『The Sales Japan Series』のカバーアート

The Sales Japan Series

The Sales Japan Series

著者： Dale Carnegie Japan
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The vast majority of salespeople are just pitching the features of their solutions and doing it the hard way. They are throwing mud up against the wall and hoping it will stick. Hope by the way is not much of a strategy. They do it this way because they are untrained. Even if their company won't invest in training for them, this podcast provides hundreds of episodes with information, insights and techniques all based on solid real world experience selling in Japan. Trying to work it out by yourself is possible but why take the slow and difficult route to sales success? Tap into the structure, methodologies, tips and techniques needed to be successful in sales in Japan. In addition to the podcast the best selling book Japan Sales Mastery and its Japanese translation Za Eigyo are also available as well.Copyright 2022 マネジメント マネジメント・リーダーシップ 経済学
エピソード
  • You Have Three Seconds For An Effective First Impression

    You Have Three Seconds For An Effective First Impression
    2026/07/14
    People form an initial impression of you remarkably quickly. Whether the precise time is three seconds, seven seconds or slightly longer, the practical lesson for salespeople, executives and client-facing professionals is the same: your first impression begins before you start explaining your credentials, company or solution. In Japan, where professionalism, preparation and attention to detail carry considerable weight, leaving that impression to chance is risky. Your appearance, facial expression, eye contact, voice and opening question all influence whether a buyer initially sees you as credible, trustworthy and worth listening to. Here is how to intentionally engineer a strong first impression when meeting a client. How quickly do clients form a first impression? Clients begin evaluating you almost immediately, often before either person has spoken. Your appearance, posture, facial expression and general composure provide the first available evidence about your professionalism. The exact number of seconds will vary according to the person, situation and research method. However, buyers do make rapid judgements when meeting a salesperson, consultant or executive for the first time. They are subconsciously asking: Does this person look prepared? Are they confident? Can I trust them? Will meeting them be a good use of my time? This matters in both Japanese and international business. A buyer in Tokyo may pay particular attention to formality, punctuality and courtesy, while a buyer in Sydney or New York may respond more strongly to energy and directness. In every market, inconsistency creates doubt. If you claim to offer precision but appear disorganised, the buyer notices the contradiction. Do now: Decide what three qualities you want the client to recognise immediately, and make sure your appearance and behaviour communicate them before the meeting begins. How should a salesperson dress for a first client meeting? Dress so that nothing about your appearance distracts the buyer from your message. Cleanliness, fit, coordination and attention to detail are more important than wearing expensive clothing. Scuffed shoes, food stains, poorly fitting clothes, untidy hair or a worn belt may seem like minor matters. Unfortunately, buyers can interpret these signals as evidence of carelessness. It is difficult to promote a high-quality solution while looking as though quality control does not apply to you. For men wearing business attire, the belt should normally coordinate with the shoes, the tie knot should sit neatly against the collar and the jacket and trousers should fit properly. Women and men should both consider whether their clothing is suitable for the client, industry and level of formality. A technology startup may accept a more relaxed style than a Japanese bank, insurance company or government organisation. The goal is not flamboyance. The goal is visual credibility. Do now: Before leaving for the meeting, check your shoes, clothing, hair, accessories, bag and business materials from the buyer's point of view. Should you smile and bow when meeting a Japanese client? Yes. A natural smile followed by an appropriate bow communicates confidence, warmth and respect before the business conversation begins. Some salespeople become so focused on being formal that their expression becomes severe. Others rush through the greeting because they are nervous or worried about what to say next. A calm smile helps remove tension and tells the client that you are pleased to meet them. In Japan, the bow remains an important part of professional etiquette. The depth and duration will depend on the situation, but a controlled, respectful bow is generally more effective than an exaggerated performance. When exchanging business cards, handle the card carefully, look at it and avoid immediately stuffing it into a pocket. International professionals should adapt without becoming artificial. Japanese buyers do not expect every visitor to behave exactly like a Japanese executive, but they do notice sincere preparation and respect for local business customs. Do now: Practise a simple sequence: make eye contact, smile naturally, greet the person clearly and bow without rushing. How much eye contact is appropriate in Japanese business? Make clear initial eye contact to establish confidence, but avoid staring continuously. In Japan, balanced eye contact is usually more comfortable and culturally appropriate than an unbroken gaze. Eye contact tells the buyer that you are present, composed and interested. At the beginning of the meeting, several seconds of direct eye contact can help establish a connection. After that, allow your gaze to move naturally rather than trying to maintain constant visual contact. Cultural expectations differ. Western sales training often emphasises strong eye contact, while Japanese communication may involve more intermittent eye contact, particularly when showing respect to someone senior. ...
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    12 分
  • When Is Too Much, Too Much In Sales

