Cindy King's International Business Blog » listen

8 Easy Twitter Monitoring Ideas

Cindy King — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 23:00:42 +0000

Here is my article which was first published on Social Media Examiner:

You’ve likely heard stories about how big companies are using Twitter as a powerful listening tool. And although Chris Brogan has been telling us to grow bigger ears for a while, what are you actually doing about it?

Do you want to improve your Twitter listening skills? Here’s a closer look at how to monitor your brand, yourself or your competitors using Twitter (and you don’t need to be a big business!).

Why Is Twitter an Ideal Listening Tool?

Here’s why Twitter is one of the best social media platforms for listening:

Real-time results. We’ve all heard examples of how breaking news spreads immediately on Twitter. Because of Twitter’s real-time search engine, you can get a quick pulse of public opinion.
Wide reach. Twitter is useful to many different types and sizes of businesses.
Direct feedback. You hear what people are saying as they say it.

With these points in mind, simply follow these guidelines to grow bionic listening ears.

#1: Decide What You Want to Monitor

Decide which information you want to monitor. Common types include your brand names, industry keywords, customers and competitors.

A daily listening routine gives you more value over time. Spend the time you need to find the right mix and create a routine that works for you.

# 2: Find the Best Real-Time Monitoring Tools

Real-time market information is valuable to many businesses today. Here are Nathan Hangen’s suggestions for using Twitter tools. But as professional blogger Ching Ya says, “there’s no such thing as the perfect search tool.” Have a look at Twitter monitoring tools in the decision tree below that Ching Ya put together:

Twitter Monitoring Tools. Image source: http://www.wchingya.com

A good place to start looking for the right people to monitor on Twitter is Twellow. Also check out Twellowhood for location-based searches.

# 3: Track With URL Shorteners

Use URL shortening tools to monitor the links you share on Twitter and help you find out what’s popular with your audience.

As Jeff Bullas says, the popular URL shortener bit.ly “allows you to track how many people are clicking on the shortened link with a set of metrics that displays it in a visual format as well as textually.” This makes it easy to track your important links and monitor the interactions you have on social media.

#4: Follow Hashtags

Hashtags are a simple search tool. People follow hashtags for Keywords, Events and Trending Topics.

You can simply use Twitter search on a hashtag. You can also go to Hashtags.org for statistics.

Found a hashtag, but don’t know what it’s about? Look it up on What The Hashtag, a user-editable encyclopedia for hashtags.

There are also many tools to help you monitor hashtags such as Monitter and Twitterfall. Have a look at how John Haydon uses multiple hashtag searches on TweetGrid to make sure he doesn’t miss parts of the conversation relevant to him.

Be sure to watch the above video!

# 5: Monitor Trends When It’s Appropriate

Twitter is the best social media platform for real-time search. If staying current on what’s happening in the world is important to your business, you also need to stay current on the latest tools for monitoring trending topics on Twitter.

Hashtags are also used for trending topics, so the tools you use for hashtags can also help you to monitor trending topics. In addition to the hashtag tools mentioned above, there are a few other tools to keep in mind when following trends on Twitter:

Trendistic provides a variety of graphs to follow and compare different trends.
Tweetmeme reveals popular retweeted content.
Follow @twithority and @TweetingTrends for up-to-date tweets on current trends.

#6: Use Twitter Lists to Monitor People on Twitter

You might find it convenient to create your own Twitter lists and monitor people through these lists. Remember, you can set up a private list to follow your competitors and you’ll be the only person to see this private list on your Twitter profile.

You can also set up an RSS feed to follow someone else’s Twitter list using Twitter Lists 2 RSS.

#7: Set Up a Listening Plan

A simple listening plan can involve these simple procedures:

Check your keywords on Twitter Search.
Sign up for RSS feeds of the search results you need.
Sign up for email updates for your most important keyword results using tools such as SocialOomph.

You might lose the edge of real-time search but you’ll find more value in a regular routine. With clear objectives on what you need to monitor and by drilling down to find what you’re looking for, simple monitoring tools can give you great results.

