『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
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  • Blocking, Tracking and Grinding In Sales

    Blocking, Tracking and Grinding In Sales
    2026/05/19
    Sales success rarely comes from one brilliant play, one miracle client, or one giant deal. It comes from doing the basics repeatedly: prospecting, following up, meeting buyers, tracking activity, and grinding through the boring work other salespeople avoid. Vince Lombardi, the legendary Green Bay Packers coach, talked about the importance of blocking and tackling in American football. The same idea applies in sales. The flashy strategy matters, but if the fundamentals are weak, everything collapses. Why do salespeople need to master the basics? Salespeople need to master the basics because revenue is built on consistent, repeatable activity, not hope. Big deals are wonderful when they land, but they rarely arrive without disciplined prospecting, follow-up, and pipeline management. In sales, the equivalent of blocking and tackling includes cold calling, referral requests, client research, CRM updates, proposal follow-up, and face-to-face buyer contact. These tasks are not glamorous. They are often boring, irritating, and repetitive. Yet in Japan, the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, the salespeople who survive downturns are usually those who keep doing the fundamentals while others chase bright shiny objects. Landing the whale client sounds exciting, but years can pass while the promised revenue never appears. Do now: Measure the activity that creates revenue, not just the revenue you hope will appear. Why do talented salespeople sometimes fail? Talented salespeople sometimes fail because intelligence can tempt them to skip the grind. They believe the basics are for lesser mortals and that one clever strategy or major client will rescue the numbers. This is a dangerous mindset in B2B sales, professional services, corporate training, SaaS, consulting, and recruitment. Smart people can talk persuasively about future revenue, strategic accounts, and game-changing opportunities. The problem is simple: until the deal is signed and the money is banked, it is not revenue. Many capable salespeople have left organisations because they preferred impressive possibilities to daily execution. Talent matters, but discipline converts talent into income. Do now: Treat your sales pipeline as evidence, not imagination. If it is not moving, it is not real. How did the pandemic change sales prospecting? The pandemic made sales prospecting harder by pushing buyers out of offices and behind new barriers. Cold calling became more frustrating because receptionists, assistants, and internal gatekeepers often had less access—or less willingness—to connect sellers with decision-makers. Since COVID-19, many clients in Japan and other markets have shifted to hybrid work, remote meetings, and stricter communication filters. Calling the office may produce vague responses, blocked contact details, or a polite refusal to share an email address or phone number. This makes the traditional sales routine more difficult, especially for SMEs and service businesses that depend on new conversations. Yet the need for sales has not disappeared. Business still depends on buyers discovering better solutions, services, and ideas. Do now: Assume the old route to the buyer may be blocked. Build several routes instead. Should tobikomi eigyo make a comeback in Japan? Tobikomi eigyo, or unannounced in-person sales visits, may deserve a careful comeback when phone and email access are blocked. It is not always efficient, but it can create a buyer contact when every digital channel is failing. In Japan, 飛び込み営業 has a long history in sales culture, even though many modern sales teams consider it outdated or inefficient. Post-pandemic, that assumption may need rethinking. If the buyer is back in the office two or three days a week and competitors are not visiting, a professional drop-in can stand out. Not every building allows easy access, especially newer offices with QR codes, reception systems, and security gates. Still, where access is possible, a short visit may create enough human contact to secure a proper appointment later. Do now: Use in-person visits selectively, respectfully, and with a clear reason the buyer should care. How can salespeople respond when gatekeepers block access? Salespeople should respond to gatekeepers with calm persistence, not frustration or arrogance. The aim is to protect the brand while still showing the resilience expected of a serious sales professional. Gatekeepers often believe they are helping the boss by blocking unknown callers, visitors, and sellers. Sometimes they are. But companies also need new suppliers, better services, and fresh ideas, especially during difficult business conditions. A useful response is to acknowledge their viewpoint while reframing the behaviour as the same determined mindset they would want from their own sales team. This approach is particularly important in Japan, where professionalism, politeness, and face-saving matter. Being pushy damages trust; being resilient ...
