I worked for a fairly large company that did a lot (50%) international
business. We had regular training sessions in those differences. We
even had people who were sort of "specialists" on various countries, or
parrts of the world, just for the reasons you describe.
Differences?:
For instance, the Japanese very seldom say "no" because they don't want
to hurt your feelings, but they may well act as though they said "no"
anyway. It's your problem to find out how they really feel.
It has been said that in Europe, many managers "waffle" about
making decisions, but the Italians get it done.
There are also protocols for gift giving to consider. This can get
pretty complex.
Your international prospect's stand on ISO 9000 (or is it ISO 14000
these days?) is important, too. There was a period of 5 or 10 years
that I remember where it seemed that the Europeans were trying to freeze
out Americans and others who didn't have at least ISO 9002 registration.
(ISO 9001 is better). In some countries, you have to be ready to address
the environmental future of your product; how it can be disposed of when
it's spent.
I believe that colleges and maybe vo-techs have night courses in such
things.
These things are also dealt with at trade association meetings and
conferences that I have attended.
Maybe I am biased along these lines, but I believe in eye-to-eye
communications where ever possible, at least when setting up an
arrangement.
Above all, (and I am sure I don't need to say this) don't be the "ugly
American".
Most foreign business people speak at least some English these days, not
because they want to (matter of national pride) but because they have to
since English really IS the global language of commerce. But sometimes
a person doesn't want to admit they speak it, for fear of doing it
poorly. If there's an interpretor in the room, they may appear to be
relying on that person for all input, but if you watch their eyes when
you are saying something of particular interest, you can tell that they
are getting the idea.
If you are making a presentation to people whose native tongue is not
English, plan to deliver only 1/2 of the material that you would deliver
in the same time to an American audience. Ask lots of "checking"
questions to make sure that the idea is getting acorss correctly. Use
lots of well planned diagrams, graphs, etc. These are useful for your
customer to analyze when they get home.
Always learn some please and thank you words in the native tongue and
then use them. Except for the French, trying to use their language will
be appreciated.
I know you have a child in the 4th or 5th grade (the fractions thing).
Becoming one of those international negotiators might not be a bad idea.
I was not one of those specialists, but had to deal with people from
other countries on a daily basis, usually when THEY were at work.
One really neat way to communicate once you have established a rapport
with a foreign company is to use video conferencing. I have been
retired for 10 years, but even back then Kinko's had video conference
capabilities.
I always enjoyed working with people from other cultures.
Hope this helps,
Pete Stanaitis
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Joe AutoDrill wrote:
While working to sell our machines worldwide, we run across the typical
differences in the way things are done or described. For instance:
Language differences - but that is obvious.
The common practice in some cultures of making every last sale a negotiation
for a lower price. In other words, you quote a price, they ask what can be
done to lower it or they offer a lower price and this goes on until the deal
is sealed with a purchase order... Then it sometimes continues behind the
scenes until the shipping of the units actually takes place...
Metric VS inch measurements is a very common difference. Translation is
easy once you do it for a while...
1,500" VS 1.500" - comma used rather than period to separate digits in a
decimal accurate number, etc.
Minor and seems to be disappearing - Telephone numbers as 908.542.0244
rather than 908-542-0244 or (908) 542-0244, etc...
What other major or minor differences do you run across?
Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
01.908.542.0244
Automatic / Pneumatic Drills: http://www.AutoDrill.com
Multiple Spindle Drills: http://www.Multi-Drill.com
V8013-R