#8: Build Relationships

As Olivier Blanchard says, you’re listening to people, so remember to be human. Listening is the first part of creating real relationships with people and it’s only one part of using social media for your business. You still need to connect your Twitter listening to other social media activities to cultivate and nurture relationships in social communication.

As you proceed to connect and engage with people on Twitter, here are a few words from Olivier: “Engagement doesn’t have to be a perfectly designed and executed PR program where every bit of interaction is carefully crafted and weighed against all possible outcomes. Let it be a living, breathing, imperfect thing: Wing it a little.”

To develop your bionic ear you’ll need to interact and adapt your approach based on what you learn when listening on Twitter. Follow these 8 steps to listen more and learn more about the people you want to connect with on Twitter.

What are you doing to develop your Twitter listening skills? How is it working for you? Please share your comments below.

International Sales Best Practice – Adapt Your Communication

Cindy King — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:00:32 +0000

International Sales Best Practices

This is the last cross-cultural communication tip on listening to get extreme with clarity and improve your cross-cultural communication skills. Tomorrow we will start looking at how assumptions can keep you away from clear communication. Here is today’s cross-cultural communication tip:

CCCC Tip #5 – Listen to identify what the other person needs to hear to make the communication easier

This month’s series takes last month’s tips to get extreme clarity in cross-cultural communication and brings them into an international sales perspective. Remember to download the free calender for an easy reference to all of the 30 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tips on clarity. Get the complete International Sales Best Practices series here.

This is the fundamental reason why you should listen to improve clarity in your communication. How does this tie in with international sales best practices?

Cross-Cultural Communication Skills & Sales Best Practices

Let’s have a look at a quote from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book Of Sales Answers.

“Telling is selling. Asking is buying.” – Jeffrey Gitomer

OK. Where is this taking us? Well, I have two things I would like to say here. First, most international sales I have carried out work best with a soft sales approach. Even in industries where a hard sales approach is the standard, when you two people from different cultures come together in business for the first time, they need some time to get acquainted, build trust and drop those cultural barriers. You need to slow down and listen to the other person. Listening is vital. Second, you need to adapt your communication to make it easy for the other person. Skilled international professionals forget about themselves and focus on what the other person needs. This is part of empathy. Of course the business objectives stay in focus, but the personal level is also very present in international business, no matter what culture you are dealing with. Listening and adapting your communication is good for your international sales.

What Is Your Experience Of This In International Sales?

Have you ever realized that your rushed an international sale because you did not take the time to listen and adapt your communication?
Have you tried your standard hard sales practices to get international clients? Did it work?
Do you find it difficult to adapt your communication to different cultures?

If so, please share your comments below. I’d love to hear your stories!

Want To Get The Cross-Cultural Communication Tips?

Two Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges are currently available:

Get all of the tips from these 30 & 31 day challenges, and learn more about the other planned later this year:

2009 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges

All International Sales Best Practices

You can find the complete list of International Sales Best Practices published to date here:

International Sales Best Practices

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International Sales Best Practice – Adapt Your Communication

International Sales Best Practice – Stay Focused

Cindy King — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:00:19 +0000

International Sales Best Practices

Here is another one of last month’s tips on getting extreme with clarity to improve your cross-cultural communication skills.

CCCC Tip #4 – Listen carefully do not read any meanings into what the other person says.

This month’s series takes last month’s tips to get extreme clarity in cross-cultural communication and brings them into an international sales perspective. Remember to download the free calender for an easy reference to all of the 30 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tips on clarity. Get the complete International Sales Best Practices series here.

Have you noticed how the last 3 tips were about listening? Listening is an important tool in bringing clarity to a conversation, if you listen carefully and do not add anything in the process. How does this tie in with international sales best practices?

Cross-Cultural Communication Skills & Sales Best Practices

Let’s have a look at a quote from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book Of Sales Answers.

