Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge – Expand Your Mindset

Today’s Cross Cultural Communication Challenge Tip is the most important thing to keep in mind when dealing with people from different cultures.  This tip alone can help you communicate much more effectively.

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tip #2

Your challenge to improve you cross-cultural mindset:

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

Suggested Reading:

• Curiosity Versus Empathy
• Better Cross-Cultural Communication – Rephrase, Don’t Shout
• 7 Tips For Easy Cross Cultural Encounters

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

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tip 2

Improve Your International Sales Skills

Do you already have a few international clients? One of the easiest ways get more international sales is to ask questions. This is the simplest way to learn more about your new foreign markets.

What You Can Find Out

Ask your international clients to learn more about:

• Why they bought from you?
• Why they like your product?
• What problems do they have?
• What have they already tried to solve their problems?
• How did they came to your product?
• What else will they be buying?
• How do they evaluate your product?
• With what criteria do they evaluate your product?
• How will they use your product?
• When will they use your product?
• What outcome are they looking for?

You will probably add more questions to this list.  The key here is not so much in the list of questions.

Yes…

There are some questions on this list that will be critical for your international sales and marketing strategies.

But it is how you use this list that is really important. The questions on this list will help you begin a conversation, but where will your conversation take you?

Identify The Immediate Questions

Let’s take a closer look at the last question:  What outcome are they looking for?

Your prospect or client may be at a different stage in his buying cycle.

Buying cycles can be different for different markets. They can also be shorter or longer.

So you do want to make sure you identify the right questions you must answer today.

When you open a sales conversation and ask questions you need to find out:

• What does your client want from this conversation?
• How can you help him now?
• What does he want to know today that will help him in his buying cycle?

Your sales conversation begins when you answer these questions for your international client.  So you need to find the right questions to ask.

Also, remember, if you have marketing information online, you also need to find out what your prospect already knows. You need to know what he has seen before diving into your sales cycle.

Most of your international clients will not mind if you are new to international sales.  The difference is in your choice of questions.  They will notice whether you are trying to understand their problems and sincerely want to help them.

Questions Can Show You Opportunities

Cross-cultural differences can make it difficult to find out what your prospects wants, or needs, an answer to.

This happens to me often with clients from cultures where indirect communication is predominant.  And it usually takes a few extra steps to find out the question I need to answer.

Consistent effort helps you to dig up the real problems your international clients are faced with.  And this can help you discover your real international business opportunities.

When you have a few international clients it is worth this extra effort in finding the right questions to answer.  This is how you can learn about different markets.

Even when clients come to you accidentally, you can use these clients to dig up more international opportunities.

More On Improve Your International Sales Skills:

• Basic Skills You Need To Stand Out Today
• Do Not Give Up Too Soon On Your International Business
• Do You Have A Clear Vision Of How To Get International Sales?
• Do You Know The Real Questions Your International Clients Are Asking?
• Emotion Buttons For International Sales
• How Good People Skills Also Grow Your International Business
• Improve Your International Sales Skills For Your Competitive Advantage
• Learning International Skills From A Course Or A Book
• The Multiple Facets Of International Sales Preparation

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Discover Your International Business
• Cross-Culture Sales
• Cross-Cultural Negotiation
• Cultural Web Tools

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Do You Know The Real Questions Your International Clients Are Asking?

International Business Development Strategy

When I first speak to clients who are not familiar with international business development I almost always have to do the same thing.

• Get back to basics.

You see most clients call me when they are ready to go into international markets.  They have already made a few outlines in their strategy, but they realize they need a stepping stone to help they get into action.

But their questions are already too far advanced.

They have not answered the more basic questions.  And you need the answers to these basic questions before you can go any further.

You know…

The difference between the questions most businesses ask me and the information they need to know before anyone can answer these questions reminds me of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid.

A Quick Exercise

Look at this pyramid and think of the questions you need to ask your foreign market with regards to the product or service you want to sell to them.

Yes, you do need to stretch your imagination a little.  But if you do this, you can see where a common problem lies.

Optimizing Business

You see…

Most of my clients start off by asking me questions that are too advanced for a new foreign business.  They assume that their new international business is an extension of their basic domestic business model.

So their questions fit more in the green or blue part of this pyramid:

• How do we sell our products to an international market?
• What do we need to sell our products abroad?

Understanding Your Foreign Prospects Uniqueness

But no one can answer these questions without looking at your international market through a different lens than the one you use for your domestic market.  Yes, it is a completely new market.

You need to know the answers to questions that fall in the red and orange part of this pyramid.

• What does your client need?
• Are your clients needs different?
• How will your prospects respond to you?
• Will they feel threatened in any way?
• Will you appear friendly, in the right area of communication they need?

Now, you do not always have the answers to these questions.  In fact you should not hang around to get them.  Besides, even if you do have answers, they may be wrong.

In Maslow’s pyramid these are after all very personal questions.

So…

How can we find out what the answers to these questions are?

Communication

The key is in the yellow part of the pyramid.  This is where you need to start.

Because you need to:

• Make contact with your foreign prospects.
• Communicate with them.

Before you can get anywhere else.

And…

This is very important…

During this “get to know each other” phase you must not forget to verify your assumptions about the answers to all the questions you can think of in the red and orange areas.

This is why you must start here before you can answer any of the more advanced questions.  If anyone answers any of your green or blue questions before this, you risk making false assumptions.  And in cross-cultural business relations this can happen without you realizing it.

Ongoing market research and business intelligence limits this risk.

Don’t forget to have a look at these two articles.  They do not speak about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  But they also explain the sequences involved in international business and why certain questions need to come before others.

• The 7 Traditional Paths To International Business Development
• 5 Traditional Marketing Steps To Become An International Business

Start With Relationships

Let’s look at it another way.

• International business is based on international sales.
• International sales are based on relationships.
• And relationships need to start someplace and then grow.

When you begin to develop your business abroad you will have to do some very basic tasks first.

These basic tasks will involve market research or the gathering of information.

The problem is that most business forget to ask the basic questions, or enough of these basic questions, during this market research phase.

Without the answers to these basic questions you can easily assume your new international market is like the markets you are familiar with and get off on a bad start.

Both Sides Of The Coin

This can work for you and against you.

Of course, you can be lucky and make all the right assumptions.

But you can also waste time and money creating the wrong offer or the wrong sales message for your foreign market.

And don’t forget this last scenario…

I have come across a  number of businesses who do not believe they could sell their wares to foreign shores.  Business is a struggle in their own domestic market and they cannot believe all the hassle of foreign exchange rates and foreign clients can be worth the effort.

And yet, these are the businesses that miss real opportunities.

More On International Business Development Strategy:

• 5 Actions To Start Developing Your International Markets
• Action Strategy For International Business Development
• Aligning Your Questions To Build Your International Business
• Are People In Small Countries Better International Business Developers?
• Are You Outsourcing Too Much?
• Define International Business
• Global Or International Business?
• Is The Expense Of Foreign Travel Stopping You From Getting International Clients?
• Market Research For International Business Development
• New International Business Development Phase Today With The Right Marketing Mix
• Online Success? Study Traditional Paths To International Business Development For More
• Plans With Adaptability, Flexibility And Agility
• Small Businesses Need To Take Action To Uncover International Business Opportunities
• When Discrimination Is Useful In International Business

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

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

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Aligning Your Questions To Build Your International Business