209: Virtual Selling - Closing The Deal

<p>Closing the deal is almost a non-existent art in Japan.  Salespeople here are particularly terrified of rejection.  The best way they have found to avoid that unfortunate result is to not ask for the business at all.  At the end of the sales presentation, after going through the details, dealing with any hesitations or concerns and qualifying the issues, the conversation just fades out.  The client finally says “we will think about it”.  Now the cat and mouse game starts of following up, to find out if there is in fact any interest or not.  No one is embarrassed with a public loss of face from a “no” answer. Delicate salespeople egos are preserved and everyone joins in this farce.  Why is it like this?</p> <p> </p> <p>There are many books published in English from America, about how to close the sale.  None of the ones I have read will ever work here in Japan.  American salespeople are often on pure commission or the commissions are a big portion of their income, so the desperation to force a sale is high.  Sell or starve.  When the client says, “we will think about it” in Japan, they are telling the truth.  The people we face are rarely the final decision maker.  There is a check and balance mechanism here called the <em>ringi seido</em>.  Each buying decision has to be signed off by those effected by the result, by placing their <em>hanko</em> or personal seal on the discussion document. </p> <p> </p> <p>This forces collaboration based on a frank exchange of opinions and cooperation between departments.  The typical western scenario of the salesperson overselling the delivery capability and blowing up the back office or the plant doesn’t occur here.  Yes, it takes longer, but Japan is slow to agree and fast to act.  So which is better?  The western system of big talk and then slow action or even defective flawed action or the slow and steady wins the race Japanese approach?</p> <p> </p> <p>We still need to get to the point of having the Japanese side come to a conclusion about what happens next.  We can do t