Where Clarity Strengthens Your International Sales

Clarity is vital in cross-cultural communication.  It builds trust. Any lack of clarity in your communication can potentially cause those dreaded cultural blunders.

And clarity is also key in international sales. In addition to building trust, clarity makes the sale easier.

Why?

Because, when you bring clarity into your sales and marketing, your sales strategy becomes stronger.

Here are 7 areas where clarity strengthens your international sales.

Your Products And Services

Do your international clients understand what your product is and what it can do for them?

Clearly define products or services.

Your Ideal Foreign Client

Do you know who your ideal foreign client is?

Do you have a very clear picture of your foreign client’s demographic and psychographic profile?

Clearly identify your ideal client.

Your Sales Pitch

Do you know what it is about your product that interests your product foreign clients?

Adjust your sales pitch to clearly target your foreign prospect.

Your Sales Process

Do you know how your international clients want to be sold?

Are you approaching your international prospects in the right way to make a sale?

Outline a clear sales process for your international clients.

Your Marketing Message

Do you clearly communicate the value your foreign client will get from your product and services for your ideal client?

Is this the value he perceives?  Or is it the value you perceive?

Make your marketing message clear for your international clients.

Your International Communication

Are your marketing and sales materials easy to read for your international audience?

Can you improve the clarity of your communication?  Can you make it easier for your international readers?

Aim for clarity throughout all of your communication.

Your Offer

Do your international clients immediately understand your offer to them?

Do they know that you want their purchase?  Have you answered all of their objections?

Give your international readers a clear call to action.

Work For Clarity

When you come across a clearly crafted sales strategy, it can appear to be easy to do.  But in fact, to bring clarity throughout your international marketing and sales, you will need to work at it.

As you can see above, you need to have an intimate understanding of your ideal international clients.  This takes time and effort on your part.

The good news is that this work is well worth your effort. An international sales strategy with clarity is one of your best investments for your international business development.

Plan Your Foreign Language Content

Culture customized content builds stronger connections in your international markets.

But, what do you do when you want to use culture customized content for stronger international presence, and…

…your international development budget is small?
…your company wants to be cautious?

How do you reconcile this with everything you think you need:

• A full foreign language website
• Complete selection of foreign language marketing materials
• An international sales force

Well, instead of looking at how your current business communicates with your domestic market…

How about starting at the other end?

Let’s look at what happens when you start with your culture customized content.

Plan The Content You Need To Translate

When you plan the content you need to translate, you usually realize that you will need to update your content within a relatively short period of time.

Why is this?

Simply because…

When you first start to communicate with a foreign market, you do not know it well enough to write your most effective communication.

Even if you hire outside companies to tell you what your message should be, you will only really find out what your market needs once you start direct communication yourself.

Now, if you know you will need to change your communication in a short period of time, how do you start?

One Product In One Language

It is standard practice in international business development to start off with one product to one country. This is the easiest way for companies to learn how to adapt to new markets specifically and international business in general.

This also makes it a lot easier for you to plan:

• The content you need to translate
• Time lines and guidelines for future strategy
• Future actions to extend your reach
• Other key parameters you need

Plan For Your Future Content

Your first foreign language content will probably be based on some of your existing content.

You will want to use this to develop culture customized content. This culture customized content creates stronger connections in your new foreign markets. And…

Because you need to have your own market feedback from your new target country, you will need to modify your first translations.

Many companies do not plan for this change in content. After all the translations were an investment, and they want a return on it before sinking more money into translations.

Some companies will change their international message later on. If they realize their message is not effective.

Many larger companies simply let their international sales team pick up the extra responsibility of correcting the “wrong” messages in their written communication.

This mistake is very common in large American companies, eager to keep control on their brand while selling abroad.

There is a very simple solution to getting your message right for your international markets:

• Start small.
• Plan for change.
• Stimulate feedback to learn more about YOUR foreign markets
• Adapt your message to the culture you are communicating with

Planning for your future content right from the start will both save you extra translation costs and give you a foreign sales message with a bang.

Evaluate The Best Marketing Channels

Imagine you know:

• Precisely what you want to communicate now,
• What information you want to get back from your foreign markets,
• And what you want to communicate later?

Well then…

Now you can determine the right international marketing channel to use to communicate this content.

Of course, you will also need to get feedback from your target markets to verify the marketing channels they want you to use to communicate with them.

This means adding a few more criteria for you to get feedback on.

When you get

• The right message,
• Sent to your foreign markets on the right marketing channel,

…you have the base of a good international marketing strategy.

Choose The Communication Platforms You Need

Now you know:

• What you want to communicate.
• How you want to communicate your message.

Your communication platform needs are usually very easy to identify now.

