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
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