Jennifer Roberts | CMO at Ekipa.co, shared practical ideas and strategies on "How to Get, Convince, Keep and Deal With Clients from the US" in the I/O event. See the full slide presentation here! www.bridge-global.com/beam

1. Intercultural Sales Cycles
Jennifer Roberts, CMO Ekipa.co

2. WHO I AM + BACKGROUND

3. Global marketplace for software development
teams

4. Why does
culture
matter for
remote
software
teams?

5. INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Inherent in any outsourcing relationship
Goes deeper than brochures and business cards

6. In remote work...
Most preferences are subconscious and
culturally determined.
Many frustrations and missed opportunities
are tied to expectations and failure to
communicate.

7. What are each of these people thinking?

8. Focusing on USA + India
I surveyed executives, freelancers, developers, and
project managers from both countries
These are their own self-reported expectations and what
they perceive in the other culture
Case studies taken from Reddit, other forums, and my
own experience

9. Typical American Client

10. Roots of USA culture =
business today
 Pioneer culture

11. Pioneer culture
 Self-reliance: I do my job without waiting to
be told. I make my own luck.
 Realism+Positivity: I’m honest about what I
can do for myself and others. I do what I say.
 No time to waste on the blame game. Fix
problems and move on.

12. Prioritizes innovation

13. Prioritizes innovation
 Suggesting better ideas, collaborating
 Questioning assumptions

14. Communication + Self-expression
 Children are encouraged from a very early
age to express themselves
 This can be at the expense of harmony
 In business: don’t speak and no one sees
you
 Updates are expected/demanded frequently

15. Truth and Promises
 Remember pioneer culture: if you say
you’ll do something for me, my life may
depend on it
 Nowadays: better to under-promise and
over-deliver

16. Self-expression + Service
 Big domestic market, many brands
competing for attention
 You have to give me a reason to give you
the money I work hard to earn.
 Promises=Truth=Delivery
 Self-expression = I will be vocal about my
disappointment!

18. How this cultural backround
translates into business
Search-centered experience
 Wealth of information online, plus a
proactive culture, means:
 They prefer to investigate you before
saying yes

19. Culture + business, cont.
 First step is understanding what they need.
 Expectations and abilities are
communicated openly.
 Any promise of quality or speed is taken
literally.

20. High emphasis on harmony, pleasing the other
person
Less open about limitations or setbacks when
selling
Pressured to work under speed, higher volume of
contacts = less time to personalize
Typical Indian Provider

21. How to bring these two cultures together?
 Make sure you understand what the other side
expects
 Take time to learn about the other side’s culture
 Your eagerness to please is your strength!

22. Expectations, Frustrations:
American Communication
Clear communication, except when it’s not
 Is my English bad? Is theirs?
 Should I ask for clarification?
 Whose fault is a misunderstanding?

23. ● Clear communication (cont’d)
 Accents + dialects
 Different body language
Non-hierarchical
• Checking for understanding =
they will love you and trust you

24. Clear communication and NO
 Americans do not understand whenYes = No.
 Huge source of misunderstanding in software
development between these two cultures.

25. Continuum of NO
Indians say:
In reality this means:
But Americans hear:
Yes We will try.
It will be
difficult
Let me get
back to you
on that.
By Tuesday?
Yes Yes/ Maybe
Yes Yes/ Maybe No
No

26. Tips to help your prospects
 Use style and grammar editors in written
communications
 Listen 5-10 minutes per week to American
English

27. Resources I recommend
 Podcasts:
 TheTim Feriss Show byTim Feriss
 The Daily Boost by Scott Smith
 EntrepreneurialThought Leaders by
Stanford University

28. Resources I recommend
 Grammarly: grammar editor
 Hemmingway: style editor

29. Game: No-kay
 Start:Ask each other for absurd things
 Can I have your kidneys?Will you buy me a car?
 1 point for saying “No” or “not” or “won’t”
 NOW – pretend it’s a client
 Can you deliver my app in two days?
 1 point for saying it won’t be possible – 2 points
for offering a solution

30. When No=Yes
 If saying “No” makes you really
uncomfortable, remember that it can become
a “Yes” for your prospect if…
You offer an option or another solution!

31. Expectations, Frustrations: Why
don’t they respond to my
contacts?
Are you talking about them or about you?
 1:1 versus 1:Many
Is your business the right fit?
 Target fewer businesses to increase your
chances

32. Case Study 1: Leave me alone
Sir or Mam, Greetings of the day!
Thank you for accepting my invite and taking a
minute from your busy schedule. My name is
(REDACTED) and I head up with the business
development efforts with (REDACTED).We are also
a one stop solution provider for mobile apps (Apple
and Android) and web applications (in ASP.NET).

