Selling to Americans - Birdwell Communication & Cultures

July 3, 2023
Posted by: William BIRDWELL
Categories: American culture, Culture at work

Selling your products, services or ideas is difficult enough in our own country and culture. Selling in another country or culture adds extra layer of complexity and stress.

First of all communicating in another language in high stakes situations is stressful.

The rituals of first meetings, i.e. addressing people with the correct titles, icebreaking, handshaking, exchanges of business cards, dress codes vary from country to country. To know what to do exactly can be confusing.

Today I want to talk about selling to Americans and a few things that you should take into consideration in your meetings online or face to face.

Americans listen differently

It might sound strange but Americans listen differently. Americans tend to listen to information in “snippets”.

They are very often listening for something new or novel.

As the cliché goes “time is money”. Americans will be scanning your communication for key words that will make you or your product different.

Simple, easy to digest facts and figures will help engage and maintain the attention of the American listener.

Communicating information in an entertaining but serious manner will also help to keep your audience focused.

The Pitch

There is a lot of talk these days about the “Sales Pitch” or sometimes called the “Elevator Pitch”. This is a short, simple, clear and compelling opening to get your customer’s or audience’s attention. A pitch is usually less than 3 minutes.

A good pitch for Americans will focus on benefits and end results of a product or service and not so much its technical features or superiority of the product.

The Pitch will not close a deal for you. However it will help you secure the attention of your American listener and help you take the sales discussion to a higher level.

Sounds easy? Creating an excellent pitch, takes method, a lot of thought, time, and practice. If you are selling to Americans having a well crafted and rehearsed Pitch is the place to start.

This is one of the topics we cover in our intercultural training course “How to work with Americans”. To find out more, contact us!