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    12 分
  • The Piranha Client

    The Piranha Client
    2026/05/12
    Some clients do not attack your deal in one dramatic bite. They take tiny pieces—one discount request, one scope change, one extra demand, one more profile review—until your margins, time, and energy are stripped away. In sales, consulting, professional services, and corporate training, leaders need to recognise the "piranha client" early. The danger is not always a bad person or a bad company. Often, it is a pattern of incremental pressure that looks harmless in isolation but becomes commercially toxic over time. What is a piranha client in sales and professional services? A piranha client is a customer who erodes your deal through repeated small demands rather than one obvious negotiation attack. They ask for "just one more" discount, "just one more" concession, or "just one more" change until the original agreement barely resembles the final delivery. Unlike a shark-style negotiator who takes one huge bite, the piranha client works through accumulation. In B2B sales, consulting, training, recruitment, technology implementation, and agency work, this often appears as volume discounts, extra stakeholders, expanded scope, and constant approval loops. Post-pandemic, when many service firms were hungry for revenue, these patterns became even harder to resist. Do now: Track every concession in writing. Small bites become big losses when nobody totals them. Why do clients keep asking for more discounts? Clients keep asking for discounts because each successful concession teaches them that more pressure may produce a better price. If the seller has not created a clear commercial boundary, the buyer naturally tests the limits. In large companies, especially new divisions or procurement-heavy organisations, buyers may not reveal the full deal size upfront. A supplier agrees to the first discount, then a second tranche appears, then a third. By the time the total opportunity is visible, the seller is already trapped inside a "big discount" corner. This happens across Japan, the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, but it is especially painful in high-touch service businesses where labour, expertise, and delivery capacity cannot be infinitely scaled. Do now: Price each stage as though more scope may follow. Set a hard stop before negotiations begin. How can scope creep damage a service business? Scope creep damages a service business by quietly increasing delivery obligations without increasing revenue. The client may see each request as reasonable, but the supplier absorbs the extra time, coordination, risk, and opportunity cost. In training, consulting, and advisory work, scope creep often appears as new requirements, additional audiences, more reporting, special customisation, extra meetings, or new approval layers. For SMEs and boutique firms, the impact is sharper than for large multinationals because fewer people carry the operational load. During COVID-19 and the post-pandemic recovery, external trainer availability, client uncertainty, and shifting schedules made this even more complex. A deal that looked profitable on paper can become unattractive once hidden delivery costs are included. Do now: Define scope, exclusions, decision rights, and change fees before delivery starts. Why is trainer or consultant selection a hidden negotiation risk? Trainer and consultant selection becomes risky when the client treats expert availability as unlimited. In reality, quality delivery depends on certified people, scheduling constraints, and proven fit. In the training industry, certification is not a light administrative step. Dale Carnegie trainer development, for example, involves long preparation, specialist training, and accreditation standards. That means a client asking to review more and more profiles is not simply requesting choice; they may be consuming scarce operational capacity. This issue appears in other fields too: legal partners, executive coaches, cybersecurity consultants, enterprise software architects, and medical specialists all face similar constraints. Quality depends on expertise, not infinite substitutions. Do now: Explain the certification, experience, and availability logic early. Choice should support quality, not undermine delivery. When should a business push back on a demanding client? A business should push back when discount pressure, scope creep, and difficult behaviour combine into a pattern.One tough request is negotiation; repeated erosion is a warning signal. Many service firms operate with an informal "no idiots" policy, although the actual wording is often stronger. The principle is simple: some revenue is not worth the operational damage, staff stress, or reputational risk. Leaders at startups, SMEs, and established firms need to ask whether the client is building a partnership or simply extracting value. In Japan, where long-term relationships and trust matter, the pushback should be polite, structured, and commercially clear. In more aggressive procurement cultures, ...
