sales Strategy
• Guide To International Lead Generation
• Guide To Multicultural Marketing
• Connect With Your International Markets

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

How To Avoid Wasting Your International Potential

International Lead Generation

International internet marketing goes a long way to help you get international visitors to your website. But you also need a good international sales strategy.

Most businesses using internet marketing to reach international audiences do not have overseas offices and staff. Many of these companies, and probably the vast majority, do not have any real sales strategy to get more international leads and clients.

There are two different sales strategies often referred to online:

• Front End Acquisition
• Back End Sales

The internet marketing strategies are very different for each of these.

Businesses usually learn how to go after international back end sales. This is usually as easy as customized emails and phone calls.

A good front end acquisition strategy can open up international markets for your business. Without the expense of overseas offices and foreign travel.

But international front end acquisition sales are harder. They need more international market knowledge and marketing savvy. They also take longer to put in place.

Brick and mortar companies with an online presence will often not even think they have a way to create a front end acquisition strategy.

And yet, information products offer every business the ideal opportunity to create a front end acquisition strategy. Persistent internet marketing with good tracking and testing practices offer every business the way to adapt to international markets.

International business expansion is available for those who put together a good front end acquisition sales plan and work with it to learn about their international markets.

More On International Lead Generation articles:

• Create Front End Acquistion Information Products For International Sales
• How To Avoid Wasting Your International Potential
• International Lead Generation With An Information Product Strategy
• Up-Sell Expectations Across Cultures

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Run Your International Sales Strategy
• Guide To International Lead Generation
• Guide To Multicultural Marketing
• Connect With Your International Markets

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Create Front End Acquistion Information Products For International Sales

International Lead Generation

Developing an international business or getting more international clients has never been easier with international internet marketing. And yet so few companies are using the tools they have available to them.
One of these tools is Information Products. Companies have always used information products. In their printed versions and even PowerPoint versions.

Maybe companies are stuck in the old way of using information. Information tools in the past were used as a static form of sharing information. The sales team did almost all of the leg work. The main exception being the use of printed coupons to incite readers to come into your store.

Today information products also provide a platform to send your readers to the next step in the dialog you want to have with them. Hyperlinks embedded in your information products are a little like the printed coupons, except they are much, much more versatile.

The selection of information products has also more than doubled with the internet. This also gives greater capacity to steer your prospects along and gives them the opportunity of getting to know you better.

This change in the function of information products explains why so few companies are taking advantage of the internet marketing possibilities.

There are more types of information products available today, both online and offline. Combined with a little internet marketing and a little market research, you can create effective international lead generation strategies.

Information products used strategically throughout an international lead generation program cuts out a large portion of the work normally done by an international sales team. This gives small businesses the possibility of expanding internationally without the travel, without hiring overseas staff and limits much of the risk.

The other good reason to use an international lead generation program based on information products and an international internet marketing plan, is it allows businesses to start developing internationally on the smallest of budgets. International budgets can grow as your international market knowledge grows.

International business promotion can be created to fit your budget.

Start with free online promotion for your international markets. Add some offline promotion wisely, during one international event for example and increase your promotion budget as your international sales increase.

More On International Lead Generation articles:

• Create Front End Acquistion Information Products For International Sales
• How To Avoid Wasting Your International Potential
• International Lead Generation With An Information Product Strategy
• Up-Sell Expectations Across Cultures

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Run Your International Sales Strategy
• Guide To International Lead Generation
• Guide To Multicultural Marketing
• Connect With Your International Markets

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International Lead Generation With An Information Product Strategy