International Research By Phone
There is only so much market research you can outsource or do online. No matter what your business is, there comes a time when you need to pick up the phone and call people located in your target country.
You need to have direct feedback and contact with people in the country you want to sell to.
Two Reasons Why
There are two main reasons why you need to complete your international market intelligence with phone research:
- Direct feedback - cross-cultural communication blunders can easily happen through lack of direct contact, no matter where you get your sources of information.
- Get accustomed to this foreign culture - you have to start the process of understanding your markets some time. Start early and your international marketing and communication will be stronger.
Before You Call
Before you pick up the phone, sit back and think of what you are going to say.
Most of my successful phone research was because I did this step well.
The secret is understanding that if others can get something out of helping you, they will also help you.
But this does not have to be”help”. For example, there are always key players in your foreign target market who would greatly appreciate hearing about you and your industry in your country.
Then you simply identify the best sources of information where you can leverage your “international appeal”.
Once you know what you want to say, write a very short presentation.
Your presentation needs to clearly identify who you are and where you are calling from and the company. Use simple words and short sentences. Remember you will also need to ask: Do you have a few minutes to speak to me about your industry in your country?
What To Ask
You should also have couple or questions ready to ask after your presentation. During the rest of your call you should focus on:
- Confirming what you know
- Asking for more information
- Asking for other useful contacts
- Asking for ideas on how to find out more information
Get Over The Fear
It is normal to be apprehensive about calling someone you do not know. And when you are calling to a different country it can even be daunting.
Add in the factor that you may not know if the person speaks English and you may be frozen in fear.
Do not let language be an issue. If language does become an issue, you either:
- need to spend a little time finding the right door to open,
- or your issues have more to do with your own lack of self-image.
You have to believe me on this - there are probably more people that speak English than you realize. If you are certain you will not be able to find anyone you would want to talk to in English located in your target country, take the easy route:
- Call your own Embassy there and ask for ideas on who to call
- Call all of the easy to identify places where people speak English: English-speaking ex-pat communities, English-speaking churches, pubs, grocery stores
- Network your way from your entry level until you get to the level of people you need to talk to
I can only say that I have been there many times. And every time, within seconds of making that first call I realize how foolish my fear was.
People are basically polite. Even more so when they are at work. And there is one other thing you should know.
Curiosity Opens Communication
They will be curious why someone is calling them from abroad. And if you spent some time on preparing your presentation, you will be surprised by the results.
It can be much easier doing phone research in some foreign countries than it is to do it in your own country.
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Get International Clients Sunday Blog Carnival #29
November 16, 2008 by 
cindy
Welcome to the 16 November, 2008 edition of the Get International Clients Sunday Blog Carnival.
International Business
Anya Portnik presents Invest 15 minutes a day and double your sales results? posted at Gavin Ingham saying “As a motivational speaker and seminar leader I speak with tens of thousands of sales and business people every year and my blogs and articles are read by far, far more. Speaking with so many salespeople and business owners gives me a unique insight into what drives people to do what they do and to behave how they behave.”
Anya Portnik presents Selling in Tough Markets - free special report posted at Gavin Ingham saying “7 strategies for selling more in an economic downturn or recession. This 14 page special report on how your business can not only survive but thrive and grow in even the most difficult of markets is yours to download and read at your leisure. Packed full of strategies, tips and ideas this report will help you, your team and your company to focus in on what’s important - more sales.”
Fiona King presents Top 100 Networks for People Who Want to Change the World posted at LearningXL saying, “With modern technology, you can find new and exciting ways to contrubute to your community and the world right from your computer. These 100 social networks offer the chance to get involved, make a difference and meet people that share your ideals and ambitions. You won’t just be building good karma, but also making a real impact on the world of tomorrow.”
Internet Marketing
Kathleen Gage presents Online market research – find out what’s hot and what’s not! posted at Street Smarts Marketing & Promotions, saying, “One of the most important things you can do as you grow your business is to know who your market is and what they want.
A great way to find out what’s “hot” is to conduct online research. Although a great recommendation, many people have no clue where to begin.
Often marketing experts tell you what to do, but not how. Learn one of the easiest ways to do your research.”
Jim presents 0% Credit Cards: No Interest Purchases & Balance Transfers Offers posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity “0% credit cards are all the rage these days and this list will help you identify the best deals out there.”