“The object of a cold call is to set an appointment.” – Jeffrey Gitomer

Yes, on the surface it might appear that I was a little cheeky with this quote from Jeffrey. The truth is that many people read much more into cold calling than it really is. The reality of setting an appointment puts things back into perspective. In cross-cultural communication the same thing happens. I have often encountered people new to international business who spend lots of time reading up and researching cultural differences and they bring this baggage into their cross-cultural encounters. Now, I am not saying that research is bad, but there is a limit to what you can do with it. You do need common sense in applying the things you read into real world situations. And I have often encountered the opposite, when someone does no research and has no experience in international business. It is also easy in this situation to add in extra meaning where there is none. There is a balance to find… and some great people skills to develop. The key is to stay focused.

In addition to this, and looking at my own experience, I like to double check any of my assumptions. In fact, the word “double” in “double-check” is not accurate. In important business situations, I will try to get 3-dimensional vision to look at the assumption. This means that I will look for confirmation of my understanding from three different points of view. This may seem extreme, but I am conscious of my own cultural baggage and in some circumstances this gives me a better feeling that no extra meanings have been added.

What Is Your Experience Of This In International Sales?

Have you ever realized that you added additional meaning into a cross-cultural communication?
Are you aware of the personal cultural baggage you bring into a cross-cultural conversation?
Have you ever felt frustrated when a person from a different culture adds more meaning to what you have said?

If so, please share your comments below. I’d love to hear your stories!

Want To Get The Cross-Cultural Communication Tips?

Two Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges are currently available:

Get all of the tips from these 30 & 31 day challenges, and learn more about the other planned later this year:

2009 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges

All International Sales Best Practices

You can find the complete list of International Sales Best Practices published to date here:

International Sales Best Practices

International Sales Best Practice – Improve The Present

Cindy King — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:00:05 +0000

International Sales Best Practices

Here is another one of last month’s tips on getting extreme with clarity to improve your cross-cultural communication skills.

CCCC Tip #3 – Listen to how the other person’s conversation fits with yours.

This month’s series takes last month’s tips to get extreme clarity in cross-cultural communication and brings them into an international sales perspective. Remember to download the free calender for an easy reference to all of the 30 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tips on clarity. Get the complete International Sales Best Practices series here.

This helps us to pick up areas that need more clarity. It helps us to find the right way to connect across cultures. How does this tie in with international sales best practices?

Cross-Cultural Communication Skills & Sales Best Practices

Well, first of all, this gets you to concentrate on what is happening in the present moment. And this is important. But, before going any further, let’s have a look at a quote from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book Of Sales Answers.

“Become the best where you already are, and then move up.” – Jeffrey Gitomer

There are several good reasons to focus on your communication one step at a time. For the purpose of this article, we will only look at improving clarity in cross-cultural communication. The most important reason is because cross-cultural communication is mined with possible pitfalls. This is due to many factors influenced by cultural differences. Quite simply, if you do not pay close attention to the conversation you could miss the small signs that tell you where need to add more clarity to your communication. Cross-cultural communication has to be flexible. You need to be ready to explain and adapt your communication to make a real connection and get your message across. Listen to how each part of the conversation fits with another. You have a better chance of creating a meaningful connection when you concentrate on each step of the conversation. When you concentrate on improving the clarity of your communication, you also become better at it.

What Is Your Experience Of This In International Sales?

Have you ever “missed” a cross-cultural communication?
Do you find it difficult to hear what the other person from a different culture is saying?
Did you ever feel that you rushed a sales, because you did not connect within a cross-cultural encounter?

If so, please share your comments below. I’d love to hear your stories!

Want To Get The Cross-Cultural Communication Tips?

Two Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges are currently available:

Get all of the tips from these 30 & 31 day challenges, and learn more about the other planned later this year:

2009 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges

All International Sales Best Practices

You can find the complete list of International Sales Best Practices published to date here:

International Sales Best Practices

International Sales Best Practice – All Of Your Communication Counts

Cindy King — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:00:51 +0000

International Sales Best Practices

Let’s review one of last month’s tips on getting extreme with clarity to improve your cross-cultural communication skills.

CCCC Tip #2 -
Focus on what the other person says with his words, body language, flow of conversation and also what is not said.

