I just had a conversation with someone from an office in France. We were discussing her company website and the decision (made in USA) to only have a US site. This decision was odd because more than half the company is located outside the US and other than and address and phone number, there was no reference to foreign offices.

Sure, we all know that a homogenous team is a thing of the past inprobably every international company. Can you even name one company with 100 employees that does not have at least one person fronm a different country?

Teams are made up of people with different nationalities, cultures, languages, ideas, behaviors and ways of getting things done. I think these differences are good, they make a company stronger.

Some people like to say that  the ‘international language of business’ should remove any cross-cultural communicationproblems, but this is probably not the case.

Get different cultural backgrounds come together in any setting there will always be issues. Then again, if you get a group with the same cultural background  together and there will always be issues. This is because EVERYONE bring with them their own baggage in terms of how they do things and expect things to be done.

I have has some Cross-cultural issues that were a bother, but I have also seen a group of people from the same city argue for a week over the Coke or Pepsi choice for the office fridge.

Language

English may always be the language of the office it does not mean everyone is totally confident in its use. Also remember that some people do not appreciate the language to the same degree as a native speaker. Issues resulting from this include:

• Non-native English speakers may be more reluctant to express themselves freely. This might interfere with the ability of team members to offer their maximum contribution.
• Non-native speakers may not always be able to express themselves in the manner they intended. Words can be misused, given the wrong emphasis or statements can come across as rude.
• Some cultures rely heavily on the use of body language and gestures. When non-verbal signals are being given they will not be picked up on by others. Also their communication style may be inhibited when the meetings are conducted virtually.

Some things team leaders or team members can do to improve this are:

• Provide additional opportunities for all team members to contribute more easily. For example, allow people a chance to write things down before a meeting or as part of a follow-up.
• Keep language simple: avoid idioms, slang, irony, etc.
• If you have an English speaker that speaks fast or in a manner at all confusing, summerize what was said by saying ” Do you mean that… ?”
• Non-verbal communication is important. Team members should be aware ways in which members may express negative responses or concepts. For example, silence may be one method that could be wrongly interpreted as agreement in other cultures.

Conflict Resolution

Different cultures approach conflict in sometimes very contrasting ways. Some cultures accept that conflict occurs in the natural order of things and that when it does, it needs to be addressed in a direct and upfront manner. Other cultures however are uncomfortable with open disagreement and will do their best to avoid it in order to save face and not put people in uncomfortable positions. They may withdraw or withhold their opinion if someone strongly disagrees rather that confront another person.

It is important for a team to define the way it wishes to handle conflict and disagreement. However, even after a process has been defined for managing conflict, it is important to bear in mind that cultural values are difficult to change. People from cultures where harmony is more important will still not be totally comfortable dealing with conflict and confrontation. What is key is that all parties are aware of such differences and sensitive to ways of dealing with conflict.

Gender

Every culture or society has its own understanding of gender relations and acts according to them. What is acceptable in one culture may offend in the other. This may play a role on a team to some degree, especially when two ends of the spectrum are represented in a team.

The way men and women in a team interact, the way authority is allocated, assumed or perceived, and the way roles and responsibilities are distributed can all be impacted by different viewpoints on gender. As and where issues arrive it is best to tackle the subject head on and agree that within the company or team there are specific protocols when it comes to gender interaction.

Decision-making

Different cultures have different ways of making and expecting decisions to be made. Some expect that consensus is the only way to go, i.e. that all team members should be approached for their points of view and using rational debate come to an agreement. Others believe that the majority rules and debate is a waste of time. Then here are others who believe that decisions are made by the leader or most senior person and not the team.

A global team will have to agree on the way in which decisions will be made. When you consider the decision making process, it is not just the end result that you need to discuss. It is the process you undergo as you make the decision. For example:

• Is it all right for juniors in a team to disagree with more senior people?
• Are discussions limited or open-ended?
• Is it typical for decisions to come about through a step-by-step process or is it more organic in nature?
• Is consensus necessary or will majority-rule suffice?
• How supportive are people expected to be to decisions in spite of their original objections?

For cross-cultural teams to succeed, managers and team members need to be attuned to cultural differences. Companies must be supportive, proactive and innovative if they wish to reap the potential benefits such global teams can offer. This goes beyond financing and creating technological links to bring people together at surface level and going back to basics by fostering better interpersonal communication.

Can generalizations like the ones you will find in the book Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands help you market to foreign clients?

I personally do not think so.

From My Experience

Twenty years ago I noticed examples where acceptance of such generalizations harmful to international business development.

Some people “learn” these generalizations, assume they are always right and do not make any effort to adapt to circumstances.

They believe they have been good students and will get straight A’s on their performance.

Wow…

Mega, explosive miscommunication, right around the corner.  It is just a question of waiting for it to go off.

Analyzing differences and making generalizing and assumptions to use in future conversations can easily lead to misunderstandings.

New Nuances For Old World Generalizations

Today I think it is even more foolish to use such generalizations in business.  The reasons are multiple:

Most of these generalizations have been around for so long, that a generation or two have gone by and no longer truly representative to the whole country’s demographics.  Even senior citizens may no longer correspond to these generalizations.