Other
Heather Johnson presents People Persons: Top 50 HR Blogs posted at BSchool.com Business Schools Directory “As with any good manager or HR professional, you probably want to find out the latest trends, advice, and suggestions for ways to ensure your HR department is working as well as it can.”
Heather Johnson presents 100 Amazing Web Tools for Hobbyist Scholars posted at LearningXL “If you love to do research but don’t have the degree or credentials to be truly called a scholar, then you probably fall into the category of a hobbyist scholar. This doesn’t mean that you can’t take advantage of the numerous resources for scholars online. They can help you with anything you might be interested in finding out more about, from science to your family genealogy. We’ve put together a list of 100 of these resources to get you started on your next just-for-fun research project.”
Sarah Scrafford presents Healthy Paranoia: Top 50 Internet Security Blogs posted at The Daily Netizen saying “Anyone who uses a computer has heard about the importance of Internet security. From protecting your computer itself to protecting your privacy, identity, and your family’s safety, Internet security serves an important purpose. Exercise a little healthy paranoia while you learn the latest in research, news, and opinion when it comes to Internet security from these blogs written by professors, experts in the field, and those with experience they want to share.”
Khan presents Finding Work Abroad posted at Higher Education and Career Blog, saying, “Are you considering working in a foreign country? Here are a few tips to get you started.”
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Get International Clients using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: get international clients, blog carnival.
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Week 46 In Review
November 15, 2008 by cindy
Want to know what else I have been up to this week?
Here is a list of the thoughts, ideas, requests and articles I published this past week.
On Get International Clients
As usual, the Sunday Blog Carnival starts off this week:
Guide 3 - Design Your International Visibility
Guide 5 - Connect With Your International Markets
- Cultural Perceptions Of Voice
- Avoid Cultural Assumptions
- Mind Map - How To Build Your Cross-Cultural Communication
Guide 7 - Run Your International Sales Strategy
On Cindy King .biz
This is where I share more of my personal opinions, experiences and frustrations… on anything cross-cultural and on international business.
Uniquely Cindy
The weekend’s links to marketing articles and book review:
Cross-Cultural Communication
- Cross-Cultural Management and Diversity - Carlos Ghosn
- Better Cross-Cultural Communication - Rephrase, Don’t Shout
International Sales
- Cross-Cultural Strategy In Sales Negotiation
- Improve Your International Sales Skills For Your Competitive Advantage
- Do You Have A Clear Vision Of How To Get International Sales?
- When Businesses Waste Time To Get International Sales
…and what have you been up to this week?
Let me know if you have come across anything interesting on the vast subject of international business development on the web.
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Protected: Mind Map - How To Build Your Cross-Cultural Communication
November 14, 2008 by cindy
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Avoid Cultural Assumptions
November 13, 2008 by cindy
Assumptions are the source of many cultural blunders.
If you enter international business with wrong assumptions, and you do not correct them, then you have little chance of success.
If you make a wrong assumption during an international sales call, you can lose the sale.
Wrong assumptions lead to poor cross-cultural communication. They slow down your international sales process, and can even jeopardize your success.
The problem is that it is easy, almost natural, to make assumptions when you first begin international sales. It takes time get to know different cultures and to adapt your sales process. And before you learn to adapt your sales process, it is easy to make assumptions.
There are a few ways where assumptions seem to pop up more than others.
Lack Of Effort
If this is your first experience of international sales, you may not realize how important it is to get to know your new foreign markets. You need to adapt your business tactics to different cultures.
A lack of effort in getting to know who your international clients are leads you into all sorts of wrong assumptions. And your chances of making many international sales go slowly down the drain.
The difficulty is that we may not even know that our assumptions are misleading us.
False Perceptions
A more covert form of miscommunication pops up when we allow our own cultural perceptions to give reason to our assumptions.
When we base assumptions on our own perceptions meaningful communication is impossible.
The trouble starts here starts within ourselves. We perceive things, but interpret them wrongly.
Cultural Generalizations
Assumptions can also pop up due to accepted cultural generalizations.
We usually acquire these generalizations from our environment.
Avoid Cultural Assumptions
So, how can you avoid falling into the trap?
