230: The Care Factor In Sales In Japan

<p>Japanese salespeople really care about their clients.  This is good, except when it isn’t and that is usually when they are prioritizing the client over the firm which employs them.  Japan is a relationship driven, risk averse business culture, where longevity is appreciated.  This often translates into the salespeople being captured by a type of “Stockholm Buyer Syndrome” where they identify with the interests of the buyer, over those of their boss.  Going to bat for the client is admirable because the salesperson is their representative inside the organisation.  It can create problems though, when perspectives become skewed.</p> <p> </p> <p>Price rises, stock shortages, quality issues, staff allocations can create a divide in the priorities of the buyer and seller.  Where does the typical Japanese salesperson plonk themselves down?  Right in the buyer’s camp.  They become advocates for the buyer’s interests over the firm’s interests and this can create tremendous friction inside the organisation.</p> <p> </p> <p>As we know, in Japan the buyer is not a royal, an aristo or a King.  The buyer is a deity, a God and that changes things up considerably.  As the boss, you can hand out the orders but that doesn’t mean the salespeople are going to compromise their relationship with the buyer aka God, to keep you happy.  They are thinking about their bonus or commission and the lifetime value of that client. </p> <p> </p> <p>In that equation, the boss’s views and interests are mildly interesting, but not arresting.  So boss orders are issued like confetti and then the Great Obfuscation commences.  Delays, excuses, detours and ninja like silence start cropping up.  The sales staff can always rely on the boss to get distracted and be so time poor that they never get around to following up at all, or at least for some considerable time.  With multinational firms, with any luck, the boss will get transferred or fired and the coast will be clear again.  Or the market shifts, or the currency moves and the whole point become