This trend to try to categorize certain cultural differences sometimes goes too far.  Something may have been an accepted practice at a certain time and in a certain set of circumstances.  That does not mean it can or should be taken out of context.

Internet, or rather the English language culture on the internet, and online media have influenced different market segments within foreign country on different levels. This means that some market segments in foreign cultures will interact with you different.  They have learned to navigate in different environments.

Conversation Starters

The best way to read such generalizations is as pure entertainment.

I only think about generalizations when I meet up for the first time with someone who is culturally traveled and experienced.  It is more like sharing old war stories.  There is nostalgia in the air.  Never prejudice or ill thoughts.

In every country I have lived there has been another race of people used as the underdog.  When you change countries the jokes stay the same, but the nationality changed.   You know, the ones where it takes several people to change the light bulb, one to hold and everyone else to turn the chair around.

Many generalizations seem to aim to strike the same cord, or one very close to these bad jokes.

In my experience any other reference to generalization of cultural habits always leads to fruitless conversations.  Everyone has prejudices.  And this is often an easy way to see prejudices in others.  It does not help conversations move forward.

A Closer Look At The Book

But just a second, before I sign off, I actually have that book somewhere… let me go grab it so I can give you some specific reasons why I do not think it is a good idea…

Well the first one I grabbed is the Kiss, Bow, Or Shake Hands: Europe.  This is just as well.

Let’s see if he trys yet again to explain the culturally correct number of times you need to kiss someone on the cheek as a greeting here in France.  There is none.  It depends on who is on the receiving end.  Anywhere for 1 to 4 usually.  And there is no logical, rational way to know if you are a foreigner.  I just stick my cheek out and wait for it to be over.

And it was only in Italy where I saw kisses going on into two-digit numbers.

Well the first example is good enough.

Which of the following are characteristics of most French conversations?

• Attentive listening
• Waiting for the other person to finish
• Scrupulous accuracy

The book says the correct answer is none of the above.

I think this is not a good question to represent cultural differences.

• What do you consider attentive listening?
• What do you consider as polite listening?
• What do you consider as polite?

Whatever your answer, that is the problem.  Your answer will be different from someone from a different culture.  Perceptions of politeness are different in different cultures.

Besides I cannot say I agree with the answer.  In my experience French people are just as attentive listeners as other cultures, they wait to hear what I say and as fas as I know they do not avoid accuracy in their conversations.  It would be wrong to make these statements generalizations.

Learn Culture Through Practice

Now let’s lighten things up and only look at this for entertainment.

Can I easily imagine meeting a French person and having these conversation problems?  A lack of attentive listening, interruptions and a slight disrespect for accuracy.

Well I could stretch my imagination and create a conversation I have never had.  But I could also easily imagine the same conversation with a New Yorker for example.

By the way, I have also read the book Blunders In International Business by David Ricks.  I would find this more instructive for business purposes, simply because it gives cultural blunders in business.   It tells stories.  This means you can see more and understand more.  But this book too fails miserably in giving you accurate generalizations and guidelines.

And there is a simple reason why.

You must learn to adapt to different cultures through practice.

Read more on Cross-Cultural Communication Blunders in these articles on CindyKing.biz:
- Cultural Blunders In Tele-Sales
- Should You Be Afraid Of Cultural Blunders?
- Can You Prevent All Cultural Blunders?

Search Engine optimization is the key. Search engines provide information to the millions of users that use them each day. They provide links to many sites that a user may be looking for. If your site ranks high on the search results page, they will go to your site, that’s common sense. Act now and see the benefits garner with search engine optimization.

With search engine optimization you can get the benefit of generating a high traffic volume and most importantly reach out to your targeted audience. For instance you are a business making Pizzas in Spectrum, California ,the last thing you would want is someone from New York City calling you for pizzas rather than someone two blocks from your business!!! You need search engine optimization to be number one, or maybe at least make your site income generating, in other words make your business generating revenue. It is imperative to make your site better and better everyday. Most people that use search engines use only the ten top search results in the first page. The most popular search engines are Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, AOL and Ask Jeeves and search engine optimization is about capturing the headlines of the major search engines as they account for more than 80% of the overall internet traffic . Making it to the first page, more so to the top three is a barometer of a sites success in search engine optimization and generating public awareness of your site’s existence and subsequently generates more traffic, traffic that could lead to potential income and business.

Websites do not promote themselves, so you need to become aware of all the options available to you to create website traffic, more importantly qualified traffic and get the word out about your business. Your website acts as the business storefront and search engine optimization makes your business stand out of the clatter and the noise and brings it to the forefront giving you an edge over your competitors. “To do or not to do” is no longer the question. It’s now a necessity! Without search engine optimization, you are depriving your business the right to survive and grow. Search Engine Optimization puts your business on auto pilot. Every business to be successful online needs search engine optimization -PERIOD. Procrastination on this count would prove costly not only to your business but also to the potential business your business could have done.