33. Case Study 1: Leave me alone
Since inception in 2011, we have been working with
global clients to deliver cost effective solutions for
their businesses. Kindly let us know if there are any
opportunities we can work together.
Please go through (WEBSITE).

34. Case Study 1: Leave me alone
I am taking a stab in the dark here, however based on
your online profile, you appear to be an appropriate
person to connect with... or might at least point me in
the right direction.
Looking forward to your kind response at the earliest,
Kind regards, (REDACTED)

35. My reaction as a sales
prospect...
Imagine this
happening hundreds
of times a day.

36. Case study 2: Really, leave me
alone.
[8:02 REDACTED] Hello mam
[8:03 REDACTED] Can we have a time to talk about your
requirements
[9:19 REDACTED] Hello mam
[9:20 REDACTED] How are you today
[11:07 REDACTED] Hi
[11:07 REDACTED] Would you like to work with us on your project
[11:09 REDACTED]?

37. Expectations, Frustrations: Why
aren’t they convinced by my
sales pitch?
Did you show or did you tell?
Were you on time?
Did your promises match up to reality?

38. Case study 3: Me Me Me + You?
Hi Jennifer, I hope you are doing well and
thanks for connecting with me on Linkedin!!
We are a professional web design and
Development Company located in Delhi
NCR, India with over 7 years ISO certified
company of experience in designing
professional and affordable website
Designing & Development for business.

39. Case study 3: Me Me Me + You?
Here are some services we offer:
• PSD to HTML • Brocher Design, Flyer Design • Advertising banner Mockup •
SEO Services and Responsive Design • Photosho and Dreamwear, Boostrap •
ResponsiveWebsite Design and Development • CreativeWeb design and
Website Redesign • EcommerceWebsite Design and Development • Logo
Design & Graphic Design • PSD to [Wordpress ,Magento, Joomla, Drupal,
Concrete 5, Modx,Typo3] • Hire Dedicated Developers/Designers @ $10 Per
Hour • Upgrade existing Site (with Flash,Graphic, PHP and other Content
Management System , etc)
We have expertise in following areas:- • HTML 5, Flash, (X) HTML/CSS/CSS3 web
pages • PHP, My SQL • CMS (Joomla, Prestashop,Woo-commerce, Magento,
Drupal,Word press, OS Commerce, Shopify , CS cart, Zencart, Open cart) •
MobileApplication Development(iOS,Android,Windows Phone,Apple iPhone,
GoogleAndroid, iPad, BlackBerry) • Payment Gateway Integration •
Ecommerce website • Framework [Cake Php , codeigniter, Zend Framework]

40. Do let me know if you are interested in any of
above mentioned services and I would be happy
to share our client Testimonials, past work details
and Methodologies.
We look forward to hearing from you! Regards,
REDACTED
Disclaimer: - This is not an automated email. If
you do not want us to send emails again, please
send a reply with the email subject line as "No
Thank you”.

41. What could this person have
done differently?

42. Opportunities to excel
with North American
clients in International
Sales Cycles

43. Marketing: blogs, webinars, ebooks
 Content establishes your authority
 Shows off your expertise
 Shows you’re familiar with marketing trends (push
v pull)
 Content creates trust
 Prospects can see you’re good at communicating

44. Example: Could be better

45. Examples: Focused and relevant

46. Tools to create great content
Grammarly: in-line grammar and spelling editor
Hemmingway: style editor
Canva: create awesome graphics

47. The key to great content
 Focus on pain points, then provide solutions
 Offer tips and suggestions to show your
knowledge

48. Cold email: 1:1 Understanding
Hi Jennifer! I’d like to discuss working with Casa
Bella. Beautiful products, by the way. I noticed
you’re running a giveaway contest in the UK – we
made sure to share this with our UK contacts. Let me
know how it turns out!
I noticed the contest ends on Jan 25th. Want to
have a quick call on the 26th? I’m free at 2:00pm your
time.

49. NEVER PLAY THE BLAME GAME
 If there was a mistake, be honest about your part
in it.
 Prospects will appreciate you even more

50. Case study 4: iCried
“Hello Jennifer,
Your requirements list has been developed correctly.
The reason that explainer videos were not included
is that it was not explained to us.There will be an
additional cost to develop that.”

51. Case Study 4: iLoveYou
“Hello Jennifer,
We understand your feedback on your requirements
list, and apologize for not including explainer videos
in our proposal.While we didn’t see that request in
any of our previous communications, we understand
that it’s important to you.

52. Case Study 4: iLoveYou
 “…we will be sending you the updated proposal today.
Our original proposal assumed a total cost based on
the number of hours your project would take. Please
let me know if a slight price increase for an explainer
video will be a problem for you.We’re happy to find a
solution that gets you the best final deliverable
possible.”

53. For more info...
Get more in-depth exercises at our
March 10th workshop inTrivandrum
Follow our blog at blog.ekipa.co