The easiest way to:
- First, refrain from reacting emotionally
- Then, get curious
- Turn to your international prospect, client or market
- Ask questions
More From Cindy
Interested in reading more on my personal opinions and experiences with cultural communication and international sales?
 |
Read the whole story
 |
This is part of the Get International Clients Business Guide 5 Connect With Your International Markets Be sure to check out the other useful tips to connect with your international markets. |
Need Help?
Need instructions?
Need to see where this fits in?
Still confused? Review your answers in the first Core Business Guide
Simply click on one of the 8 different color coded boxes immediately below to access other core business guides.
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Cultural Perceptions Of Voice
November 12, 2008 by cindy
Differences in cultural perceptions are numerous. If you are in international sales, there are a variety of perceptions that may change when you start selling to different cultures.
Today, let’s look at the…
Sounds Of Languages
Volume
There are cultural differences in acceptable volumes. Some cultures seem to only speak loud enough for others to hear them. While in other cultures it is good to turn up the volume.
Intonation or pitch
Intonation is when we speak in a high or low pitch. Some cultures use a wider variety of intonations in their speech.
There are also cultural differences in perception here. If you are not used to lots of intonations in speech, how would you react to someone who does this naturally?
Another example: A man with a high pitched voice come across differently in different cultures.
Stress or emphasis
Different languages put different emphasis on different parts of words and sentences.
For example, in English we put extra emphasis on important words when we speak.
So what happens when a non-native English speaker emphasizes English words differently. This can come across as strange and influence your perception of this communication.
Pace or speed
Do you notice how some languages seem to go faster than others? Now, can you think of any languages that seem to go slow?
And what about the length of silences in a conversation? There are also differences in cultural perception here too. Some people get uncomfortable sooner than others with silence in a conversation.
Flow of words
This is a hard one to describe if you have not heard many foreign languages. There are languages where it is hard to identify the words. The words seem to melt together rather than merge.
Now when someone speaks English as a second language and tries to flow the words together a bit too fast, what is your perception?
Objectivity In Cross-Cultural Communication
All of the above differences are interesting to notice. But, as an international sales professional, there is little you can do about it.
Of course, you will always try to speak clearly with international clients, but even if you forget to do this, incomprehension on the other side, will make you slow down and take the time to speak well.
But, what about your own reactions? Are you aware of how your own perceptions to the cultural differences you pick up from your international clients? Does this influence your own communication?
The best line of action is to remain objective and tolerant to the differences you notice. And if you think you should react to any differences in the elements above, at least wait long enough to make an more intellectual evaluation.
More From Cindy
Interested in reading more on my personal opinions and experiences with cultural communication and international sales?
|
Read the whole story
|
This is part of the Get International Clients Business Guide 5 Connect With Your International Markets Be sure to check out the other useful tips to connect with your international markets. |
Need Help?
Need instructions?
Need to see where this fits in?
Still confused? Review your answers in the first Core Business Guide
Simply click on one of the 8 different color coded boxes immediately below to access other core business guides.
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Protected: What You Need To Know Before Starting Your International Business
November 11, 2008 by cindy
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Take Time To Qualify Your International Leads
November 10, 2008 by cindy
Qualify International Leads
Good sales professionals do not want to waste time on leads that will never turn into sales. This is why they qualify their leads. To concentrate their efforts where they have the most chance of success.
Lead qualification in international sales is also important. The international element can potentially increase your costs in getting leads. So you do not want to waste your efforts.
Remember, a good lead qualification process tells you where to focus your time and effort for a maximum sales.
International Leads Need More Time To Qualify
If you are just starting international sales, lead qualification can be a little tricky. Cross-cultural communication can:
- Make appearance deceiving
- Slow the sales process
- Influence sales timing
This is why you must think about your lead disqualification process very carefully for international sales.
If you disqualify international leads based only on your own assumptions you could disqualify valid leads too soon.
Yes, experience in a specific cultural market does help you to make better disqualification decisions. But, you will also find that your qualification process will probably need to be adjusted for each foreign market you sell to.
International Market Intelligence
There is a major advantage to this different sales process. If you take the time to listen to your international prospects you can learn much more through this direct sales contact than through standard market research.
This is why international sales professionals must communicate closely with their company’s other international sales and marketing staff.
