A short while ago I ran into 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 had repeated the same process of phoning into the phone system advertised by the company. Despite the fact that they never managed to speak to an appropriate person, they continued with this same process for several weeks.
The phone number led them into a sophisticated call directing system. They tried to understand the directions in English, a foreign language to them, and never figured out how to actually reach the right person.
The two French executives 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. They would eventually get through to the right person.
But what if they did not have such a strong argument? How can you reach the right person by phone?
I asked myself what I would have done. How can you reach the right person on the phone if you are in one country and he is in another country? And you know that cultural differences will probably mean you both have different business practices.
Well in this scenario, being North American, I probably would have made myself understood on the company phone, or company email. I would politely insist, with a quiet inner confidence that can be detected over the phone. And I would get through.
If the phone system prevented me from having the response I needed within 24 hours and crisis point was at close call, or if I was trying to reach a company in a culture where I didn't feel at ease, I would have used total guerilla tactics.
Contacting my countries commercial attaché in the foreign country, and asking how best to try to reach the company in question, would give me some indication of the next move to make.
Even Googling up the address and locating the nearest coffee shop or 4 star hotel would get fast results. Nearby hotels of a fair-sized company would certainly have the required direct phone numbers. Simply by asking help, you can meet wonderful people willing to help you to get the valid phone number you need.
In cross cultural telephone communication, the task of actually getting the phone number would not be the hard part. The difficulty lies in giving enough thought to why you are calling and what you will say that will be of interest to the person you are calling.
Of course you know why you want to speak to the person you would like to negotiate with. But will he be interested in what you have to say?
As always, being thorough, and following excellent business practices will shine through in cross cultural communication.
I would definitely have thought long and hard about why the person I was trying to get through would benefit from speaking to me. In this case, the call was very easy. A large American sportswear shop and a French company with solid financial backing begging to place a large order on a regular basis.
But if the situation were not as strong, you do need to think about your negotiation pitch. You can often play on the international contact aspect to have the door opened. No need to overplay. Simply calling from a foreign country makes most people sit up and listen a bit more.
Think very carefully about all the possible angles you could sell your pitch to get through over the phone. You have to be prepared. This is not email. You will have to navigate foreign waters in real time. You will have to follow the other persons flow as well.
If you do not have a very clear idea of what you want, how what you have to say or offer can be of interest to your listener, you could very easily burn your bridges, or start off on a bad foot.
When you are on the phone your voice has to be credible, your request, your whole presentation. And when calling internationally you should be ready for the conversation to be unexpected. If your pitch is well formed and credible, the person on the other end of the phone should be interested in your call. Things normally go very smoothly.
However cultural differences can crop up and easily be misinterpreted both ends. The best way to prevent this is to have one very clear objective for the one call.
Do not try to present your case and have the other person buy it hook line and sinker in five minutes. Plan for several steps. One short introductory phone call to test the waters. Follow up with an short email and or letter, depending on who is involved, recapping the phone call and asking for the next step.
Following up in writing after a first phone call can also be perceived as being polite if it is simply a short easy to read email. This helps facilitate communication when each party is from a different culture. You might send some more explanatory information and again follow up with a phone call. By this time you should get a feel for how your target person likes to communicate.
If you are in the sales position, you definitely want to follow the tone of what that person is used to. No matter how friendly the conversations go, always follow up with a short written re-cap of what you understood was said and expectations for the next step.
I have often found a quick phone call first can get the ball rolling, if you plan for it. A short email first may or may not work. In general you will need to follow a first email with a phone call shortly afterwards.
Whatever you do, keep moving ahead. Do not repeat the same process incessantly if it is not working.
You can also read up on how different cultures communicate and use their websites. You will find a list of books in the Resource section of CindyKing.biz.
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