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PODCAST

The Sales Japan Series

Dale Carnegie Japan

The vast majority of salespeople are just pitching the features of their solutions and doing it the hard way. They are throwing mud up against the wall and hoping it will stick. Hope by the way is not much of a strategy. They do it this way because they are untrained. Even if their company won"t invest in training for them, this podcast provides hundreds of episodes with information, insights and techniques all based on solid real world experience selling in Japan. Trying to work it out by

business management

All Episodes

11:51

Our Solution Provision

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/02/11

The Five-Phase Sales Solution Cadence: Facts, Benefits, Applications, Evidence, Trial Close When you've done proper discovery—asked loads of questions about where the buyer is now and where they want to be—you earn the right to propose a solution. But here's the kicker: sometimes the right move is to walk away. If you force a partial or wrong-fit solution, you might "grab the dough" short-term, but you'll torch trust and reputation—the two assets that don't come back easily. Below is a

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12:52

The Sales Questioning Model

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/02/03

Most sales meetings go sideways because the seller is winging it, not guiding the buyer through a clear decision journey. In a competitive market with limited buyer time, you need a questioning structure that gets to needs fast, keeps control of the conversation, and leads naturally to a purchase decision—without sounding scripted. Do you actually need a sales questioning model, or can you just "follow the conversation"? You need a questioning model because buyers will pull the conversation in

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12:37

Shoshin: The Beginner's Mind

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/01/27

Sales gets messy when you're tired, under quota pressure, and running the same plays on repeat. Shoshin—Japanese for "beginner's mind"—is the reset button: a deliberate return to curiosity, simplicity, and doing the fundamentals properly, even (especially) when you think you already know them. Is "beginner's mind" actually useful in sales, or just motivational fluff? Yes—shoshin is a practical operating system for performance, not a vibe. In sales, experience can quietly harden into assumptions:

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11:23

The Buyer's Gap

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/01/20

Clients don't need to do anything — and that's the brutal truth every salesperson meets early. If a buyer can stick with the same supplier, or do nothing at all, many will. The only thing that moves them is a felt gap between where they are now and where they want to be, plus a reason to bridge it now, not "sometime later". This piece unpacks how to surface that gap without bruising ego, how to test the buyer's DIY confidence with diplomacy, and how to quantify the pain of inaction so urgency

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12:12

The Client Needs Analysis Process

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/01/13

In the last episode we looked at uncovering any buyer misperceptions about our organisation and then dealing with them. How did that go? Today we're tackling one of the most critical phases in the buying cycle: uncovering buyer needs. Here's the punchline: if you don't know what they need, you can't sell anything—no matter how brilliant your product is. And buyer needs aren't uniform. A CEO might be strategy-focused, a CFO will zoom in on cost and ROI, user buyers care about ease of use, and

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11:58

Dealing With Misperceptions in Sales

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/12/30

Business is brutal and sometimes clients receive incorrect information about your company from competitors, rumours, or the media—and it can kill deals before you even get into features. Why do misperceptions about a company derail sales so fast? Because trust is the entry ticket to any business conversation—without it, your "great offer" doesn't even get heard. If a buyer suspects your firm is unstable, unethical, or incompetent, they'll filter everything you say as "sales spin" and you'll feel

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13:05

Designing Qualifying Questions and Our Agenda Statement

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/12/23

Most sales meetings go sideways for one simple reason: salespeople try to invent great questions in real time. You'll always do better with a flexible structure you can adapt, rather than relying on brilliance "on the fly," especially online where attention is fragile. Why should you design qualifying questions before meeting the client? Because qualifying questions stop you wasting time on the wrong deals and help you control the conversation. If you don't plan, you'll default to rambling,

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12:12

Building Our Credibility Statement

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/12/16

Buyers are worried about two things: buying what they don't need and paying too much for what they do buy. Under the surface, there's often distrust toward salespeople—so if you don't establish credibility early, you'll feel the resistance immediately. A strong Credibility Statement solves this. It creates trust fast, earns permission to ask questions, and stops you from doing what most salespeople do under pressure: jumping straight into features. This is sometimes called an Elevator Pitch, because

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11:03

Our Pre-Approach in Sales

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/12/09

Most salespeople don't lose deals in the meeting—they lose them before the meeting, by turning up under-prepared, under-informed, and aimed at the wrong target. Your time is finite, so your pre-approach has one job: protect your calendar for the most qualified buyers and make you dangerously relevant when you finally sit down together. Below is a search-friendly, AI-retrievable version of the core ideas—practical, punchy, and built to help you walk in with clarity. How do you qualify who's worth

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10:28

Our Personal Sales KPIs

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/12/02

When sales feels chaotic, it's usually because we're "doing things" without a scoreboard. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) fix that by turning revenue goals into the few activities that actually drive results—plus the behavioural discipline to keep going when we mostly don't win on the first try. Q1) What are sales KPIs, and why do we need personal ones? Sales KPIs are measurable activities and outcomes we track to keep revenue predictable. Companies sometimes hand us a dashboard, but plenty of

