Quality Questions For Better International Business Development
November 25, 2008 by 
cindy
When you review the Business Guide 3 - Design Your International Visibility you probably noticed how strongly I believe in focusing on phone research for developing your strategy international visibility and international market intelligence.
Phone conversations can give you so much more relevant feedback to help you determine the best direction to take. You also begin your own process of adapting to different cultures and markets.
Quality Questions
There is a hitch. To get the most out of your international conversations you need to ask quality questions.
Quality questions do two things. They help you to:
- Connect with your international markets
- Identify your best international tactics and strategies
Very simply, the better your questions:
- the better you will connect with your international markets
- the better your international business
So how do you know if you are using quality questions?
First What They Are Not
Quality questions are not:
- Last minute questions
- Asked on the fly
- Dead end questions
Answers to questions like this will not give you a consistent tool to work with.
Answers to questions like this will not uncover the real issues your international clients are facing.
When you do not strive for quality questions you can slow your international business development down. And yes, you can even overlook opportunities simply by not asking for information.
Question To Understand
Quality questions help you understand your international clients. They get your client to tell you their story… in a way you can understand… and in a way that means something to you providing a solution to your client.
Generally speaking, these are questions that start with What, Who, Why and How.
In cross-cultural communication you need to make sure you dig deep enough to understand the story. And this can often mean you need to put on a velvet glove to avoid appearing intrusive.
- The order in which you ask the questions is important
- So is your tone of voice
- Your choice of words
- And the number of questions you ask
Question To Build Your International Business
A little strategic thought behind your questions can give you the information you need to build an international business.
- Do you know which information you need to get from your international clients?
- What can they tell you about their problems, needs and cultural environment that can help you?
- What questions can help you identify sales triggers you might not be aware of from where you stand?
- What is your international client already paying for services or products like yours?
- What does he get out of it? Compared to what you have to offer?
- How often does your international client need products and services like yours?
- Does he use your products and services differently in any way? Why?
These questions can help you to come up with the questions you need to ask your international clients. And when you get the answers to these questions, remember to write them down. Track them.
Use the answers to these quality questions to create your International Sales Guide and as part of your international accountability process.
Many companies use Sales Guides, Sales Battle Cards or Sales Cheat Sheets as an effective tool for your sales team.
A Sales Guide is:
- Usually a very short document, it can even be on a single page.
- Gives your sales team all of the best sales arguments for each of your products and by market.
- Provides the main differences, good points and bad points, between your products and the competition… and also gives the best way to approach them.
An International Sales Guide is a valuable tool for your international business development.
- It gives you a tool to use as you adapt your marketing and sales to your new international markets.
- You can use the process of creating your International Sales Guide as a part of your international business accountability process.
- A well developed International Sales Guide gives your company a tool that brings everyone on board in using the best international sales tactics for your business.
If you need help in establishing your International Sales Guide email me at cindy@getinternationalclients.com
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
 |
Read The Whole Story
 |
This is part of the Core Business Guide 7 Run Your International Sales Strategy Be sure to check out the other elements you need to run your international sales 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.
| 2.9 |
How To Address Cultural Differences In Expectations
November 24, 2008 by cindy
In previous articles on CindyKing.biz I looked at how different cultures have different expectations.
Where Expectations Can Be Different
Different cultural expectations can crop up in many different areas when dealing with international clients:
- General business process
- The information you need to give them
- The time they need this information
- The way they want this information delivered
- How price is given
- Who should speak to them
- Where you should communicate to make the sale
- When it is appropriate to discuss the sale
When you look at the list above, it is easy to understand how these differences in expectations can severely slow down your international sales cycles even in the best of situations.
There are many situations where your client’s expectations can be different from your own. It is very easy to not fully address the needs of your international clients.
So what can you do?
Verify You Are On The Same Track
When you are just beginning international sales you need to establish the different stage where you need to get confirmation from your international client that you are fulfilling his expectations.
The easiest way to do this is to make sure you are of the same understanding. As you get confirmation you can also evaluate and confirm whether you are meeting his expectations.
Now, this does not mean you should ask your international client whether you both understand the same thing from each sentence. This would quickly become annoying.
Identify Your Sales Process
Think about your sales process strategically.
- What are the logical steps in your sales process?
- What are the objectives for each of these steps?
- What do you need to know from your client?
- What does your client need to know at each of these steps?
- Both from your point of view and from his point of view?
Create An International Sales Guide
Once you have a very clear picture of each of these steps you will know when you need to ensure confirmation from your international clients.
There is an added bonus with synchronizing your sales process with your questions to confirm you are meeting your clients expectations:
- The next logical step is to create a country specific International Sales Guide
Many companies use Sales Guides, Sales Battle Cards or Sales Cheat Sheets. This is an effective tool for your sales team.
A Sales Guide is:
- Usually a very short document, it can even be on a single page.
- Gives your sales team all of the best sales arguments for each of your products and by market.
- Provides the main differences, good points and bad points, between your products and the competition… and also gives the best way to approach them.
An International Sales Guide is a valuable tool for your international business development.
- It gives you a tool to use as you adapt your marketing and sales to your new international markets.
- You can use the process of creating your International Sales Guide as a part of your international business accountability process.
- A well developed International Sales Guide gives your company a tool that brings everyone on board in using the best international sales tactics for your business.
If you need help in establishing your International Sales Guide email me at cindy@cindyking.biz
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
|
Read The Whole Story
|
This is part of the Core Business Guide 7 Run Your International Sales Strategy Be sure to check out the other elements you need to run your international sales 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.
| 3.6 (1 person) |
