Selling in the United States, the second country in our five-part series, naturally depends on factors such as the size of your customer’s business, the type of industry, and the product or service you are offering.
While there are general considerations clients will have in mind in an intercultural sales context, as outlined in the first post in this series, here are some points that are particularly important to consider when working with U.S. clients:
No matter your industry, your success depends on demonstrating to prospective customers how partnering with you enhances their competitive advantage and enables them to achieve better, faster, or more cost-effective outcomes. The GlobeSmart® Profile country comparisons below illustrate how the U.S. is relatively extreme on cultural dimensions such as independent vs. interdependent, egalitarianism vs. status, risk vs. certainty, direct vs. indirect communication, and task vs. relationship.
An area that many salespeople working with U.S.-based customers struggle with, especially those from more relationship-oriented cultural backgrounds, is the pace of change in their customer organizations. Here is a common scenario:
You have been supplying high-quality products and services to a Chicago-based U.S. customer for several years at a reasonable price. Dennis Thomas, the organization’s R&D director, has been your main buyer, and you’ve built a strong partnership by responding to his requests for upgrades without substantial price increases. In exchange, you have become the organization’s primary supplier for certain items, now representing 15% of your sales.
Unfortunately, earlier this year, your customer went through a restructuring. Dennis and all your former contacts are gone, and Gloria Valdez is the new director of R&D. She has asked you to submit competitive bids, along with several other vendors, and to work with the purchasing department. Gloria does not seem to value your long-standing relationship with the company and has dismissed your suggestion to consult with Dennis or the previous purchasing manager, sending only bidding instructions instead.
What is the best strategy for persuading this key customer to keep doing business with you as a supplier?
Although this scenario, or a similar one, may feel unfair and discouraging to many salespeople, it is extremely common. Intense competition, mergers and acquisitions, spinoffs, or change initiatives driven by new executives seeking to put their own stamp on the organization can each lead to wholesale changes among qualified buyers. Yesterday’s key contact is gone, and has been replaced by a new person who is not interested in your prior history and may even have a different favored vendor of their own.
Among the possible responses listed above, the response we recommend is:
#4: Submit the bid like everyone else, but try to locate people who do recognize your firm’s good work and encourage them to talk to Gloria.
If the customer has identified a process to follow, it is generally best to adhere to that process and not attempt to circumvent it. Along the way, in addressing security requirements or contract terms, for instance, there may be opportunities for you to differentiate yourself and reignite the previous partnership. At the same time, you can also ask people you know to provide a testimonial to Gloria on your behalf.
Assuming that you do win the business again, there are strategies you can implement to avoid being impacted by future scenarios like this one:
Beyond country-level generalizations, it is increasingly essential in the U.S. to understand regional and local characteristics. Individual buyers, of course, have their own personalities— say, more analytical or more emotive—that call for a discerning and flexible approach to sales conversations. In addition, the location of the customer’s headquarters or branch office may influence their pronunciation, dress, patterns of socialization, political affiliations, workplace topics, or forms of community involvement.
Understanding state-by-state variation, and even differences within states (especially large states like Texas, California, Florida, New York, or Illinois, which have significant internal contrasts), can help you understand the context within which your customer operates and avoid mistaken assumptions. For instance, a start‑up in Austin, Texas, may welcome informality and bold ideas, whereas a large government contractor in Washington, D.C. will have a formal procurement process and low risk tolerance. Recognizing the regulatory environment, compliance requirements, and internal hierarchy can prevent missteps.
While the GlobeSmart Profile for the U.S. shows work-style preferences based on national norms, every country and organization includes a spectrum of behaviors across each cultural dimension. For example, potential U.S. buyers usually want to begin with a task-oriented conversation, yet relationships matter as well, especially over time.
While selling to U.S. customers starts with a rational value proposition, being cognizant of current social issues is also important to buyers in many industries. Many well-known companies, headquartered both in the U.S. and elsewhere, have faced costly legal battles or suffered enormous reputational damage through becoming entangled in U.S. “culture wars” and disputes with local employees. The degree of alignment the customer feels with you and your firm, especially if you are from another cultural background, is likely to vary depending upon how well they sense you understand and can relate to them and their colleagues.
Expressing a genuine desire to learn more, accompanied by a readiness to listen carefully and identify areas of common ground, builds trust and helps to overcome differences. You and your company are likely to have core values that you strive to uphold, and there may be customers who appear to have very different values. However, before either you or your customer concludes that such differences are insurmountable deal-breakers, engaging in respectful listening could reveal unexpected shared interests. Intentional “bridge-building” to establish mutual understanding, trust, and real friendship can become another differentiating factor. Although less tangible than immediate costs or return on investment, building bridges across cultural and social divides may be decisive in shaping the customer’s view of you as a worthy business partner.
Our interactive course, Closing Across Cultures, provides practical strategies for navigating cultural differences, building trust with clients worldwide, and creating partnerships that deliver measurable results. You’ll learn how to adapt your approach, communicate value clearly, and sustain relationships even amid organizational change.
Contact us to learn more about our offerings and how we can help you win business across cultures.