In addition, the content planning you did earlier will tell you what you need to plan for in the future.

Added Bonus

And one of the other questions most companies struggle with:

• Which communication platform should you use for your foreign language content?

• Your domestic website with country-specific sub categories or sub domains
• An international website
• Localized websites

Well, you now have something to go on to answer this question.  Of course, there are other criteria to look at, but this gives you the criteria covering your foreign content needs.

Read the whole story

This is part of the Get International Clients Business Guide 3 Design Your International Visibility Be sure to check out the other useful tips to design your international visibility.

More On Culture Customized Content

Once your initial translations bring in some feedback and you have enough country-specific business intelligence, you will want to create a message adapted to your specific foreign market.

Culture Customized Content Guide • What is the secret to effective international business development?Find out here.

Culture Customized Content

Last updated 16 October 2008

In This Business Guide:

You need to communicate to your international prospects and clients in a way they understand and respond to. You need to customize your content to their culture.

• Your content
• Your information
• Your communication
• And any of your sales and marketing materials

These will all communicate with your international prospects if it is culturally customized and adapted to communicate with them using your language and their words.

You should start to customize you key content as soon as you have identified your international audience. Culture customized content means content written for one specific audience.

If you are just starting to market to your foreign audience, you will probably need to review the first set of customized content. Don’t let this stop you. Use this to improve your customized content progressively.

The more customized your content is for your target market the better results you will get.

Communicating directly with your foreign prospects gives you more valuable feedback and market knowledge.

Culture Customized Content

Here are some articles to help you customize your content and your communication for your international leads and clients.

The 3 Types Of International Communication For International Business Success Online • Do you want to develop your international business primarily through your website? • Do you know the different types of international communication? • Do you want to use the right communication for your international success? Learn when you need to use international English, multicultural communication and cross-cultural communication for more international sales

International Business Through Culture Customized Content

How To Connect With Your International Clients

Using Foreign Language E-Communication Tools

Culturally Customized Communication To Transition To A Global Market Internet Business

How To Avoid Bad Communication Mistakes In Foreign Languages And Get More International Clients Quickly

How A Third Culture Kid’s Natural Cross Cultural Vision Can Power Your International Business Expansion

Cross Cultural Communication Tools

Here are some Cross Cultural Communication Tools to distribute your Culture Customized Content:

Case Studies

Best Small Business Tool For Building Trust In International Clients

Easy Small Business Strategy Strengthens International Client Relationships

Newsletters

Newsletters For International Business Development

Internationalized Website

Is Your Website Sabotaging Your International Business Development?

Internationalize Your Website To Transition To A Global Market Internet Business

Why You Need To Internationalize Your Own Communication First To Avoid Cultural Blunders

First Transition To A Global Market Internet Business

Website Internationalization Before Localization

Consistency For International Business Success

Consistency For International Business Success

7 Easy Tips to Internationalize Your Website

Build Trust With These Tools

Trust is vital in all business relationships. It should be one of your top priorities when beginning your international marketing.

In international business you can lose trust without even knowing why.

Fortunately, there are two very simple tactics to creating trust in cross-cultural communication. And you also have a variety of communication tools you can use to build trust.

Building Trust International Clients • How do you build trust with your international clients • What can you do today to improve your communication with foreign clients? • Are you interested in building more trust with your international clients? Read this to learn how to build trust and find out what tools you can use

Use International English

What is International English? Why should businesses committed to international development consider using International English when creating their web content? These are questions you should consider when creating an international website.

International English • When can international English content save you money? • When can international English content get your more international clients? Find out here.

More From Cindy

Interested in reading more on my personal opinions and experiences with culture customized content?

CindyKing.biz What Is International English? Morphing Into A Foreign Culture Focus On Your Cultural Communication Choose How You Connect With Your Foreign Markets Translations, Foreign Language Content and Culturally Customized Content Customize Your Content For Different Cultures What Is Your Culture On The Social Web? Who Should You Get To Write Your Foreign Language Web Content The 2 Main Reasons Why Companies Do Not Have Good Foreign Language Content Multicultural Marketing And Colors The Phases Of Cultural Communication You Go Through To Increase International Sales Info-Products - Writing For International Readers

Read The Whole Story

This is part of the Core Business Guide 5 - Connect With Your International Markets This is where you can read more on how to connect with your international markets.

Need Help?

Need instructions?

• Instructions on how to use Your International Sales Road Map

Need to see where this fits in?

• A complete list of current Core Business Guides & Sub Guides for Your International Sales Road Map.

Still confused? Review your answers in the first Core Business Guide

• Core Business Guide 1 - Discover Your International Business

Simply click on one of the 8 different color coded boxes immediately below to access other core business guides.

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