Accent HR

Audrey Bevan

Sales is all about persuasion and relationships. When sales teams engage with people who have the same cultural background, they know what appropriate behavior looks like or how to influence the customer. But this becomes a lot harder when the customer operates from a very different cultural framework. The norms of politeness, tone of voice, decision-making, and relationship-building activities may differ.

Fundamentally, anyone working in sales needs to know when to talk, when to listen, how to negotiate, how to influence, how to say 'no,' and, importantly, how to build trust with their clients. Most people would have learned these skills through experience and/or through training, but few think about the nuances required to sell cross-cultures, or worse, they assume sales techniques are universal.

Sales techniques, like everything else, reflect a culture. Often, what is considered best practice is rooted in Anglo-Saxon cultures, and for that reason, it has mixed success when applied in other cultures. An easy way to understand this is to flip the scenario: imagine if what is common practice in Nigeria or Japan were to be applied in the US, how would this be received?

This is why integrating cultural intelligence (CQ) within sales training is crucial. 

Cultural intelligence goes beyond knowing the dos and don’ts of a particular country; it focuses on the ability of the individual or organization to adapt and work effectively across cultures. This enables salespeople to not only avoid cultural faux pas but also build trust with clients across cultures. 

Here are a few of the many thingsthatthe sales team will understand once they have developed their CQ :

- How structured does a meeting with clients need to be?

- How do you structure a sales pitch to be convincing?

- Is it appropriate or expected to bring a gift to a client?

- How long is an appropriate business lunch?

- Hearing when a client is saying ‘no’ and adapting accordingly

- What does silence mean?

- How much small talk or general conversationis appropriate to share with clients?

- How do you negotiate while remaining polite and engaging?

- How much talking andlistening are expected?

Internationally, the cultural difference is often quite obvious, and it can be daunting to engage with clients from different cultural backgrounds. Developing the capability to adapt to cross-culture helps sales individuals, teams and organizations to confidently know how to reach, engage with, convert and keep their target market.

Domestically adapting to different cultures is also increasingly important as countries become more culturally diverse. Whilst there is an untold expectation that minorities adapt to the majority, this approach does not help reach sales targets. Clients want to feel special, and adapting to their cultural norms is the way to their heart, which will consequently make this sales approach impactful.

Whether the customer base is domestic or international, knowing how to engage and appeal across cultures is increasingly recognized as a core skill for anyone working in sales, business development and marketing.