Episode #163: Should You Smooze Your Way To Sales

“I gave my liver for my company” is a common refrain amongst Japanese salespeople. The other one is “I gave up my weekends for golf with the client”. What about foreigners selling here? Do we have to donate our liver to the cause and get divorced, because we are never spending any time with the family?

There is a difference between bribing the buyer through entertainment and having a business relationship. I think we can provide a quality service and leave it at the professional level. You might be spending your evenings wining and dining the buyer, but every couple of years they rotate positions within the company and your guy has moved on.

Also, depending on the sector where you are working, your “guy”, could well be a “gal” these days and being taken out by you, may be of very little interest. Younger people value their private time more than previous generations and don’t necessarily want to be spending it with salespeople.

If we concentrate on providing a reliable and quality service, then we can make sales here. We can have a business relationship that doesn’t have to cross the boundaries of bribery to get the business.

For many Japanese companies, the good old days of big expense accounts for staff have gone. Golf is also a killer here. The travelling distance to and from the course sucks up time. The game tee off isn’t until 9.00am after you had your obligatory coffee, then there is the hour for lunch, then the obligatory bath afterwards, then dinner together. There goes the whole day and night. It is very hard to justify the time these days, given the demands of business. Yes, it is always pleasant to get out of the city and enjoy some nature, but can we really justify the time anymore?

Lunches are a good way to get to know people. Usually, they are booze free or are imbibed in very moderate amounts. The check is often split these days, again because of compliance regulations. Breakfasts are not big with Japanese clients, usually because they are traveling long distances in the morning to get to work.

Rather than trying to buy business through entertainment, we can do very well here in Japan, if we concentrate on being the best at satisfying the buyer’s needs. Ultimately the person being entertained has to answer to their boss and the latter is all about results. Their interest in their staff ‘s good times being paid for by us is minimal.

Understand the client’s real needs, deliver value, follow up, do what you say you will and clients here will continue to do business with you. Your liver will thank you!