How Digital Age Communication Wrecked Havoc In Multicultural Communication

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

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