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    10 分
  • Can You Stimulate The Buyer Greed Gland In Japan?

    Can You Stimulate The Buyer Greed Gland In Japan?
    2026/05/05
    Selling in Japan is not about pushing personal gain in a loud, Western-style way. It is about uncovering what success means to the buyer, then linking your solution to that motivation with care, timing, and respect. That distinction matters because Japanese buyers often express self-interest differently from buyers in the US, Australia, or parts of Europe. In Western firms, an executive may openly say a successful project means promotion, bonus upside, or career protection. In Japan, especially in larger firms, the answer is more likely to centre on the team, the division, or the company as a whole. That does not mean personal motivation is absent. It means it is expressed through a different cultural lens. Smart salespeople do not force a Western script. They adapt the language, keep the trust intact, and connect their solution to whatever the buyer says matters most. Why is trust such a critical first step in Japanese sales? Trust matters first because buyers in Japan will not easily reveal problems, failure points, or internal barriers to someone they do not trust. Before you can diagnose need, you must earn the right to ask. That is especially important because the sales process can feel intrusive. A salesperson may barely know the buyer, yet quickly start asking about corporate struggles, stalled progress, or underperformance. In any market that can feel bold, but in Japan it can feel particularly confronting if the permission stage is skipped. That is why experienced sellers explain who they are, what they do, where they have helped similar firms, and then ask for permission to go deeper. A simple phrase like asking whether they may pose a few questions can lower resistance and increase cooperation. In consultative selling, permission is not a formality. It is a gateway to useful information. Do now: Slow down the first meeting and earn the right to ask before diving into business pain. Mini-summary: In Japan, trust and permission are not optional extras; they are the foundation of discovery. Why is asking about personal motivation so sensitive in Japan? It is sensitive because direct talk about personal reward can feel awkward, unfamiliar, or culturally out of place in many Japanese business settings. The buyer may not be used to linking project success to openly stated self-interest. That is one of the biggest differences between Japan and more individualistic corporate cultures. In many Western companies, a buyer may readily say that success means a bonus, a promotion, or protection from criticism. In Japan, especially in traditional or larger organisations, promotion often has a weaker direct connection to individual project performance. Bonus structures may also be perceived less as performance windfalls and more as expected compensation patterns. So when a seller asks, "What would success mean for you personally?", the buyer may hesitate or seem confused. The issue is not that the question is wrong. The issue is that the language must be handled with far greater subtlety. Do now: Ask about what success would mean, but be ready for group-oriented answers rather than individual ambition. Mini-summary: Japanese buyers may express motivation collectively, even when personal stakes are quietly present. What kind of answers do Japanese buyers usually give? Japanese buyers often answer in terms of team benefit, company satisfaction, or group harmony rather than individual reward. That response is culturally consistent and still highly useful for the salesperson. A buyer may say the team will be pleased, the department will benefit, or everyone will feel satisfied if the project succeeds. From a Western viewpoint, that may sound indirect or vague. From a Japanese business perspective, it can be entirely natural. The salesperson's job is not to judge the answer. The job is to capture it and use it later. Whether the motivation is framed as personal advancement, group success, or organisational harmony, it still provides a key emotional link for the presentation phase. The real commercial insight is that motivation does not need to be selfish to be powerful. It only needs to be real enough that the buyer recognises it as meaningful. Do now: Listen for how the buyer defines success, not how you expected them to define it. Mini-summary: Group-framed motivation is still motivation, and it can be just as persuasive in the sale. Why is silence so important after asking a difficult sales question? Silence matters because tension often produces the answer you need, while premature talking lets the buyer escape.After a sensitive question, the salesperson must resist the urge to rescue the moment. This is a discipline many sellers struggle with. When the room goes quiet, especially after a question about personal stakes or organisational problems, the instinct is to fill the gap. That is usually a mistake. In Japan, where pauses and careful responses are more common, silence can be especially ...
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    14 分
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