Small businesses not used to intercultural communication, can easily find dealing with international prospects challenging. It is sometimes hard to figure out exactly how your sales message has been received. You may have difficulty understanding what your international prospect needs to hear from you.

Just like with your own local leads, some of international prospects can appear to be ready to make the sale, some are hesitant and some just do not appear to be interested. With international clients, it is often not easy to interpret their reactions.

How do you know if you should step up your sales pitch, slow down or if it would be better to pass the ball to one of your colleagues who is a different gender than you are?

Often you naturally realize that you need to do a little more adjusting in your communication style to fit your international prospect.

This is especially true when your client is not following you, or appears to want to be someplace else in your sales process. The result is that you may appear less professional than you would want. Destabilizing situations can arise.

Things can even become comical. Or worse, you can have a frustrated prospect losing patience with you and moving on. Your international clients like to feel understood. How do you avoid this type of scenario? There is only one thing to do.

International web marketing and online based international business development rely heavily on culture customized content to create effective lead generation funnels and get sales.

Very simply, if you want to communicate effectively with different cultures in different countries you need to adapt your communication and your content. This is how you can begin to build cross-cultural relationships through your online business.

Reaching Clients With Content

There are a few different names used to describe the same basic type of marketing:

• Content Marketing
• Educational Marketing
• Information Marketing

How To Get The Content For Your Marketing

There is a trend in businesses outsourcing content creation. As Junta42 said recently, content outsourcing is getting the second largest marketing budget today.

This trend in outsourcing content creation is estimated to expand.

International Content Creation

The question is, how will businesses that outsource their content approach content for international audiences?

Will this international content be outsourced to:

• Content creators, or
• Translators, or
• Culture-customizers?

Choice Of Communication

First lets, look at another question. The choice of customizing your content to foreign markets.

I am often surprised by marketing managers who take the easy road of using a translation service.

Most of the large American companies I have dealt with will have their communication go through their American corporate communication or public relations Vice President and then translated.

This translation might be forwarded to the marketing manager based in the foreign country for input as a courtesy measure. Unfortunately I have yet to hear of any recommended changes being implemented.

This results in very little communication being culturally customized to the local culture.

Large companies have a very difficult issue with their corporate branding. This leaves their foreign marketing departments more work to catch up.

Loss For Some, Opportunity For Others

It is also a wonderful opportunity for the smaller, or more flexible businesses, to create more effective communication in foreign markets.

Culture-customized content will always resonate more than content created for your own domestic market.

Different cultures respond to different things. The communication you need to get the most out of one specific market will be different to the communication you need in another one.

Yes, it takes more effort to get the culture-customized content. It also takes more expertise and experience in your foreign markets.

But it will bring in more sales and will give your company a stronger presence in that culture.

How To Customize Your Content For Different Cultures

Now let’s go back to my question about how businesses will outsource the content they need for international markets.

There are two problems:

• Marketing managers in one country find working with a translation company easy to do.
• Most translation companies say they have translators with specific industry knowledge.

I have been one of those marketing executives.

Always get a mother-tongue speaker of the language you need. If your translator speaks the language you need as a second language and it is for communication with your clients… well you have just given your competitors a nice present.

I’ve hunted down the good translation agencies, bought the translations and had to work with the results.

Now, I have worked with a few large multinational companies with in-house staff capable of writing the documents needed in the foreign language. But time is a big factor when it comes to translations.

There is something I noticed. Translated documents were rarely as good as when they were done in-house with the right person.

Inside experience and expertise count enormously when creating culturally customized content.

Get Rid Of The Risk

After about 10 years in international business I decided on another tactic. My language skills will good enough for me to see the difference in marketing and cross-cultural communication needs and the best work any translation service could offer me.

My new tactic required prior planning in the beginning and some creative thinking. Afterwards I learned to keep my eyes open. I also began to know exactly what I wanted from a business and marketing point of view.

Whenever I need a document in another language, I look for the perfect person to do the job. I pre-select the person I want to work with.

• We have to have the same business outlook.
• The person has to have excellent writing skills.
• The writing style in the foreign language has to be right for the job.
• The person has to understand the objectives.
• The person must be able to communicate these objectives into the other language.

I often now turn to a professional friend or colleague. I also have my favorites.

Just because you

• Speak the language does not mean you will write what the market needs.
• Work in the same industry does not mean you will know how to communicate what the market needs.
• Have the right qualification does not mean you will get the communication right.

You might think I’m fussy with translations. No it’s not fussy.

It’s a question of eliminating risk. I do not like risks.

A marketer wants his campaigns to be successful. In my past experience, I have often eliminated at least 30-40% of the international marketing risk by having content written by the right person.

Eliminate a very large percentage of your risk.

Find the right person to create your culturally-customized content.

Need International English content? Drop me an email.

Read more on Culturally Customized Content in these articles:
- What Is Your Culture On The Social Web?
- Who Should You Get To Write Your Foreign Language Web Content
- The 2 Main Reasons Why Companies Do Not Have Good Foreign Language Content
- Multicultural Marketing And Colors
- The Phases Of Cultural Communication You Go Through To Increase International Sales
- Info-Products – Writing For International Readers