Stop Sales Suicide
What we say and how we say it matters. It matters in life, in families and in business- especially in sales. Sale’s talk is very semantics driven. By the way, the classic Hollywood big talking salesperson is an archeological artifact, a dusty relic, now banished to the tombs. Today, salespeople have to be articulate but not glib, concise not flowery, evidence based not barrow-boy spivs.
Japan presents a challenge with developing salespeople. Invariably, they are the undereducated graduates of OJT or On-the-Job Training. This OJT approach will work for certain technical themes, but not necessarily for the broader art of sales. If your boss is a great salesperson and a great coach, then well done you. In Japan, that combination is a rare bird.
Attempts by foreign corporates to rectify this OJT problem for developing salespeople are often laughable. Bosses who don’t speak Japanese or don’t have a sales background or even worse lack both, send in the English speaking instructors from the corporate APAC hub, to dole out the sales medicine. It is always snake oil.
Sales training for salespeople must be based on the reality of selling to clients in the client’s native language. If the clients are Japanese, then the training has to be done in Japanese, because what we say and how we say it are so culturally and linguistically specific, there is no way you can satisfactorily train this in English. You can explain the theory perhaps, but where is the coaching of the role play, the examples, the finer points of nuance?
This doesn’t stop people from trying though. The snapper is when they add to their woes by using the in-house HR trainers from Singapore or Hong Kong, the usual hub centers in Asia. These individuals are invariably smart, sharp, rapid fire Chinese speakers of accented English. They facilitate from the global corporate sales textbook, but sadly the local Japanese participant’s English language comprehension levels max out at around 60% in the morning sessions and drop to 15% to 10% by mid-afternoon.
As noted, there is no instructor understanding of the subtleties of the Japanese language, the cultural reference points or the opportunity to coach the sales roles plays in Japanese. Knowing and doing are not the same. The practice component, with powerful coaching, is the winning formula.
Let’s stop wasting time and money and get this done properly in the language of the client. There are plenty of sales fails anyway. The first big fail is lack of preparation and anticipation of the issues facing the client. Because of this the language being used by the sales person is vague and often meandering. Salespeople should complete a mini-SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis on the industry and the company, to flag potential problems requiring solutions and direct the discussion to the elements of the greatest interest to the buyer. If they have dealt with this industry before, then they should have some ideas on the more common issues and can test for relevancy. We need to be asking good questions, to find out what the buyer needs and using SWOT allows us to get to the key points faster and builds more credibility.
Blocker words are another killer of sales success. This is directly related to a lack of discipline on the part of the salesperson. They go shooting their mouths off, without engaging their brains, and in the process out pour words that scupper the deal. What are these notorious blocker words – some common ones include: “sort of”, “a few”, “kinda”, “sometimes”, “more or less”, “about”, “some”. These are all vagaries, to which no useful sales evidence can be attached. We should speak with authority and certainty, because clients want our full belief and commitment, so that they can trust what we say is true. We need to bring data, proof, evidence, examples, testimonials to back up what we are saying.
Words like “price”, “cost”, “contract” are also poor selections. These words create an image of money going out like a flood from the client, but no value coming back in. We should only be speaking of “value” and “investment” instead. Value makes price and cost relevant for the buyer because there is something in return for them. We should be focusing on the value our solution brings. Also, your parents told you to be careful about signing a “contract”, so let’s sign an “agreement”. Simple semantic switches in emphasis, but these make a big difference to what clients hear.
Salespeople often talk too much. They love people and they love to chat. Too many words begin to pop up into the conversation, which add no value to the sales process. Being concise is the key mantra here. Pare back the dialogue to only words which are relevant, project value, are laden with evidence and which build trust – everything else has to go. This is not easy for loquacious salespeople but we have to be very disciplined. Many a deal has been sunk because the salesperson couldn’t shut up and just added that extra tidbit which overly complicated the whole arrangement. Be concise.
Getting people to hand over their hard earned cash is hard enough and using poor communication skills makes it even harder. We need to train people properly and monitor their sales conversations to make sure they are achieving the maximum success possible.
