Whether you’re pitching an idea, offering a service, or closing a deal, success is defined by your ability to connect across cultural differences to demonstrate how you can meet a need. In our rapidly changing economy, one thing is clear: if you can’t sell across cultures, your business is unlikely to grow—sometimes, it can’t even survive.
In the expanding B2B landscape, cultural awareness and agility are crucial for successful relationships between suppliers and clients. Culture plays a significant role in how different countries and cultures conduct business, and without cultural awareness, you run the risk of missed opportunities, lost deals, and sour professional relationships.
In this series on selling across cultures, we’ll explore important considerations for global sales and successful B2B relationships.
Before we dive into country-specific business relationship norms, there are a few questions potential customers will have in mind in an intercultural sales context beyond the standard topics of product features, cost, quality, and delivery terms:
Strong sales professionals anticipate these questions and decide how to handle them before sitting down with a customer. They also take cultural context into account, as these concerns look very different across cultures.
We’ll kick off this series with insights on Japan from Keiko Sakurai, a Japanese consultant at Aperian who brings deep experience navigating both Japanese and Western B2B markets.
In Japan, sales are built on a foundation of long-term relationships, trust, and respect for hierarchy. Central to the Japanese sales ethos is the belief that “the customer is god,” a deeply ingrained mindset that shapes every interaction with clients. This translates into meticulous service, deference, and an unwavering commitment to meeting—even anticipating—customer needs. Buyers expect a high degree of professionalism, attention to detail, and an understanding of implicit communication styles.
The path to a deal may be slow, but once trust is established, the relationship is highly stable and loyal. Selling here requires patience, humility, and a commitment to harmony and consensus.
The GlobeSmart Profiles for different cultures outline their preferred and expected ways of working along five key cultural dimensions. Based on these placements, you can see how Japan’s expectations for conducting business compare and contrast with those of other cultures, with many notable differences.
Imagine this:
You’ve just wrapped up a major consulting project for a leading Japanese manufacturing company, Company X, headquartered in Tokyo with a global presence. The project was a success, and your main contact, Mr. Sato (or: Sato-san, the formal greeting standard in Japan), expresses his satisfaction warmly. Smiling, he says:
“We’re really happy with the deliverables. Would you mind sending us a Japanese version of the materials, too?”
While this may sound like a simple request, it’s actually quite complicated. The original agreement clearly stated that all materials would be delivered in English. No mention was made of translation. In fact, you’ve already gone above and beyond, putting in more hours than contracted to meet their exacting standards. Ensuring an accurate translation of these highly technical materials would require hiring an external service and your personal time for review, adding substantial additional cost.
How do you respond?
Here are three options to consider:
Early in my career—accustomed to working with the U.S. clients—I chose option one without hesitation. To my surprise, after stating the additional cost up front, Sato-san’s smile turned into a scowl, and his face turned red.
“You mean you won’t provide the Japanese version for free? Isn’t that part of basic after-service?” he snapped.
This moment was a cultural turning point for me. The concept of “after-service” is deeply rooted in Japanese business culture. It implies that a transaction doesn’t end with delivery. Suppliers are expected to provide follow-up support, often at no extra cost, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
This expectation ties into a larger cultural norm known as “Okyakusama wa Kamisama desu”—translated as “The customer is god.” While Western cultures often speak of the customer as “king,” the Japanese version implies an even greater level of respect and obligation. It calls for a nearly sacred level of service, where the supplier goes above and beyond to satisfy the client, no matter how demanding the request.
From a Western perspective, suppliers and clients often refer to themselves as “partners” working toward mutual goals, even when the relationship is unequal. However, in Japan, particularly in traditional companies, there is often an unspoken but very real hierarchy. Suppliers are expected to take a deferential role, especially with prestigious clients.
Once when I was facilitating a cross-cultural training session, a Japanese participant remarked: “Western suppliers behave as though they’re on equal footing with their clients.” While this is the norm in many Western contexts, in Japan, it may be seen as inappropriate or even disrespectful. In Sato-san’s case, the shock was amplified by the fact that the “no” came from a younger Japanese woman, which, in his traditional mindset, may have further complicated his perception of status and role.
Over time, Japanese clients may become so accustomed to this level of customer service, as exemplified by “after-service,” that they begin to view it as a right rather than a privilege. This makes it essential for consultants and suppliers working in Japan to find a delicate balance between maintaining respect and client satisfaction while protecting their business interests.
In situations like this, the third option—offering a compromise—is often the most effective approach. It preserves the relationship, acknowledges cultural expectations, and still reinforces boundaries around what is and isn’t included in the contract. This response strikes a thoughtful balance between honoring Japanese cultural expectations and maintaining the integrity of your business agreements.
Rather than giving an immediate “yes” or “no,” this approach creates space for respect and demonstrates “Doryoku” (meaning “effort,” one of the core values in Japan), which the client appreciates, even if the outcome is not precisely what they requested.
A good response could look something like this:
“Thank you very much for your kind words. We’re honored to have worked with your team. Regarding the Japanese translation, it’s actually outside the scope of the current contract. Still, because we value our relationship with your company, I’d like to speak with my manager and explore what we can do.”
This response achieves several things at once:
After internal discussions, you can come back to Sato-san and say:
“We appreciate the opportunity to work with your team and hope to continue building our relationship. While translation is outside the original scope, we’d like to offer a special one-time discount of 50%. This is the best we can do as it involves third-party technical translation and internal review, but we are happy to do this in the interest of developing a long-term relationship with you as an important customer.”
This approach shows flexibility and care without setting a dangerous precedent that “extra work is always free.” More importantly, it signals that you are both respectful of cultural norms and professionally competent, as well as someone who can build lasting relationships and manage expectations.
Many professionals working in Japan fall into the trap of giving too much in the name of “customer service.” While this may satisfy the client in the short term, it often leads to burnout, blurred boundaries, and unprofitable business models over the long term.
Compromising allows you to maintain goodwill while educating your clients gently over time and helping them understand your company’s values without confrontation. It opens a door for future conversations around scope, pricing, and mutual respect, framed in the spirit of mutual collaboration.
Our new guide has practical tips to help you navigate cultural differences with confidence, build stronger relationships, and close deals that work for everyone involved. Whether you’re working with clients, suppliers, or partners, you’ll learn how to adapt your approach to foster stronger, more productive working relationships.
