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anonymous
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Q: can anyone here told me how to negotiate with foreigners

i am a chinese ,  now i am a salesman in an IT outsourcing company, and since i can speak english and french so i mainly responsible  to find foreigners customer, but it is difficult , because i do not know what they are thinking about ,  can anyone give me some suggestions , thanks 

11 years 41 weeks ago in  Business & Jobs - China

 
Answers (19)
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Posts: 458

Shifu

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Don't try and screw them over for a quick buck today. Westerners value trust.

Don't lie about what you can/can't do. Westerners value honesty.

Don't think we're all one people. We have a thing called multi-culturalism.

Don't leave emails etc. unanswered for weeks at a time. Westerners value speedy communication.

Take some grammar lessons. Lots of foreigners won't trust you if they can't read what you send them.

crimochina:

answer of the day

11 years 41 weeks ago
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kchur:

damn

11 years 41 weeks ago
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illsue4u:

sounds accurate to me.

11 years 41 weeks ago
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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
Posts: 905

Shifu

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The only thing I would add to Yian',s answer is always give your customer a genuine reason to come back and do business with you. I would emphasis the honesty bit, even if it means telling the customer that you can't do something. We do value honesty and really value the situation where if something goes wrong we can see the salesman/company telling us straight away and sometimes going the extra mile to put it right.

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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Both of them are right, and I'd like to add on to something tomcatflyer said about telling a customer if you can't do something. Even if a customer doesn't want what your company offers, if you're honest and helpful, they might remember you, and recommend you to someone who does need your business. That's why good customer service is so important. The people you talk with will talk to others about you if they like you.

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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Give them a good price to start with, I don't haggle, if i don't like the price, I just walk away.

Offer them beer and women.

GuilinRaf:

Women first, THEN beer. One needs to replenish fluids...

11 years 41 weeks ago
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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
Posts: 960

Shifu

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Get them drunk, ply them with women and they will buy anything.

 

Seriously all the advice you have received is great. If the locals started to apply the same values and customers reject business that did things the, let's say more traditional way, while seeking out ethical ones the whole nation would benefit in the long term.

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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Also, if you are doing IT outsourcing, it is very important that you give the customer constant (daily) updates on what has been done on their project.

 

And if a problem comes up, be honest, tell the customer what is wrong AND how you plan on fixing it.

 

And if you say their project will have feature "X", then make sure it has feature "X".  Document everything, all the time.  Saying, "we forgot" is never a good excuse and will lose you clients very, very fast.

 

When you are trying to find customers, don't just tell them how much cheaper you are.  Tell them why you are better than their current solution.  Money is not always the only thing in companies minds, especially when it is an IT related project.

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Peasant

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just don't try to piss them off 

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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"After the sale service" is paramount as was mentioned above. Don't try for the "one-off".

Build your client base via a good reputation. 

 

Elaborate beer and bijou dinners are not the way to go.

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1091

Shifu

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on time always/ say what you mean always/ make your price stay strong haggling no more than once will insult them/  offer what you can do and do what you say you will.

 

if you base all your talking point on these simple rules you will do well.

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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on time always/ say what you mean always/ make your price stay strong haggling no more than once will insult them/  offer what you can do and do what you say you will.

 

if you base all your talking point on these simple rules you will do well.

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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think about everything that the concept of "face" involves.... and throw it out the window when dealing with non-mainland chinese people. 

yan is right on

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Westerners value long-term business relationships for the most part. Be honest and forthright. 

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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I'll jump on the bandwagon here and say that trust and accountability on your part are absolutely vital.

 

As a rule, we will go back to the same person/place/business for, literally, decades, once we've found someone we trust. For example, at home, all my family go to the same doctor, one that my grandmother started visiting thirty years ago

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Quality is better than Quantity

Don't do 10,0000 half ass jobs

just do it right from start to finishsurprise

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Something will go wrong and a schedule will not be met.  That is the way of business.

 

But make sure to tell your customer early and explain your plans to minimize the delay, if not catch back up.

 

I know too many salesmen here that won't tell their customers about delays until the customer contacts them after the due date wanting to know where their product is.

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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If you're a vendor or shop owner, don't charge locals one price and then raise the price for the foreigner. You lose any credibility and it irritates us foreign folk to the point of wanting to beam you upside the head with whatever it is you are trying to rip us off on.

GuilinRaf:

AND, when you DO treat us well, we will give you near exclusivity!

Just f ew weeks ago, I was buying DVD's from this street vendor. He saw one of hte DVD's I had, and quickly took it and changed it for a different one of the same movie, telling me the one I had in my hand was broken.

Well, guess which vendor I to to first.....

11 years 41 weeks ago
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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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like my chinese wife says and all my chinese friends say dont believe anything they say to you so its very diffcult when you get screwed everytime you do anyhing

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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It's like anything....be polite and at the end of it try to get recommendations from them. Get to know them and find out a little bit about them and don't just try to make the sale!

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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Don't insist on making them attend long dinners with endless beers, baijiu, and gam bei. This is fng stupid.

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11 years 41 weeks ago
 
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