Action Steps
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, THE Sales Japan Series and THE Presentations Japan Series, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
The Negotiation Process
“Winning is not a sometime thing. You don’t do things right once in a while…you do them right all of the time”. This is a great quote from the famous American football coach Vince Lombardi and we can apply this idea directly to negotiations. Any business undertaking does better when there is a structure, a process that is capable of creating consistent outcomes. As negotiators, if we don’t manage the process, we risk becoming passive, reactive spectators to events as they randomly unfold. Purposeful behavior is the key to influencing win-win outcomes.
There are many tactics, strategies, feints, bombast, illusions, delusions, egomania, tricks and skullduggery associated with negotiating. Our recommendation is to play the long game. Don’t win the battle to only lose the final outcome. We are looking for a sustained business career and that means our reputation in the market is like gold. We should never throw that tremendous trust asset away for a few shekels more. Especially when operating here in Japan. Trust is hard to build and easy to squander in this country.
We will sometimes be involved in one off transactional deals where the likelihood of ever dealing with that organisation again is probably going to be rare to remote. The temptation is to suspend our usual behaviour, normally based on a long-term view, and go for the jugular, to squeeze every last penny out of the other side. Yes, we may never deal with them again but we will deal again. Our good name is too valuable to drag it in the mud. Be fair, be consistent and be aware of how the rest of the market will perceive you. Word travels fast in Japan and companies are skeptical enough about foreigners anyway, so be even more vigilant about protecting your good name.
Always fair is always fair, whether a transactional one night stand or otherwise. Being a known entity gives others confidence to deal with you – we are all trying to reduce risk and look for people we can trust. Japan is a highly risk averse culture and business environment and they always prefer the devil they know to the angel they don’t. The constant switching during negotiations of the good guy/bad guy routine is not adding to any consistency of reputation. Being the good guy is a much better place to be, so don’t get sucked into bad behavior by bad people. There is always another deal and another partner.
Part of being consistent is value driven and another big component is how we organise ourselves for the negotiation. We may not do that many negotiations in a year, depending on our business. If we have a standardised routine, we don’t have to worry about what to do or forgetting what worked well in the past. We can go straight to the basics and ensure we have a better performance each time.
There are four stages of the negotiation we should prepare for:
Analysis
We need to identify possible alternatives available to us in reaching an agreement. There are many levers we can pull in negotiating an agreement and finding added value through those levers requires clarity around the full picture of what we are trying to achieve. This is an advantage in Japan because the thought processes here can be very linear. Thinking out of the box is not present anywhere in the formal or company education systems.
We need to see the negotiation from the point of view of our counterparty. For this we need information and perspective before we even get to the negotiating table. What position are they likely to take, what interests do they have, what forces are impacting them at the moment or will in the near future? Getting good information and intelligence is that bit harder in Japan, but if you have a good network that can help a lot to short circuit the research process.
We need to reframe the conversation to avoid confrontation. This means we are looking for words and deeds that speak to a win-win outcome. We have a positive, forward looking approach to the joint solution of issues which are making it hard for the other side to agree to what we are proposing. Slamming table tops, screaming, tantrums, abusive name calling, throwing inanimate objects are not a feature in Japanese society and so has no place here during negotiations. Decorum, harmony, respect, face-saving, politeness, discipline are all valued and appreciated.
Presentation
We should rehearse the other side’s presentation, as well as our own. By actually doing a dry run of their presentation, as we imagine it, we throw up insights and ideas which are very helpful for ourselves. We tend to inhabit our own little bubble of what is important or pressing for us. A good practice is to switch perspectives before we get to the negotiating table.
For our presentation, we should frame it in the language of the interests and needs of the counterparty. Talking about what we want doesn’t move us toward an agreement. Speaking their language, contemplating solutions to their issues positions us all on the same side of the negotiating table and leads to better outcomes, much faster than otherwise.
When we present we should be looking for areas where we can provide added value to the other party, through our suggested solutions. This makes it much easier for them to agree, because the take out is better or larger than they had considered. Feeling that your negotiating partner is trying to help builds a great deal of trust. With trust established, flexibility and compromise come more speedily and much easier.
