Follow-Up With Your Foreign Customers

Today I want to talk to you about something you must do when you start getting your first international clients. You never know what gems you may discover.

The best international market research is usually simple and easy to do. And it is actually quite fun.

Ask Customers Why They Buy Your Products

One of the ways you can get valuable international market feedback, is to systematically call all of your international clients and ask them a few questions after they purchase.

The most important question you need to get the answer to is:

• Why did they buy your product from you?

Here are a few more guidelines for you to start your systematic follow-up calls:

• Call them before they forget you. Do not wait or make excuses.
• Continue your relationship. Show them you value them as a client.
• Invite your clients to a short interview so you can learn how to serve them better.
• Consider having someone else conduct your interviews. This can be easier for your client to accept. This can also be a way for you to hire a native-speaker for only a couple of hours work.
• Keep track of what is said to you. With all of the details. Don’t summarize their statements.
• Ask them to give you specifics, to explain why they say something. Dig a little to understand what got them to buy, why they liked it and what you could do to make it better.
• Keep your ears open for opportunities to ask to use good feedback in a testimonial or a referral strategy.
• Continue the relationship by providing something that says thank you. A special report, bonus, gift voucher. Or even a hand written thank you not from the president. Have a look at the different cultural behaviors in the Get International Clients Business Guide - Cultural Web Tools to fit your thank you with the culture.

International Business Success

Even small brick and mortar businesses can benefit from this simple strategy.

Some time ago, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal about how a restaurant in the United States figures out that German clients came to their hotel according to a particular weather conditions to go fishing locally.

This hotel learned to actively promote their hotel every time this trigger event happened again.

You never know what your international clients will come back with. As in international marketer, there are two things you want to take home with these questions.

• Can you improve your offer for this particular international market?

One opinion might not be enough. You will need to review as many responses as you can. Some cross-referencing from other sources is also a good idea.

• Is there a trigger event you can identify?

Identifying a trigger event can open the door for easy profits for you with the appropriate marketing.

Make Time For Simple Strategies

Systematic customer follow-up right after a sale is an easy international marketing method. Yet many businesses do not do it.

If you are just beginning to develop your international markets this is something you should be doing after every sale. Find a native-language student if the foreign languages are becoming excuses.

The feedback you get will speed your path to adapting your products to foreign markets.

Where To Emphasize Your Customer Service To Get More Sales

Last updated 16 August 2008

Cross Cultural Communication Web Tools show you the different things you can emphasize to communicate more effectively with different cultures through your website. These web tools are not absolute remedies to barriers in your cross cultural communication. You will need to find the right mix of different web tools to communicate effectively with your particular markets. Different cultures respond to different things. They have different communication needs. And it is never a simple mix of tools. There are fives scales to measure different cultural behaviors.

• High Individualism versus High Collectivism Behavior
• Uncertainty Avoidance versus Low Uncertainty Avoidance Behavior
• High Power Distance versus Low Power Distance Behavior
• High Masculinity versus High Femininity Behavior
• High Context versus Low Context Behavior

Important: Read the Basic Guidelines For Using Cross Cultural Communication Web Tools before implementing any of these web tools.

There is more than one tool you can use to appeal to each of the different cultural behavioral traits. This is the first web tool for cross cultural communication to cultures with cultures an Uncertainty Avoidance behavioral trait: Read more