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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

International Sales Best Practice – Monitor The Whole Picture

Cindy King — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:00:11 +0000

Monthly Series – International Sales Best Practices

Some of the younger generations around me appear to have different desires in how they want to identify themselves with the company they work for. When I think about this, I have also noticed cultural differences in how people like to identify themselves with the company they work for.

Last month I wrote about how you need to show confidence in your company when you present yourself to international clients. Now, I know there will be some employees who will not share this opinion… especially if they are not in international business. But let’s have a closer look at this…

I have already written about how there is a natural mistrust when doing business with a “foreigner” for the first time. When you encounter someone from a different culture you notice everything about him. They notice everything about you too… they will even notice things about you that you could not imagine.

And they will notice the whole picture you represent. As a cross-cultural sales person you can be so focused on establishing the personal connection amidst a variety of cultural differences, that you forget to take in the whole picture of what your international client sees. He will notice how confident you are in your company, he will pick up how you feel about your company. And he will also take in more information within the whole picture you represent to him.

Building Trust In International Sales – Tip 9

Better to trust the man who is frequently in error than the one who is never in doubt. -Eric Sevareid

International Sales Best Practice
- Monitor The Whole Picture

Today’s international sales best practice brings us to the environment of multitasking to monitor a very large number of diverse factors that can influence the success of your international sale.. This multitasking is primarily a way to monitor all aspects of the cross-cultural environment within your business objectives. There are several levels you need to monitor in international business.

Immediate Cross-Cultural Communication

There are different facets to your communication:

Verbal
Non-verbal or body language
What is not said
What is said individually
What is said by the group, or the whole conversation
How things are said with regards to vocabulary, timing and context

This is covered in detail in the previous Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges, so have a look there for more details.

You will keep these different types of communication in mind and then look at the answers you get with these 3 things in mind.

1 – How You Are Perceived

This is an important one. You must monitor how others perceive you, your team, your company and your product.

2 – How What You Represent Is Perceived

Beware… this is not an easy one to uncover. It’s not only about how you are perceived. Your international client might have other things in their picture of you. And you will need to find out what they are.

Your international client’s perception of you can go beyond you and your company and include:

Your country
Your industry
Your local environment
Your sponsors
Your clients

You cannot really know for sure what is in this picture. Only your international client knows how he perceives you and what else matters to him. This can even be abstract things. It could even be an event… imagine how the event of September 11th effected international business.

Your international client may not know himself what is in that picture… and you will not be able to tell until he starts reacting to it.

3 – Reactions And Responses

This can be easy and it can also take up a lot of energy. It really depends on your cultural skills, experience and the culture mix. There is one thing to remember in all circumstances though…

Closely monitor all feedback you get from your international clients. If you do take a laid back approach and get lazy with your communication you do open yourself to cultural hiccups.

Monitoring Means Multitasking

As you can see, there is a variety of information to pay attention to in international business. And there are different levels of information. There are so many details to monitor in fact, that as an international sales professional you learn to pick up a specific set of multitasking skills to monitor communication with your clients.

You need to become skilled at this form of multitasking because you need to put your business objectives in there too. And this enables you to do the final step of adjusting your communication to find the path towards the outcome you want.

Now it is over to you…

How do you monitor your cross-cultural communication with international clients?
What do you find difficult to monitor in your cross-cultural communication?
What tactics do you use to monitor your cross-cultural communication?

Please share your stories in the comment section below.

More Cultural Skills For Today’s Tip

Last month’s Cross-Cultural Communication Tip
- Show confidence in your company and those you work with

This month’s series takes reviews last month’s tips to build trust in cross-cultural communication and adds 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 trust. Get the complete International Sales Best Practices series here.

Want To Get All Cross-Cultural Communication Tips?

Three 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

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International Sales Best Practice – Monitor The Whole Picture