Everyone is different.
When a group of people was asked, what makes US and UK law firms so successful at penetrating the region, the overall message was unanimous. They said that they were all different and that they all had their individual strengths. Sure, it may seem flippant, but each boss went on to show how the American or even British counterparts were “getting it wrong”. One person said that the American vendors are finding it hard to penetrate Europe because they thought it was one single market. They said that you just can’t copy your marketing material or even your sales pitches because if you do then you are almost certainly doomed to fail.
Another person then added that he is Dutch, and therefore he has to change the way that he does business when he meets up with Belgian executives. He thinks that as a Dutch national, that he can be quite direct. In Belgium however, you would normally have a few meetings before you bring out the facts and figures. You need to know that you can trust the other person on a personal level, so the ways of doing business are in fact, very different. Eric Falque, another member of the group is a strong leader for Africa, France, and Benelux.
He has harsh words for those who do not take the time to research and make personal connections. Leadership positions have to be tailored so that they can meet local expectations. Choosing a one-size-fits-all leadership role will only set you up for failure. It’s the main mistake that a lot of people make.
He then added that there will almost certainly be nuances in cultural expectations. These are going to play heavily in terms of who wants to do business with you. This was a lesson that was learned by the CEO distributor Distology.
The CEO found out that when they had started their expansion into Holland, that they had to re-think almost every aspect of their plan. They had to learn how to be wary of assumption. Sure, in the Netherlands, 90% of people speak English and therefore they do have some similarities. You can’t, however, assume that you can conduct the service in the same way as you would the UK.
This concept can be applied to channel creation. If you want to build a channel in the UK, then you need to make sure that you are understanding of the UK audience. If you want to build a channel in the US then the same concept applies because by understanding your audience, you can then begin to serve them in a more efficient way.