This month’s series takes last month’s tips to get extreme clarity in cross-cultural communication and brings them into an international sales perspective. Remember to download the free calender for an easy reference to all of the 30 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tips on clarity. Get the complete International Sales Best Practices series here.

How does this tie in with international sales best practices?

Cross-Cultural Communication Skills & Sales Best Practices

There are two sides to this. Focusing on the whole communication reminds me of a quote from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book Of Sales Answers.

“Be aware that bosses will often ask gatekeepers what they thought of the salesperson. The gatekeepers thinking will often determine your fate.” – Jeffrey Gitomer

Of course, this can be true with your international clients too. Some cultures may have different expectations for how you should treat different members of their staff. But they will notice your interaction. In cross-cultural communication:

Everything you communicate adds to the conversation this includes all aspects of verbal and non-verbal communication
Your communication with everyone you meet is also important

It is not always easy to know how you should communicate and what is expected of you. Different cultures have different expectations. The only certainty is that your communication counts.

When in doubt there are a few things you can do:

Prepare your meeting well by researching and asking questions of what is expected
Ask an experienced person to accompany you and guide you
Explain your lack of knowledge during the meeting and ask for guidance
Pay attention to everything you communicate and everything the other person communicates

This is one of the most important tasks in cross-cultural communication. Increase your clarity in communication here and you will also increase your international sales skills.

What Is Your Experience Of This In International Sales?

Have you ever had a cross-cultural encounter where you did not feel prepared?
Did you pay attention to all of the conversation, both verbal and non-verbal?
Did you have the impression that you were not picking up on some important parts of the conversation?

If so, please share your comments below. I’d love to hear your stories!

Want To Get The Cross-Cultural Communication Tips?

Two Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges are currently available:

Get all of the tips from these 30 & 31 day challenges, and learn more about the other planned later this year:

2009 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges

All International Sales Best Practices

You can find the complete list of International Sales Best Practices published to date here:

International Sales Best Practices

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International Sales Best Practice – All Of Your Communication Counts

International Sales Best Practice – Listen & Uncover

Cindy King — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:00:29 +0000

International Sales Best Practices

Last month’s tips on getting extreme with clarity helps to improve your cross-cultural communication skills. But how do you tie these skills in with international sales best practices to get more international clients? That is what we are going to look at this month.

This month’s series takes last month’s tips to get extreme clarity in cross-cultural communication and brings them into an international sales perspective. Remember to download the free calender for an easy reference to all of the 30 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tips on clarity. Get the complete International Sales Best Practices series here.

Cross-Cultural Communication Skills & Sales Best Practices

To make things a little fun, here is a quote from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book Of Sales Answers. Jeffrey has a knack for giving it to you straight. His sales tips are often a good place to start with international sales best practices. Let’s see how the cross-cultural communication tip fits in.

“Everything you need to know about a customer has been written by them or about them. And it lives on the Internet. All you have to do is uncover it. And use it.” – Jeffrey Gitomer

And here is the cross-cultural communication tip from last month:

CCCC Tip #1 -
Open your eyes, ears and your whole mind… and follow all aspects of your cross-cultural communication.

More than any other sales environments, international sales requires a personal connection between the sales person and the international client. One of the biggest issues here is trust. And this often begins with the personal trust between two people. Not the companies. It’s about the people. In fact, if this personal encounter between two people does not go well, it will jeopardize the sale.

This means you must play an active role in making sure your cross-cultural encounter goes well. And the first step in listening and uncovering the best way to make the connection. The better you listen, the better chances you have of creating a successful cross-cultural connection.

This is why active listening is important… and why you should go out and look for the information you need. Sometimes you need to change your position to put your ear in the right place to be able to hear what you need to hear. Curiosity is a great thing tool to improve your listening.

What Is Your Experience Of This In International Sales?

Have you ever been happy you got curious about your cross-cultural encounter?
Did you ever regret not having enough background information about your cross-cultural encounter?
Did this impact your international sales?

Please share your stories in the comments below.

Want To Get The Cross-Cultural Communication Tips?

