PLAY THE CULTURE CARD – WIN THE GAME

Mike Stokes examines the importance of cultural influences on 21st century trading

Importance Of Culture

Most business people, especially exporters, have experienced problems which have been caused by linguistic difficulties – these can be embarrassing, even amusing, but it is very unusual for any enduring damage to be caused.

Cultural issues, however, can be the cause of major offence being taken and this can lead to a total breakdown in relations. All modern day business people come into contact with customers of differing cultural backgrounds and need to understand the implications.

Reasons For Cultural Differences

Cultural differences between peoples have several roots, but most fall into these categories :-

·      Geography

·      Religion

·      History, Tradition & Heritage

·      Climate & Lifestyle

·      Politics & Economics

Behaving Differently

Different cultural backgrounds result in differences in ELVIS (no, not the King) :-

Expectations, Logic, Views, Interests and Society

By researching reasons for cultural differences, understanding the likely effects, and adapting our behaviour accordingly, we can gain a significant advantage over our competitors. By showing customers that we have made an effort to understand them – and most importantly shown respect to them – longlasting relationships can be established for mutual advantage.

The American Example For Multicultural Britain

British business people often make the mistake of assuming that American business culture is the same as ours. It is very different and we are surprised to find that Americans are impatient, driven, assertive, optimistic, persistent and frank. Of course they are – because nearly all Americans have descended from people who were bold, uprooted themselves and took huge risks in a brave new land. Pioneers aren’t shy and timid !

This culture has produced a commercial powerhouse and it augurs very well for the new multicultural Britain. Descendants of similarly-driven people are our new entrepreneurs and it is important that we all respect our cultural heritages but grasp the opportunity to move forward effectively towards common goals.

Home Or Away

Whether dealing in domestic or overseas markets, we must introduce cultural respect and understanding in every aspect of our marketing mix – product design, price negotiation, alternative routes to market, tone of marketing language and recruitment of people. Our success in the new century will depend on such vision.

Mike Stokes has over 20 years exporting experience and is a director of Exportential Ltd. Mike is a regular on the local networking circuit and can be contacted on Telephone 01775 719225, E-mail mike.stokes@exportential.co.uk  or Website www.exportential.co.uk

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