Selling, The Southern way

I had an interesting conversation with a sales director a couple of weeks ago. He was from New Jersey and had settled in the south. I'm sure you can guess where I am going with this: Differences between sales from north to south or in this case from country to country. 

Anyone that has read any of Jeffrey Gitomer's books (I recommend reading at least one of his books such as: The Sales Bible: The Ultimate Sales Resource, New Edition) know that he loves to speak on the differences in buyer and seller temperament in different parts of the country. He is a transplant from New York and had quite the culture shock moving to the Carolina's and experiencing a slower paced, much more relationship driven process than in the north. 

Being a transplant from Germany into Alabama I had a very similar culture shock when I started selling in the US. The sales process in Germany is much more process oriented than it is here. Sure, you go play golf with your customer, if you can, and you'll buy them dinner but that does not imply that much familiarity. Visitors to Germany will know that people that have done business for year together often still call each other by their surname. Case in point is my fathers own lawyer. They have been good friends and vacationed together for over 30 years, yet they still call each other by their full title and name. 

Possibly the biggest difference and also challenge to me has been the icebreakers. 

The tried and true go to method to establish common ground is the scan of the office for memorabilia,  family pictures, and other conversation starters. This is something that is simply not done, if I sat in the office of a potential buyer in Germany and I started asking him about his children or sports trophy that would actually be considered a sign of disrespect as our relationship isn't at that point. And for a lot of people doing business for years the relationship will never be to that point. It's a cultural thing. General politeness and a good value proposition will get you a sale more often than not. 

How is the south different? Find out tomorrow.