    When Is Too Much, Too Much In Sales
    2026/07/07
    Salespeople in Japan often face a delicate balancing act. Push too little and they become passive farmers who protect the client but fail to grow the business. Push too hard and they risk looking aggressive, annoying, or culturally tone-deaf. The real answer sits in the middle: become a trusted partner who helps the buyer succeed while still representing your own company's commercial interests. In Japan, professional selling is not about being timid. It is about being appropriately persistent, value-focused, and visibly committed to helping the client improve. When is sales persistence too much in Japan? Sales persistence becomes too much in Japan when the buyer feels pressured, disrespected, or treated like a target rather than a partner. The goal is not to copy an American-style hard sell; the goal is to build trust while still moving the business forward. Japanese buyers often value patience, relationship continuity, risk reduction, and internal consensus. That does not mean salespeople should collapse at the first sign of hesitation. It means they need to read the room, ask better questions, and keep the conversation focused on value. In B2B sales, professional services, training, technology, and recruitment, the best salesperson is not passive and not pushy. They are persistent with purpose. Do now: Push for clarity, not pressure. Keep advancing the conversation, but make every follow-up useful to the buyer. Why are some Japanese sales teams too passive? Many Japanese sales teams become too passive because they prioritise keeping the buyer happy over creating value for both sides. They are good farmers, but weak hunters. Clients often tell sales leaders that their teams bend over backwards for customers and behave almost as if they work for the buyer. That sounds noble, but it can damage revenue, margins, account growth, and new business development. Farming existing accounts matters, but hunting for new buyers and expanding current relationships matter too. Post-pandemic Japan has made prospecting harder, with fewer spontaneous networking opportunities and more digital gatekeeping. Passive salespeople cannot simply wait for the phone to ring. Do now: Train salespeople to protect relationships while still asking for introductions, proposing next steps, and expanding the account. Why is discounting dangerous in Japanese sales? Discounting is dangerous in Japanese sales because a low opening price often becomes the ceiling, not the floor.Once buyers secure a discount, they may expect that price as the new baseline. Weak salespeople discount because they cannot explain value. They would rather win the client at a painful price than risk losing the deal and having to find a new buyer. The problem is that Japan's B2B buyers, procurement teams, and corporate decision-makers remember concessions. A "special one-time price" may not be treated as special next time. It becomes the anchor for future negotiations. Australian, American, and European suppliers entering Japan often make this mistake by offering their "best price" too early and then spending the rest of the negotiation defending it. Do now: Sell value before price. Explain outcomes, risk reduction, implementation support, and long-term impact before discussing concessions. How should salespeople network without damaging their reputation? Salespeople should network with energy and discipline, but never with desperation, deception, or disrespect. In Japan's close business community, especially among foreign executives in Tokyo, reputation travels fast. Networking at chambers of commerce, industry associations, embassy events, trade groups, and professional gatherings can produce valuable leads. It can also produce bruising moments. Some people reject business cards, complain about follow-up emails, or accuse active networkers of being too visible. Salespeople need thick skin. Most critics are not responsible for finding new clients and may not understand how difficult prospecting really is. Still, there is a line. Integrity, relevance, and respect must guide every approach. Do now: Network consistently, but make it buyer-centred. Follow up with relevance, not spam. Be memorable for value, not volume. Should sales leaders personally prospect? Sales leaders should personally prospect because they cannot credibly demand hunting behaviour from their team if they refuse to do it themselves. Leading from the front builds trust, accountability, and standards. A sales leader who attends events, starts conversations, asks for meetings, follows up, and handles rejection demonstrates the behaviour expected from the team. This matters in Japan, where hierarchy and role modelling influence organisational behaviour. If the boss hides behind dashboards and only lectures the sales team about pipeline, credibility collapses. When the leader shows grit, the team has fewer excuses. Prospecting is hard. Rejection stings. But nothing happens until someone sells...
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    14 分
  • Wasting Salespeople

