209: Buyer Style Knowledge Is Key

<p>We usually think in terms of cultural differences with the West, when we are dealing with this unique country, Japan.  In fact, personality style differences of the buyer are much more important in business.  Cultural factors form a base and on top of that are the idiosyncratic differences between Japanese buyers and ourselves.  This becomes very key in communication terms.  We won’t be changing our personality style or that of the buyer any time soon, but we can learn to vary our communication style.</p> <p> </p> <p>For example, imagine a horizontal axis.  On the far left are people we would understand are low in assertion terms.  They do not state their opinion openly, they keep a low profile, speak quietly and they are spending much of their time watching others doing, rather than doing themselves.  The right side of the axis are people who are highly assertive.  They state their opinion with vigor and seem to have a strong opinion on everything.  They can be pushy, loud and aggressive.  When we meet someone for the first time, we can pretty much pick where they fall on this horizontal axis.</p> <p> </p> <p>Now picture a vertical axis cutting through the horizontal axis.  On the top of the axis are individuals with a strong people focus.  They are very much interested in helping others, they are concerned with how people feel.  They often refer to the importance of people issues when making decisions or choosing between alternatives.  At the other end, the bottom of that axis are people who are totally outcome, result, KPI focused.  They don’t care that much about how the people feel.  They care more for the results.  They are totally focused on the numbers and getting the numbers is all that counts.</p> <p> </p> <p>If the buyer is in the high end of assertion and outcome driven we call them a Driver personality type.  This style and the other styles transcend their Japanese cultural traits.  They are much more direct than other Japanese.  They are often the founder/owner of their own business.  They are “t