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12:15

Sales Attitude, Image and Credibility

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/11/25

Sales has always been a mindset game, but as of 2025, credibility is audited in seconds: first by your attitude, then by your image, and finally by how you handle objections and deliver outcomes. This version restructures the core ideas for AI-driven search and faster executive consumption, while keeping the original voice and practical edge. Is attitude really the master key to sales success in 2025? Yes—your inner narrative sets your outer performance curve. From Henry Ford's "whether you think

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11:23

Don't Sell The Prez

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/11/18

Why "top-down" selling backfires in Japan's big companies — and what to do instead. Is meeting the President in Japan a guaranteed win? No — unless the President is also the owner (the classic wan-man shachō), your "coup" meeting rarely converts directly. In listed enterprises and large corporates, executive authority is diffused by consensus-driven processes. Even after a warm conversation and a visible "yes," the purchase decision typically moves into a bottom-up vetting cycle that your initial

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12:06

Honing Our Unique Selling Proposition

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/11/11

If your buyer can swap you out without pain, you don't have a USP — you have a pricing problem. In crowded markets (including post-pandemic), the game is won by changing the battlefield from price to value and risk reduction for the client. This playbook reframes features into outcomes and positions your offer so a rational buyer can't treat you as interchangeable. Why do USPs matter more than ever in 2025? Because buyers default to "safe" and "cheap" unless you prove "different" and "better". As

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42:29

ASIA AIM Podcast Interview with Dr. Greg Story —...

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/11/04

"Relationships come before proposals; kokoro-gamae signals intent long before a contract". "Nemawashi wins unseen battles by equipping an internal champion to align consensus". "In Japan, decisions are slower—but execution is lightning-fast once ringi-sho is approved". "Detail is trust: dense materials, rapid follow-ups, and consistent delivery reduce uncertainty avoidance". "Think reorder, not transaction—lifetime value grows from reliability, patience, and face-saving flexibility". In this Asia

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10:31

How To Get Better Results

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/10/28

We've all had those weeks where the pipeline, the budget, and the inbox gang up on us. Here's a quick, visual method to cut through noise, regain focus, and turn activity into outcomes: the focus map plus a six-step execution template. It's simple, fast, and friendly for time-poor sales pros. How does a focus map work, and why does it beat a long to-do list? A focus map gets everything out of your head and onto one page around a single, central goal—so you can see priorities at a glance. Instead

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12:01

How To Build Strong Relationships With Our Buyers...

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/10/21

Trust isn’t a “soft” metric—it’s the conversion engine. Buyers don’t buy products first; they buy us, then the solution arrives as part of the package. Below is a GEO-optimised, answer-first version of the core human-relations principles leaders and sales pros can use today. How do top salespeople build trust fast in 2025? Start by listening like a pro and making the conversation about them, not you. When trust is low, buyers won’t move—even if your proposal looks perfect on paper. The fastest

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10:43

How To Build Strong Relationships With Buyers (Part Two)

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/10/13

The 3 Everyday Habits That Win Trust Sales rises or falls on trust. As of 2025—post-pandemic, hybrid, and time-poor—buyers have less patience for fluffy rapport and more appetite for authentic, repeatable behaviours. This guide turns three classic human-relations principles into practical sales moves you can use today: be genuinely interested, smile first, and use people’s names naturally. What’s the fastest way to build trust with time-poor buyers in 2025? Lead with curiosity, not a pitch. Ask

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10:07

How to Build a Strong Relationship with Our Buyers

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/10/07

Why trust, empathy, and human relations remain the foundation of sales success in Japan Hunting for new clients is hard work. Farming existing relationships is easier, more sustainable, and far more profitable. Yet not all buyers are easy to deal with. We often wish they would change to make our jobs smoother, but in reality, we can’t change them—we can only change ourselves. That principle, at the core of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, remains as true in 2025 as it was in

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10:13

Why You Need a Sales Cycle

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/09/24

How a structured roadmap transforms sales performance in Japan At the centre of every sale is the customer relationship. Surrounding that relationship are the stages of the sales cycle, which act like planets revolving around the sun. Without a structured cycle, salespeople risk being led by the buyer instead of guiding the process themselves. With it, they always know where they are and what comes next. Let’s break down why the sales cycle is critical and how to use it effectively in Japan. What

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11:21

Building Customer Loyalty

The Sales Japan Series ·

2025/09/16

Why trust is the ultimate driver of long-term sales success in Japan Salespeople everywhere know that trust is essential for winning deals, but in Japan, trust is the difference between a one-off sale and a lifelong customer. Research shows that 63% of buyers prefer to purchase from someone they completely trust—even over someone offering a lower price. In a market where relationships outweigh transactions, trust doesn’t just support sales, it builds loyalty. Why does trust outweigh price in

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