The authors of this article are Bob Spence of C4DI and Kasia Łanucha of SpeakCulture. They are joined by Kaja Szczygieł previously of the British Embassy Warsaw and now of the US Embassy Warsaw.
If you are involved in business development then these articles are aimed at supporting the creation of the right sales skills to create revenue.
This content is part of a series. It will be edited into a comprehensive ePublication for release later in 2021. Each article is designed to support CEE business succeed in the English-speaking western economies and is aimed especially to those CEE businesses that are focusing on making UK sales and US sales.
We will be discussing sales methodology and the potential impact of culture on sales processes from a CEE to Western perspective. There will be reference to the culture models of Geert Hofstede known for his pioneering research on cross-cultural thinking and we will share a new SaaS sales model referred to as: ‘20/20 vision’.
‘20/20 vision’ is specifically designed to develop successful CEE-to-Western market sales meetings.
Kaja: Our discussions produced neither an exhaustive list of sales methods nor a definitive history of selling methods. They are a vista of the selling methodology used today. We have made a calculated ‘guesstimate’ as to how we got to this point. So, in this article we explore ‘how we sell’ and where it came from.
Recognisable sales models emerge: early 1950’s
Bob: In the US economy, advanced sales management thinking, saw the key to their sales and distribution approach as: the ‘relationship-sales’ model. This would require assigning a specific territory to an individual sales professional. It would then be the job of that sales professional to create and advance ‘relationships’ with potential buyers. It is the start of the evolution of business development. It recognises that sales representation is becoming a strategic role rather than a tactical one.
The representative is part of the customer acquisition approach rather than an agent of the business converting sales from sales enquiries.
First reflection:
Is your sales role an internal part of the customer acquisition approach of your company? Or are you an external agent of it? (If you are not sure then have that ‘internal’ conversation. This positioning has a dramatic impact on the business development language that you will be able to use and the perception of the prospect).
Bob: In this early 1950’s approach, the sales professional would need to represent ‘a something’ or ‘a somebody’ within their targeted market place. This era is without websites and easily comparable pricing we can access today. That means that the sales representative has the power to deliver up to date information on offer and market place. This ‘information led’ approach was the platform that created the opportunity to develop a relationship that had the potential to make a sale. This sales representation is built around an early version of 1-2-1 relationship marketing. It is a sales model where the sales professional calls on the same potential prospect list repeatedly over an extended period. This familiarity develops the ‘know- like-trust’ relationship foundation that all business development professionals will be familiar with. (A recognisable key component that is required to develop selling opportunities is created over a period of time).
‘Beginning with Mark Twain's effort to sell the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, Twain understood critical elements in the psychology of sales: People buy from people that they know, like and trust’.
Kasia: Some sales professionals describe this is a ‘retail approach’ to making sales. Bob Spence has heard others describe it as the ‘order-taker’ method. You have the sales professional delivering mobile foot fall by visiting the prospect rather than a static retail outlet attracting the same footfall. Essentially the salesperson and the buyer get to know each other better on both professional and personal levels based on the stability of their roles.
At the core of the success of this model is the ability to cross boundaries from being a familiar face to a sales professional when required.
Second reflection:
Kaja: It is worth considering the sophistication of a sales approach that requires movement from ‘friend’ to ‘sales professional’? Western buyers often engage within a conversational method recognised as; ‘small talk’. This may confuse the real standard of the relationship. (How are you going to measure this standard)?
How do you evaluate a CEE-Western relationship, in terms of timing, to create a sales opening?
Kasia: When referring to the findings of ‘Geert Hofstede’ there is one cultural dimension that seems exceptionally relevant for the context of building business relationships. He defined it as; ‘uncertainty-avoidance’ and generally cultures in CEE score extremely high in respect of this feature with a average measurement of 93. The description:
‘Countries exhibiting high uncertainty-avoidance maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour. As a stereotype they are typically intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. In these cultures, there is an emotional need for rules even if the rules never seem to work. Time is money and people have an inner urge to be busy and work hard. In this environment precision and punctuality are the norm and innovation may be resisted with security as an important element in individual motivation’.
Third reflection:
Bob: CEE business development professionals looking to improve their success in the English-speaking western markets should be aware of the impact in a sales meeting of uncertainty-avoidance. Western meetings will probably appear very flexible with no clear measurable outputs whilst you are trying to build a ‘know-like-trust’ relationship. You may also encounter social cues that may fail to make sense. EG: Enquiries about your health and general well being that might suggest that the relationship is at an advanced point when these may be just generalities and no significance should be attached. (On the other hand, it may be significant)!
Spence, Lanucha and Szczygieł © 2021