Soft Skills - Professionalism Has Its own Accent

Soft Skills – Professionalism Has Its own Accent

In this article, we will share some ideas on how you can excel in your sales profession. However, we first need to understand that our success depends on our preparation. Preparation is essential to sales no matter what your mother tongue is.

What you need to prepare:

Know your product inside-out
Decide on, and practice your key message
Find out as much as you can about your prospects (LEARN)

”The more you learn about what you are about to get into, the more you will be at an advantage during your sales process…”

1. Learn the Language

Obviously, If you can speak fluent Korean (or if you are already there), you are going to have an easier time selling to Korean. Likewise Italians, Portuguese, and English. Fortunately, you do not have to become truly fluent — you just need enough to be able to read your own product website. You need learn the language of your product. Moreover, speak the language of your product.

Always continue to learn the language you are selling in, and you will enrich your life and your business.

Take extra care when interpreting emails, and other communications. Whether or not your client is from an English-speaking country, you are likely to notice differences in language and local slang. If you are not certain exactly what your client is telling you or asking for, be sure to ask for further clarification via email, stating what you think the client is saying, and then asking whether your interpretation is correct.

Before working with an international client, you should do research on their local customs and etiquette. You may find that some cultures do not like to talk about pricing upfront, so you might need to customize the way you discuss your estimate for an offer Likewise, in some countries the “hard sell” is a turn-off…. so act accordingly.

2. Learn What is Offensive

If your entire knowledge of U.S. culture came from Two and a Half Men, you would have a pretty shaky sense of what is and isn’t appropriate to say to customers. Slang expressions can be as offensive as they are common. Stay with classy or at least moderately professional speech to stay above the fray. Pay attention to cultural differences.

3. Learn your Scripts

You are working outside your comfort zone, so find trustworthy co-workers who can help you navigate these new waters. A script to use as a guide can be a holy grail to you. After reading your script aloud 100-200 times, you will become comfortable delivering your presentation. You can also ask a colleague to help you work with your accent, or take some pronunciation lessons with a teacher.

You can actually take advantage of your foreign accent in two ways:

Use your accent as the icebreaker in a conversation. It can tie you to a memory, or knowledge that your client has. Experiences connect to a higher level of subconscious connection with an unknown person. Cultures always create bonds between people.
Use your accent to divert your prospects from their purchasing resistances. Use your accent to create similar-sounding words, to the ones that your customer is using. Then, ask the prospect for help in pronunciation, in order to step aside into a new subject.

Lastly, Don’t get Overwhelmed

You can get hundreds of rejections because your accent, because people tend to not trust a foreigner salesperson. It is easier to reject what you do not understand. However, if you take all of the advice in this article, I promise that you will have more fun at work, and more money while doing it.

– Laura Necsutu, Sales Development Israel

See, let me clarify the above by telling you a super-short story about how I began my Soft Skills Training Company…

You see, about 10 years ago, I had a realization:

I was put on this planet to teach and to share the knowledge I have.

So with my 20+ years of experience in the field of sales + soft skills + customer service + management – and after looking closely into the Israeli marketplace, I decided to open a sales training company in Tel Aviv Israel.

I knew what I had to do and whom I wanted to target, so I started cold calling companies in Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Ramat Gan, Holon, Haifa, and Jerusalem – doing everything in my power to try to generate momentum in my business.

Great news! I was able to find my first few corporate clients!

Now during my soft skills and sales training workshops, I included my own personal life stories throughout.

Moreover, at the conclusion of my sales training workshops, via telling stories and teaching specific sales, communication and other soft skill techniques, two things would consistently happen:

Firstly, I receive feedback from managers / management that the training workshop provided massive value.

Secondly, one or two of the students in the course privately approach me to share their own personal experience, what they learned, and to thank me.

And here we are nearly 10 years later and I am happy to say that I have slowly but surely transitioned into a pure “Soft Skills Coach”.

And in addition, that I have been lucky enough to say that I have helped thousands of people, from over 25 countries to improve their communication, leadership, and persuasive capabilities!