Why You Need To Know Your Clients Expectations Before You Outsource Your Customer Support Overseas
May 27, 2008 by 
cindy
Clients from different cultures have different expectations on the type of service you provide them. And when you outsource your customer support to another country you may open your company’s communication up to a whole new set of cultural blunders.
An Example Of Cross-Cultural Miscommunication
My own cultural expectations, living in one country, buying something from a company based in a second country I’m very familiar with, were frustrated because this company had a call center in a third country with different cultural habits and a totally different outlook on my own client expectations. And I was not expecting to have to adapt to this third country’s cultural values. Here’s what happened: Read more
How To Prevent Most Cross Cultural Miscommunication By Examining Your Own English Communication
April 18, 2008 by cindy
Miscommunication between people happens all the time, especially when one of the parties is using a second language.
We often end up hearing miscommunication stories in the form of a joke: “You wouldn’t believe what happened to me…” But we don’t always hear all of the stories. Especially if we cause the miscommunication with international clients.
Native English speakers have the so called advantage of speaking the so-called world business language. If this is your case, it is likely your clients put up with the visible problems of miscommunication.
You may not even be aware there is any miscommunication, and your business can suffer from it.
Why You Need To Internationalize Your Own Communication First To Avoid Cultural Blunders
April 17, 2008 by cindy
Last updated 20 August 2008
If you are just beginning your international business development you are probably concerned about avoiding cultural communication blunders.
There are stories out there of major companies making major business mistakes.
Enough to damper any business’ international fervor.
Most peoples reflex is to look at the other cultures first. After all, they are the ones that are different.
You might be tempted to start by researching all the possible types of cultural communication blunders with all of the different cultures out there.
How Digital Age Communication Wrecked Havoc In Multicultural Communication
March 14, 2008 by cindy
I was shocked a short while ago. I heard the strangest story. A French company’s owner and partner told me how they had been trying to reach the appropriate account executive at a large American sportswear company. And they just could not get through to the right person on the phone.
Every time they called they got caught in the new fancy telephone systems used by big companies today with automatic redirects. For some reason they just could not figure out how to use the American company’s phone system to get the right person on the phone.
My thoughts stopped immediately when I realized just how big an order they wanted to place, and the ongoing sales relationship they were eager to set up. These were big sports fans and they knew how to market this American companies goods to Europeans. These sports goods just can’t be found anywhere else in Europe. Did the American company realize the potential business loss? Read more
International Market Research - Don’t Get Stumped When Digital Age Communication Fails
March 13, 2008 by cindy
Go Back To Old-Fashioned Best Practices
Yesterday I wrote about a story of two seasoned French executives who had been trying to place an order by phone with a large American company, and they were stumped by a sophisticated phone system.
They were lucky, they were the ones buying, and they wanted to place a large order that was scheduled to be renewed regularly in the future.
But what if they did not have such a strong argument? How can you reach the right person by phone? Read more