Bargaining
We must clearly fix our BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) at the start. This is our fall back or even walk away position. It should be realistic and as close to the ideal outcome as we can manage. If we feel negotiating “tactics” are being used on us, we can just respond by suggesting an alternative solution rather than getting emotional and reacting.
We should always be prepared to take a break from the negotiating process if we feel we are becoming too emotional. The object of the other side may be to rile us and trick us into making an error of judgment. We may take umbrage at what is being attempted, but rather than let that bile well up in our bodies, take a break and come back fully refreshed. Come back fully focused on what we are trying to achieve and re-acquainted with the game plan we want to follow.
In our presentation we have tried to make it easy to agree to our proposal and hard to disagree. We shouldn’t make the other party work hard to reach an agreement. By being flexible and fair we can smooth their path to acceptance. If they are being grossly unfair, we just go straight to our BATNA and avoid further stress.
It is hard to make a good deal with bad guys and why would we want to work with bad guys in the first place? Life is short. If it is time sensitive, that forms pressure on us and sometimes we are rushing to do the deal because we fear future loss. Despite that, stick to the plan and never give any indication that you feel any pressure whatsoever to do this deal. Keep reminding yourself there are always other partners, probably better partners and other better deals on the horizon.
Agreement
We should make certain we specify all points that are agreed. Things which need to be fixed at the point of signing, should not be left floating around. This is the time to fix them. So that there are no disputes about the finer points later, we need to get the detail down in writing. Each side needs to be comfortable with the document and clear about what is covered and not covered. Tricky ambiguous language to re-interpret in court later is not needed.
There will be milestones for execution of the agreement and these need to be specified. There will be a schedule for fulfillment of the agreement and this needs to be detailed in scope. The execution piece is usually when problems arise, as more parties on both sides, who are affected by the agreement, become aware of the ramifications of what was agreed and may resist the agreement being completed.
A signed agreement in Japan is a lot more flexible than in the West. The Japanese view is that while there is good will on the part of each side and the conditions for success still apply, then the deal makes sense. If that is no longer the case or if the situation has changed substantially since the agreement signing, then the deal doesn’t make sense anymore and should be voluntarily terminated. In these cases, they will simply abrogate whatever was signed. In a Western legalistic system, this would be straight to court for breech of contract and the on-going relationship potential would be ended right there.
From a Japanese viewpoint the relationship is the key point and the one deal is just the one deal. They want to keep the relationship, but don’t want to suffer under the terms of the agreement, if the situation has changed so much that is no longer works for them. The deal ends, but the door is open to future deals. Your reputation in the market remains high because you were “flexible” and “sincere”. Legalistic solutions are seen as selfish, unfair and relationship ending.
Does everyone in Japan play by these quid pro quo rules? No, of course not. Stupidity, selfishness, xenophobia, short-term thinking, nastiness, bad behavior and greed know no national boundaries. You will meet evil business people in Japan, just like everywhere else in the world.
Are they as flexible with you as they expect you to be with them? Not necessarily. Being a foreigner in Japan means you are automatically outside the cultural and behavioural norms and don’t necessarily have to be treated as other partners who are Japanese. Expendable is the idea in some cases. It really depends on the people you are dealing with, as it does everywhere in the world.
One thing about Japan though, everyone is very good at keeping well maintained records about who you can’t trust and who you should never deal with. They share this information amongst their circles. You don’t want to be on that list. Being difficult, narrow, legalistic, inflexible, insincere, untrustworthy is how they see our inability to let them off the hook for what is written down in the document.
Cases do go to court here and most often are settled out of court before a judgment is handed down. The system actually prefers that the judicial system doesn’t have to make a judgment, hence the push by the judges for an out of court settlement. Japanese companies have no problem being litigious when operating in Western countries however, because they have found that their home grown approach won’t fly.
Negotiations in Japan will have their own flavor and we have to be cognisant of the different expectations which apply. Regardless, we do better when we have a framework to guide us and this simple four step process will assist us in preparing for the discussion with the counterparty. We don’t need to complicate things, but we do need to have a structure to help us break down the complications into bite size pieces we can tackle when they arise.