A little bit of good teamwork behind the scenes and some extra analysis on the front lines can give your company a competitive edge.
And who knows, you may see other sales opportunities because you take the time to listen and use company teamwork to respond to new markets.
Balance Your Lead Qualification Process
The lead qualification process can be have a different timing. It can be shorter or it can be longer. Your evaluation process may need to change. But while you adjust to your international lead qualification process, keep in mind the value of:
- Giving your international clients the time to buy
- Getting international market intelligence from direct contact with your foreign markets
A good international lead qualification process is based on balancing these elements into the sales equation.
More From Cindy
Interested in reading more on my personal opinions and experiences on how to connect with international markets?
My Blog On Copywriting For International Markets - CindyKing.biz
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Read The Whole Story
• How can you connect with your international clients?
• What communication do you need to connect with international markets?
• What are the key components of an effective international marketing strategy?
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This is part of the Core Business Guide 6 Run Your International Sales Strategy Be sure to check out the other elements you need to run your international sales strategy |
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And for many businesses this is also a part of the Core Business Guide 4 Build Your International Marketing Strategy Be sure to check out the other elements you need to build your international marketing strategy |
Need Help?
Need instructions?
Need to see where this fits in?
Still confused? Review your answers in the first Core Business Guide
Simply click on one of the 8 different color coded boxes immediately below to access other core business guides.
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Get International Clients Sunday Blog Carnival #27
November 9, 2008 by cindy
Welcome to the 9 November, 2008 edition of the Get International Clients Sunday Blog Carnival.
International Business
Jim presents Best International Credit Card posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
John Buehler presents The Risk of International Borrowing posted at The Wandering Economist, saying, “The risks of international borrowing may not always be apparent. The risks of borrowing in foreign currencies have never been greater.”
The Shark Investor presents Alternative Income: Writing posted at The Shark Investor, saying, “Ways to earn money by writing all over the world”
Fiona King presents 50 Web Tools to Keep Tabs on Your Competitors posted at Business Schools Directory.
Erika Collin presents 100 Fun & Useful Search Engines for Writers posted at LearningXL.
International Marketing
Cindy King presents International Article Marketing posted at Cindy King, saying, “Visibility Is Not Marketing. The internet does provide an opportunity for international visibility. But people still try to have an international business without any business activities.”
International Sales
Brad Trnavsky presents Five Tips to Make You a Better Salesperson. - Sales Management 2.0 posted at Sales Management 2.0 - Featured Blog Posts.
Internet Marketing
Henri Schauffler1 presents Online Home Business - How To Succeed With Lead Generation | Entrepreneur Freedom posted at Henri Schauffler.
Multicultural Marketing
Khan presents Expanding Corporate Diversity posted at Higher Education and Career Blog, saying, “Are companies embracing different cultures?”
Sarah Scrafford presents 50 Best Social Networks for Seniors posted at Zarabianie na blogach.
Other
Anya Portnik presents On being a motivational speaker… posted at Gavin Ingham.
Hank presents Dream More, Work Less posted at My Investing Blog.
Kelly Sonora presents Online University Reviews: The Top 100 Sites for Job Hunting on the Web posted at Online University Reviews.
Margaret Garcia presents Top 10 Grid & Cluster Hosts for Webmasters Using Social Media posted at WHDb.
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of get international clients using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: get international clients, blog carnival.
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Week 45 In Review
November 8, 2008 by cindy
Want to know what else I have been up to this week?
Here is a list of the thoughts, ideas, requests and articles I published this past week.
On Get International Clients
As usual, the Sunday Blog Carnival starts off this week:
Guide 1 - Discover Your International Business
Guide 5 - Connect With Your International Markets
- Prequel To Empathy
- Empathy Connects And Crosses Cultural Barriers
- Easy Steps Towards Cross-Cultural Empathy
Guide 8 - Improve Your International Development Plan
On Cindy King .biz
This is where I share more of my personal opinions, experiences and frustrations… on anything cross-cultural and on international business.
Uniquely Cindy
The weekend’s links to marketing articles and book review:
Communication For International Sales
Cross-Cultural Communication
International Sales
International Web Marketing
…and what have you been up to this week?
Let me know if you have come across anything interesting on the vast subject of international business development on the web.
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