    Wasting Salespeople
    2026/06/30
    Many companies complain that their salespeople cannot sell, but the real problem is often poor sales management, weak onboarding, unrealistic targets, and almost no proper coaching. In Japan, where hiring English-speaking, globally minded salespeople has become harder, wasting sales talent is not just inefficient. It is expensive, avoidable, and strategically dangerous. Salespeople do not magically become productive. They need realistic targets, consistent sales training, active coaching, and managers who know how to build capability rather than just demand numbers. Why do companies waste salespeople? Companies waste salespeople when they hire them, pressure them, under-train them, and then blame them when they fail. The salesperson may look useless, but the system around them may be the real culprit. In industries such as recruitment, real estate, insurance, technology, and professional services, the "up or out" mentality is common. Throw enough people into the machine, set high targets, and keep the few who survive. That approach may have worked when there were plenty of candidates available, but Japan's labour market is tighter, younger talent is scarcer, and bilingual salespeople are harder to find. As of the post-pandemic period, companies cannot afford to treat salespeople like disposable parts. They need a development model, not a meat grinder. Do now: Audit your sales exits. Before calling people failures, check whether onboarding, coaching, target-setting, and manager support failed first. Why is hiring salespeople in Japan becoming harder? Hiring salespeople in Japan is harder because the supply of internationally exposed, English-speaking young talent has shrunk and domestic Japanese firms now compete for the same people. Multinationals no longer have the bilingual talent field to themselves. Japanese students studying overseas, especially in the United States, declined significantly from earlier peaks, and COVID-19 disrupted international mobility even further. The pattern also changed: fewer students completed long, four-year immersion experiences, while more chose shorter overseas programmes. That matters because multinational firms in Japan often seek candidates who can speak English, understand Western business culture, and operate confidently across borders. Meanwhile, Japanese domestic companies have become more attractive and more aggressive in hiring these same people. So, if you want a bilingual salesperson in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, or Fukuoka, brace for impact. Do now: Stop assuming talent is plentiful. Build a sales development engine that turns promising people into productive producers. What is broken about sales training in Japanese companies? Sales training in many Japanese companies is broken because On-the-Job Training exists in name, but not in real coaching practice. The company may believe development is happening, while the salesperson receives little meaningful guidance. The old OJT model relied on bosses having time to observe, coach, correct, and demonstrate. Today, many sales managers are drowning in email, meetings, CRM updates, forecasting, internal reporting, and their own player-manager targets. Coaching gets squeezed out. Nobody wants to admit that reality, so the organisation maintains a tatemae — the polite surface story — that young salespeople are being trained. Meanwhile, the honne — the actual truth — is that they are often left to struggle alone. In sales, that gap becomes missed revenue, low morale, and higher turnover. Do now: Measure actual coaching hours, not training slogans. If managers are not coaching weekly, the OJT system is probably fiction. How should sales targets be set fairly? Sales targets should be set using evidence, tenure, sales cycle length, market conditions, and comparable performance data — not numbers pulled out of the ether. Unrealistic targets crush confidence and accelerate resignations. A first-year salesperson, a veteran account manager, and a newly hired bilingual sales rep cannot be judged by the same blunt target logic. Leaders need a "Day One" view: when did the person start, what pipeline stage are they at, what territory did they inherit, and how are they performing compared with colleagues at the same stage? This approach is far more scientific than the wet-finger-in-the-air method. In Japan, where trust-building and decision cycles can be slower, target-setting must reflect reality. Pressure matters, but fantasy numbers create despair, not performance. Do now: Build a Ground Zero-style performance tracker. Compare people by stage, role, market, and ramp-up time before setting targets. Why does regular sales training improve revenue quickly? Regular sales training improves revenue quickly because sales is one of the few training areas where better behaviour can directly affect pipeline, conversion, deal size, and repeat business. When salespeople ask better questions, handle objections better, and ...
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    12 分
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