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
What Successful Negotiators Do
Every sale is a negotiation. It might be centered around price but it could also be around delivery times, quantities, guarantees, return policy, quality assurance, legal liability, etc. We can’t control the issues which arise during a negotiation or the attitude of the buyer, but we can control our own skill level and approach. The more we understand and manage our own behavior, the greater the influence we will have with others. To be successful we need to behave in a way which influences the interaction by moving it along a collaborative continuum. What are some recognizable qualities in successful negotiators? Here are a few thoughts on the subject.
Good reputation with good intentions
People may forget the finer points of the negotiation but they will remember how we treat them. Burning people, being too sharp, too cunning creates a negative reputation for fair dealing. The aim is to win in business and one deal is only one deal. Winning the battle and losing the war is for short-term transactional types. We aim to be around a long time, so our approach will reflect that intention. We are focused on the re-order not just one sale.
Respectful, trusting and trustworthy
Getting to a mutually satisfactory and beneficial outcome is the goal. Along the way, we treat the counter party with respect and they feel it. This adds to our own commercial history as someone you can trust in business and that is worth a lot more than the contents of one transaction. Today bad news, warnings, discontent and whining travels at the speed of social media posts which by the way are instant and real time.
Confident and positive
Having the right intentions gives us strength to find a solution that will be well regarded. We are constantly looking for a way through the difficulties, seeking to find a solution to the other party’s issues. If we can solve their problem we will solve our own problem. This means looking outside your own interests.
Well prepared
Knowing the facts, the background, the individuals, the market situation are all elements we can and should prepare prior to having any discussions with the counterparty. Being able to quickly source key information, as negotiations get underway, is a tremendous booster to finding a successful outcome. Most of our errors of judgment have come as a result of poor or incorrect information or false assumptions.
Composed
Calm and considered is a good philosophical position to adopt in negotiations. Emotional control is a prerequisite for success. Never get emotional not matter how much is thrown at you. It may be a tactic on the other side’s part to get you riled, but don’t fall for it.
Effective communicator
This idea often suggests being a good talker, when in actual fact being a good listener is often more important. Asking excellent questions and listening for what is not being said is an approach that will yield rewards. Tact and diplomacy are skills that go a long way to improve understanding and create agreement. Being clear about what you are proposing is a skill and this is required in both documentation and orally in the meetings.
People skills
Helping people to relax, finding common ground, getting on their wave length are all people skills. Being able to remove barriers and reduce inflammation points, through how we treat others, makes the negotiation discussion proceed in a smooth fashion. We like to do business with people who are like us and that is where the person with people skills really shines. They are able to operate on a level that the counterparty likes and respects. We may do this deal or we may not, but probably we will be dealing with this person or this company’s representatives again in the future.
Open-minded
Flexibility is a source of strength in a fluid, shifting activity like negotiating. Rigidity can lock us in to a position which precludes a mutually beneficial agreement, usually because we have let our own ego get in the way. There are many paths to the mountain top and we have to be open to the fact that we don’t know them all.
Creative
We are sometimes captives to our limited knowledge and experiences and so the world of possibilities seems small. Finding a tangential solution through a creative approach can produce surprising breakthroughs, when everything seems to be heading toward a train wreck in the negotiations. Thinking about a problem from various angles helps us to see options that may have been hidden or unclear.
A risk taker
In finding agreement there is always an element of risk. Caution, timidity, fear drive us into corners from which it is sometimes difficult to emerge. Having a capacity to take a risk because you have thought through how to minimise that risk once taken, is a big advantage when it comes to finding creative solutions to end an impasse.
Business is usually not a one time thing, so how we treat others and especially the way we do business marks us out in the community. Bad news always traveled fast and far, but today with business social media being so prevalent, we are talking another level of transparency and speed. Successful negotiators know this and never let their reputation become sullied for a small, tricky gain. They play the long game and seek to permanently increase their influence.
