International Sales Professions
Last week we looked at what an International Sales Specialist is. So, what does an International Sales Specialist do?
Obviously an international sales specialist knows how to make sales. International sales. But, let’s look into this a bit more. A salesperson’s job can take on wider responsibilities when selling to an international sales region.
Start With International Sales Skills
When you first start selling to international clients you can adapt your core sales skills to fit into an international environment.
The time you need to acquire an international dimension to your sales skills depends on several factors.
It can take 6 months to take your sales skills to a basic international skill level. But the time you need depends on your several personal skills too.
In addition to cross-cultural differences, there are also cultural differences in industry environments. These differences influence the time an international sales person needs to adapt to new foreign markets.
Cross-Cultural Skills Add Competence
Through practice, you also acquire cross-cultural skills in addition to your basic international sales skills.
These cross-cultural skills can take your basic international skills to a much higher level of competence.
Cross-cultural skills increase your international sales skills and give you a broader base of international skills. They help you to carry out more tasks associated with an international sales specialist’s role.
The Full International Business Advantage
The full value of an international sales specialist is his ability to identify the right way to communicate with different cultures in different circumstances:
- To find the right offer for foreign sales appeal.
- To prevent and smooth out any cultural blunders in foreign client relationships.
- To identify the best flow for your business communication. The how and when to communicate for sales success.
Good international sales skills combined with cross-cultural communication skills also allows the international sales specialist to become a source of key international business intelligence for his company. This is a distinct advantage many companies need and it broadens the scope of the role the international sales specialist plays.
Many businesses choose their first international sales person carefully. And with good reason. An international sales specialist is a key player in any international business development endeavor.
What about you?
- Do you have any specific questions related to international sales professions?
- Do you have any other insights to share?
- What do you like about international sales jobs?
Please leave your comments below.
More on International Sales Professions:
- 12 Reasons Why International Selling Is Harder
- What Is An International Business Development Executive?
- What Is An International Sales Specialist?
- What Makes A Good International Sales Specialist
{ 2 comments }
I've noticed most international sales specialists are still strongly connected to a certain area (CEMEA, Wester Europe, North US, South America, etc). As it's impossible to sell to all countries, especially when doing it for a larger company, they specialize in a certain area and the lack of experimenting time leads to them being bound to the culture of that specific region. They would rarely switch to a completely different area and when they do, they need time to adjust and combine old and new skills.
Would a rotating scheme in international sales departments work for or against a company? I;m not really sure.
I think people have different aptitudes in acquiring cross-cultural skills. Also a company policy of 2 years here, and then 2 years there does not really allow most people to develop their personal skills well enough. I myself like 4 years total immersion in a new culture. But people are different. I recently encountered a business man who thumbed his fists on the table saying everyone needs 7 years and nothing less than 7 years. It's an interesting debate, but hard to put all of the factors into context.
Another important thing to include, is there are definitely different levels of skill sets. Someone with a highly developed international skill set can easily navigate in any culture on this planet. He is not stuck to any one region. I've found these people are few and far between. But I have noticed that they are the quiet ones. The ones that speak out loudly usually still have a ways to go… and yes, their international skills tend to be limited to their own experience.
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 19 trackbacks }