Two Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges are currently available:

Get all of the tips from these 30 & 31 day challenges, and learn more about the other planned later this year:

2009 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges

All International Sales Best Practices

You can find the complete list of International Sales Best Practices published to date here:

International Sales Best Practices

Clarity In Cross-Cultural Communication – Tip 30

Cindy King — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:00:06 +0000

Cross-Cultural Communication 30-Day Challenge – Get Extreme With Clarity

This is the last tip in this series to get extreme with clarity in cross-cultural communication. And we end with a basic best practice and yet it is the hardest. Like most of the other cross-cultural communication tips to succeed in today’s tip it takes personal effort and practice.

Clarity In Cross-Cultural Communication Tip 30

Here is today’s tip:

Try to see your communication from the other person’s viewpoint

Of course, if when we are able to see things from the other person’s viewpoint, it is easy to communicate clearly. We understand what needs to be explained and how to approach the communication. We know how to make the connection for an effective conversation. Clarity of communication become obvious.

But it is not easy to see your communication from the other person’s viewpoint.

Beginner’s Over Confidence

It often seems to me that we are more confident in our understanding of the other person’s viewpoint when we are novice in cross-cultural communication. It is often only with experience that we realize just how far we are from being able to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes and seeing things as he sees them.

Personal Limitations

In practice, after spending years working with specific cultures I can look back and see my own limitations. Of course, compared to others I have a very intimate understanding some cultures. For example my understanding of the French, Malay, British and Canadian cultures as a “foreigner” goes very deep. But I have encountered barriers within myself that stop me from becoming “native”.

Of course, I usually have an excellent understanding of the viewpoints of the people from these cultures. I can anticipate reactions and adapt my communication to improve clarity for the other person. But I will always communicate with these cultures from my own personal cultural standpoint.

In international business, this level of cultural understanding is usually more than enough. As I mentioned earlier, with experience you realize the distance that separates you from other cultures. This is because you become aware of your own limitations.

What’s Next

Leave a comment below and tell me how happy or frustrated you are with your understanding of different cultural viewpoints and how this effects your international business.

Cross-Cultural Communication Calendar

Look out for the calendar for 30 days to get extreme with clarity, published later this week and free to download.

International Sales Best Practices

Just like with the last Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge, we will review each of these tips to see how they fit into international sales best practices.

Build Trust

Our next Cross-cultural Communication Challenge will be on trust and it will be in September.

Use this tip as a starting point. Think about what this means to you. Not sure what you think about this? There are a few links below for suggested reading to get you started. Follow each of these tips this month to improve your cultural skills.

Further 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

Clarity In Cross-Cultural Communication – Tip 29

Cindy King — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:00:56 +0000

Cross-Cultural Communication 30-Day Challenge – Get Extreme With Clarity

It is not always easy to get a global vision of your cross-cultural communication. Sometimes it takes a little digging to understand the real conversation. This global vision can often show you where you need to get extreme clarity in your communication.

Clarity In Cross-Cultural Communication Tip 29

Today’s tip reminds us not to get complacent and to continually look for ways to improve our communication:

Look for reasons behind for questions especially if they are recurring questions

When a question surprises you or appears out of context, this should raise your attention. And if the similar questions pop up more than once, there is usually a need for more clarity in your communication.

It is easy to excuse these little signals as part of the cultural differences of the other person. But the cause is not always found on the other side. Remember to question your own communication. The more you become aware of your contribution to the cross-cultural conversation and how this is received, the better you will become at adapting your communication for a better understanding.

Now, this might seem very basic. And it is. The truth is that many things take place during some cross-cultural encounters and it is easy to forget some basic communication best practices. International professionals develop strong mental multi-tasking skills to monitor the cross-cultural communication as a whole. This is how you can usually pick up signals for the need for more clarity in the communication.

Further Suggested Reading & Viewing

Get All Cross-Cultural Communication Tips:

Free Mini-Posters With Monthly Calenders

Mindset	Clarity	Trust

Expand Your Mindset	Get Extreme With Clarity	Build Trust