Today’s Main Points About Success Characteristics
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Omotenashi: Real Japanese Customer Service
I am sure you have you seen notices explaining that this store location is going to close while the building is being reconstructed and that it will reopen at a specified date in the future? Given the increasingly stringent earthquake code here in Tokyo after 2011, we are seeing many businesses opting to re-build their premises. One notice however has become much talked about locally amongst Japanese retailers. Toraya are a famous traditional Japanese sweets manufacturer and retailer. Mr. Mitsuhiro Kurokawa is the 17th generation of his family to lead the business and his “we are rebuilding” notice is considered outstanding, even in a country where omotenashi or customer first service is renowned.
Most such notices tell facts, supply relevant data and provide the obligatory greetings about serving us again when they reopen. Kurokawa san did all of that but much, much more. He put the current change in historical perspective, noting the business started in Kyoto in 1586 toward the end of the Muromachi (1338-1573) period, moved to Tokyo in 1869 and to this location in 1964. By doing this he is assuring us of their long traditions, longevity and capacity to change with the times when needed. He then started to tell some stories about the customers they have had at this shop on Aoyama Street in Akasaka, over the last 50 plus years.
He mentioned that every three days, a male customer visited the shop to enjoy oshiruko (bean paste sweet soup with grilled mocha or pounded rice). This is considered a bit unusual in Japan, because men don’t normally have such a sweet tooth, so this customer stood out from others.
Another customer, a kindergarten aged boy came with his mother to the shop every day and bought a bite sized yookan (sweet bean paste block). One day he came by himself to shop. The staff were worried about him and so they went out with him and found that the mother was secretly hiding and watching that he was okay.
A 100 year old lady regularly came by wheelchair to the shop. She later became hospitalised and her family came to buy namagashi (fresh Japanese sweets) and higashi (a dried sugar sweet), to take to the hospital for her. Even after she couldn't eat anything anymore, they found if they crushed the dried sugar sweet she could still enjoy it.
He mentioned that he couldn’t include all of the episodes they have shared over these 50 plus years with their customers, but he said he and the staff keep them, one by one, in their hearts forever.
Telling customer stories is powerful. Kurokawa san made the customers the centerpiece and their experiences come alive. He linked the customers to the products they enjoyed. Rather than just a cold statement of the facts, he crafted a statement of love for their customers. The feeling of the notice is that there is a special bond they feel with all of their customers and even though they won’t reopen on that site for another three years, they won’t have forgotten them and look forward to serving them forever.
What can we learn from this excellent customer focus? Are we communicating we feel a special bond with our customers? Often, corporate communications becomes machine like and wrapped up in what can sound like marketing department dross. Kurokawa san conveys a lot of heart felt feelings in this simple notice about the main store being rebuilt. Are we weaving enough customer stories into our communications? I don’t mean fake propaganda stories or plastic stories that politicians love to use these day, but real episodes that the reader can visualise in their mind’s eye? Even in a country like Japan, with such high levels of customer focus, Kurokawa san’s notice gets attention because of the sincerity of his message. He is regarded as really epitomising the spirit of a family running a retail business, that has served customers for 17 generations.
We may not be the 17th generation in our business, but we can bring more heart into the service we provide our customers. We can start right now with the service we provide and how we communicate that service. What does your current customer communication say about you? Can it be improved?
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Nasty Buyers
The customer is Kamisama (God) in sales in Japan. We hear this a lot here across all industries and sectors. Sometimes however, the buyer can more like an Oni (Devil) when they deal with salespeople. Bad behavior is bad behavior regardless of the source, but when you are trying to sell a company on your product or service, do you just have to suck it up? Actually no!
Unless you are in a very small market segment, where there are only a limited number of buyers, then as salespeople we have choices. If the former is the case, then I suggest changing industries and getting out of that negative bad behavior environment. Life is short and good salespeople have highly transferable skills. If you know what you are doing, you can probably work in almost any business, as long as there is no requirement for highly technical knowledge.
The Japan winner of the worst sales environment is the pharmaceutical industry selling to doctors. Unlike the rest of the advanced world, where patients use the internet to educate themselves about medical conditions, before they see the doctor, Japan is still stuck in the pre-1990s.
