Manuel the Spanish waiter from the classic comedy Fawlty Towers was clearly lost in translation at times and for good reason. Is your own international communication comical? David Jordan of RT5 Consultants International, suggests it could be. Being culturally unaware can lead to matters turning comical and business prospects being lost. How do you stop this happening? Turn on your high power internal wifi and proceed slowly. Ask your prospect simple questions to confirm what needs have to be addressed. Apply 2:1 listen ratios (use your 2 ears and 1 mouth in that ratio and listen twice as much as you speak). Adjust your communication accordingly. If your prospect appears excited about your product or service, reconfirm this a few times. This will give them the time to assimilate things more deeply. If your prospect appears to be uninterested, do not assume you should not continue to spend time with them. This may be normal practice and they may be used to different practices and need time to adjust to yours, compute what you have said, or simply have reflection time. Leave the human internal wifi receiver on and proceed slowly. Ask open questions to confirm what they need to have addressed and closed questions to gain buy in. If your prospect seems to be pausing or giving minimal reactions in return, find out what is of interest to them in your product or service range and attempt to slowly open them up. Often international prospects require a little more personal attention in the beginning.
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