Are some of your customers in China or India? Tomorrow will you be receiving future partners who come from another country? How should you approach a meeting, negotiations or signing contracts? How should cultural differences be managed to avoid offending your counterpart? Here are some tips on how to manage cultural differences with foreign customers.
Negotiating with foreign partners requires tact and preparation. Ways of working or negotiating can be different from those we use in Canada. Selling techniques that have proven themselves on the local market can be ineffective elsewhere. So it’s better to prepare yourself and know the cultural contexts of the countries where you intend to develop business ties, whether you go there yourself our receive your future partners at your company.
Stereotypes, prejudices and value judgments
Encountering people from cultures different from ours can bring out stereotypes, prejudices and value judgements. For a negotiation to be profitable, it is important to show openness, patience and humility, to get beyond these stereotypes and make room for communication. The preliminaries to negotiation, in particular, are a decisive step. Well handled, this phase generally reveals wither or not there is a meeting of the minds.
Manage cultural differences with foreign customers with the V-I-C-U method
Manage cultural differences with foreign customers with the VICU method. It is commonly used by businessmen who must negotiate with foreign customers. Here are the main elements:
V – Values: Learn about the cultural habits and codes of the host country, its traditions and history. Also inquire about the basic protocol rules to adopt. A negotiator must absolutely avoid statements and attitudes which could be judged by the other as hurtful, offensive or humiliating.
It is also essential to fully understand the practices, behaviours and languages (semantics, gestures, relationship to time and space) of your counterpart. The same gesture can have a different meaning depending on the country’s culture and produce the opposite results as those expected.
I – Interests: Show special interest in your counterpart. It means respecting their habits and customs and way of working. For example, in some countries it is normal to start by inquiring at length about the health or family of your future partner before beginning negotiations.
C – Communicate: if possible in your counterpart’s language. If you are not fluent in it, at least learn a few polite expressions such as “hello” and “thank you” to show him respect and engage properly in the dialogue.
U – Unique: keep in mind that each culture is different. You will not negotiate in the same way in China as in Cameroon.
To sum up, a few years ago, only diplomats would receive training on the protocol to be adopted in a foreign country. Today, it is essential for any businessperson or person who has to negotiate with a counterpart from another culture. If this is the case for you, be prepared! The outcome of your negotiation could depend on it!