International selling skills - Column

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Feb 1, 1993 by Josh Gordon

Selling to people from abroad is fun and full of surprises. Just be sure the surprises are good ones.

All markets are rapidly becoming world markets, and if you haven't already, you soon will be calling on someone from another country to sell ad space. Do you know what you need to know to be effective?

A good way to start learning is to listen to what some business people from other countries have to say about us. German-born Eric Falkenberg, executive vice president of Sachtler Corporation of America, says, "When I first came [to the United States], there was something I found mind-boggling. I would get these faxes, telexes and emergency telephone calls saying, |This is a super-duper issue and you must be there!' In Europe, I don't get these panic calls."

Falkenberg adds that he also had difficulty adapting to the short time Americans stay at their jobs. "With some U.S. magazines," he says, "it seems there was a new person calling on me every six months. In Europe, people have much greater longevity, with their companies."

We Americans are notorious for our stubborn inability to speak any language but English, and we sometimes compound the error by being insensitive to those who are making the effort to learn our language. Says Japanese-born Kenji Saotome, director of administration for Canon USA's Broadcast Division, "When I first came to the United States from Japan, my experiences were very frustrating because I couldn't always explain fully what I meant in English. When you are dealing with someone in that situation," Saotome warns, "you should understand that 65 percent of what they are thinking is probably beneath the surface."

French-born Pierre Noizat, president of Thomson Broadcast Inc., warns against focusing too much on differences: "Don't focus on the foreign aspect of the buyer, because that might make him uncomfortable. I don't want to be thought of as a Frenchman when you call on me. I want to be thought of as a good businessman. "

Saotome adds that what he looks for in Americans who call on him is no different from what American clients are looking for: "I want to know what is the benefit I will get from meeting with you. I can buy space without meeting you. I want to hear timely information that you can share with me about my business."

Selling to someone from another country is just like selling to anyone else. But by being sensitive to several nuances, you will improve your chances for success. Here are some points to keep in mind:

Avoid stereotypes. Reading generalized accounts of the customs of other countries is a good idea, but don't get carried away. Your job is to sell to an individual, and making assumptions about how any one individual will react based on the culture he or she grew up in is dangerous. It's been widely publicized, for example, that Japanese business people prefer consensus decision-making, but I have met several who rule with an iron hand. And I have met several Japanese buyers who have no trouble at all saying "No!" to your face, even though, traditionally, Japanese have a very difficult time with this word. Remember, put the individual first and use information about the culture they come from as background information.

Build trust. Personal selling in America is more aggressive than in many, other countries. It is hard for many foreigners to deal with manipulative closing games. Says Saotome, "One of the hardest things for newly arriving Japanese managers, to deal with is buying a car. When language skills are not well developed, dealing with high-pressure salespeople is extremely difficult. It is better not to deal with them."

Imagine how an individual in this position will react to a high-pressure sales approach from you! However, if you work hard to meet his or her best interests, you will build trust - and that can make you a valuable and influential friend. And if you win their trust by the time they are rotated home, they will tip off the people who follow them that you are a good person to get to know.

Put it in writing. If you've ever tried to learn a second language, you know that it's often easier to understand something that's written than spoken. On paper, a passage can be reviewed several times until it is understood. But be careful. Once when calling on a Japanese client, I made the mistake of handing out a four-page leave-behind detailing a series of possible merchandising opportunities that we had just briefly covered. The meeting came to a dead stop for 20 minutes as the gracious Japanese managers, out of respect, stopped to read every word.

Factor in a longer decision-making process. Budgets that are approved overseas can be both good and bad news. Overseas budget approval means a longer decision-making time frame. It can also mean that making significant changes to the overall schedule will have to wait for the year-long budget cycle to begin again. This is bad news if you are not on the schedule, but can be good news if you are. When control is exerted from afar, longer-range planning usually results. Thus, clients from another country often stick to their budgets.