Japanese doctors consequently, still consider themselves vastly superior to everyone else, from patients on down. At the absolute bottom of the pile are drug salespeople. Being forced to wait around for hours, fawning over the doctor, being spoken to like dirt, cleaning their Mercedes, arranging all types of incentives to get them to buy your drugs, have been the fodder for legendary poor buyer behavior forever.
Conflicts of interest have emerged recently as a concern and there are many more restrictions now on entertaining doctors. The flow of goodies is being restricted and so the salesperson doesn’t have as much in the way of ame (sweets) to offer anymore. They still get plenty of muchi (whip) from the buyer though.
Japan has a powerful hierarchical system in place in society. You have been busily networking, creating new opportunities. The company President you have just met tells one of the staff to get together with you the salesperson. You might be thinking, this is looking good. Not necessarily. What often surprises me about HR people and other underlings in Japan is how they run their own show, regardless of what the President may want.
Recently, I had lunch with a multi-national company President here running the Japan operation. The President is dynamic, articulate and a great presenter. After the lunch, as promised, the President sent an email to the HR person instructing them to get together with me to discuss training for their company. I follow up with the HR person many, many times, but never get an answer. It has become obvious they do not care what the President said, they have their own views on how to run the training and we are not going to fit into that plan.
On another occasion, I had met the Japanese President at a networking event, followed up, got a meeting and in the process he introduced me to the HR people. In the meeting, the President suggested they take a look at what we offer. Many, many emails and attempted contacts later, no response from the HR team for follow-up meeting.
Going back and telling the President who introduced you that, in fact, they have no power within their own organization is a bit of a delicate conversation. Even if you raise it, you have just said that the Emperor has no clothes. They do not thank you for pointing out their underlings are in rebellion and they themselves are impotent. I am still working on a solution for this contradiction.
Another annoying activity is being asked to spend time to put together a proposal and quote on a product or service, but there is absolutely no intention to buy from you. This is often driven by internal compliance regulations that require three quotes. They have already secretly selected the provider and your job is to provide the paperwork to make sure that happens and the compliance box is ticked.
We were contacted by a large company recently asking for a proposal on a particular piece of training. Efforts to meet the client to discuss the needs etc., were rebuffed because they said they were so busy – just send the proposal, it will be fine (!). This is a tricky one, because you don’t know if you are the patsy here or if they are in fact so very busy that is why they need your help.
To test the system in these specific doubtful and dubious cases, I never follow up from my side after sending over the proposal. I know, I know. This sounds like a very bad sales effort on my part and I should be fired, but it is a technique to reveal who we are dealing with here, time wasters or genuine buyers.
If they are really interested, then they will get back to me with either more questions or an order. If stony silence is all we get, we know we have been royally used to assist a competitor’s sales effort. That is a double ouch right there, isn’t it!
It is not always black and white though. In another case the President was a graduate of our programme and told his HR Director to get us to put together a proposal on some training. This is exciting and you think “we are looking good”. The President knows the quality and the results from first hand experience and has the authority to make this happen. Or so it seems. In this example, I actually get to meet the HR people and their internal client. I followed up to present the proposal to them. “No, we are very busy, just send it”. Warning signal right there. I pushed back, “actually I need to explain it for you”. Further stalling, “No, just send it”. The pricing by the way, was very close to their indication.
Eventually you send it, but now you begin to suspect this is revenge on the President for daring to enter their world of authority. What looked like an inside track to a positive decision, gets derailed as the internal buying entity flexes muscle to show their independence. Applying my standard rule, I do not follow up further and just wait to see what happens. There was no response from their side, so again few options available, other than to tough it out.
These things happen in business, but the key point is do not take it personally. Sales is a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and your emotions are always under attack. Accept that sometimes you will get played by the buyer, but keep a record of the incident. Every six months give that company a call to see if your nefarious counterpart is still working there.
People are much more mobile in Japan, compared to many years ago and there is a good chance the evil, malicious puppeteer has moved on. We should not deal with that particular buyer again, but we can try to deal with the company.
There are usually many buyers in your market and many who you have had no contact with as yet, so there is little need to deal with bad buyer behavior. As the old saying goes “fool me once it’s your fault, fool me twice it’s my fault”.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
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About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.