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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

12:22

Hope Is Not A Strategy In Sales

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/10/06

Every sales organisation has targets. The uncomfortable truth is that many of those targets contain a fair amount of hope disguised as strategy. Sales leaders work with imperfect information, incomplete data and assumptions about what customers, competitors and markets will do next. Then something changes. The economy slows, budgets are frozen, decision-making takes longer or an unexpected global event completely rewrites the commercial landscape. We cannot eliminate uncertainty from sales. What we

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13:56

Reducing Friction In The Sales In Japan

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/09/29

Inertia is one of the most powerful forces slowing sales in Japan. The buyer may already have a regular supplier. Or we may be introducing a solution they have never used before. In either case, buying from us requires change on their side. And in many Japanese buying situations, change is viewed first as risk, not opportunity. Doing nothing is easy. Staying with the existing supplier is easy. Changing systems, processes, vendors, internal responsibilities, budgets or routines is much harder. That

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15:26

Pitching Preferred In The Japanese Sales Call

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/09/22

In most modern sales environments, asking the buyer questions to understand their needs would be considered one of the most basic skills a professional salesperson should possess. Yet in Japan, questioning the buyer is often far less common than you might expect. Instead, many salespeople launch straight into the pitch. They explain the company, introduce the product, run through the features and hope something catches the buyer's interest. Why? It isn't simply poor technique. There are cultural,

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12:04

Boosting Our Champions In The Sale

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/09/15

Getting a buyer interested in our solution is only the beginning of a B2B sale. In many organisations — and particularly in Japan — the person sitting across from us may have very little authority to make the final decision. Instead, we need that person to become our internal champion. They have to take our idea back into their organisation, explain it, defend it, overcome resistance and put their own reputation behind recommending us. That creates an important responsibility for salespeople. We are

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13:48

What About The Deals We Lost

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/09/08

Salespeople spend enormous amounts of time thinking about the deals they won and the deals they lost to competitors. But there is another, potentially much larger category we often ignore: the buyers who didn't buy from anybody. That group should be fascinating to us. If the client didn't choose us but also didn't choose a rival, perhaps our problem wasn't the competition at all. Maybe the real competitor was doing nothing. That changes how we should think about selling. Why do so many sales

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13:22

Trust Is Everything In Sales

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/09/01

Trust is not one element of a successful sale. Trust is the foundation supporting every other part of the sales process. A customer may like your product, appreciate your expertise and even agree that your price is reasonable. However, when they begin to doubt your reliability, judgement or integrity, the opportunity can disappear very quickly. This is particularly important when selling financial services, consulting, technology or any solution where the customer must accept uncertainty and place

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14:15

The Japanese Business Glass Permanently Half-Empty

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/08/25

Japanese companies are often described as slow, conservative or resistant to change. That description misses the deeper point. In many Japanese business settings, the central question is not, "How exciting is this opportunity?" It is, "What could go wrong, and what will happen to us if it does?" This risk-sensitive mindset can frustrate overseas companies accustomed to selling through enthusiasm, innovation and ambitious promises. Yet once you understand how Japanese buyers assess reliability,

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18:57

The Final Five Of Your Sales Call

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/08/18

A miraculous thing often happens just as I am preparing to leave a client meeting. The formal discussion is over. I have closed my organiser, packed away my pen and mentally moved on to the next appointment. Then the client casually drops a major insight, hidden concern or vital piece of information on me. Naturally, this creates a small panic. The meeting is obviously finished, I am already packed up and I cannot easily reopen everything and start scribbling furiously without looking slightly

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12:08

Clients Forget The Price

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/08/11

Clients may forget exactly how much they paid, but they rarely forget whether the quality was excellent or disappointing. This is one of the most important lessons in sales. Price matters at the moment of purchase, especially when budgets are tight or procurement teams are involved. Over time, however, the emotional memory of the experience becomes much more powerful than the original invoice. A reliable product, a successful service and a supplier who acts with integrity create trust. Poor quality,

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14:18

Why Does Everything Take So Long In Business In Japan?

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/08/04

Japan is internationally famous for efficiency. The Shinkansen runs with extraordinary punctuality, public services are dependable and complex systems generally work remarkably well. Yet inside many Japanese companies, decisions that appear straightforward can take weeks, months or even years. Foreign executives often find this contradiction frustrating. They are accustomed to cultures where speed, individual initiative and calculated risk-taking are rewarded. In Japan, however, business decisions

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14:33

Should We Worry About Our Competitors?

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/07/28

Competitors can damage your margins, poach your best people, outspend you, undercut your prices and introduce technology that makes your current offer irrelevant. Worrying about them, however, is not a strategy. The better response is to build a competitive moat before you desperately need one. That means creating distinctive value, stronger client relationships, better delivery systems and advantages that rivals cannot easily or cheaply reproduce. How Much Attention Should We Pay to Our

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12:41

Controlling Your Public Image As a Salesperson

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/07/21

Once upon a time, salespeople could live several different lives. There was the polished professional who met clients during the day. Then there was the private version who could enjoy a heroic night out, behave like a complete goose and assume nobody important would ever hear about it. Those days are gone. Today, buyers can search your name before you meet. They can inspect your LinkedIn profile, read your comments, watch your videos, examine your photographs and decide whether you look credible—or

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11:55

You Have Three Seconds For An Effective First Impression

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/07/14

People form an initial impression of you remarkably quickly. Whether the precise time is three seconds, seven seconds or slightly longer, the practical lesson for salespeople, executives and client-facing professionals is the same: your first impression begins before you start explaining your credentials, company or solution. In Japan, where professionalism, preparation and attention to detail carry considerable weight, leaving that impression to chance is risky. Your appearance, facial expression,

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13:35

When Is Too Much, Too Much In Sales

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/07/07

Salespeople in Japan often face a delicate balancing act. Push too little and they become passive farmers who protect the client but fail to grow the business. Push too hard and they risk looking aggressive, annoying, or culturally tone-deaf. The real answer sits in the middle: become a trusted partner who helps the buyer succeed while still representing your own company's commercial interests. In Japan, professional selling is not about being timid. It is about being appropriately persistent,

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12:11

Wasting Salespeople

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/06/30

Many companies complain that their salespeople cannot sell, but the real problem is often poor sales management, weak onboarding, unrealistic targets, and almost no proper coaching. In Japan, where hiring English-speaking, globally minded salespeople has become harder, wasting sales talent is not just inefficient. It is expensive, avoidable, and strategically dangerous. Salespeople do not magically become productive. They need realistic targets, consistent sales training, active coaching, and

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12:06

How Good Are Your Supporting Documents To Drive The Sale

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/06/23

Japanese buyers love data, detail, statistics, proof, and supporting documents. That does not mean salespeople should dump every catalogue, flyer, product sheet, technical specification, and proposal appendix onto the table at the start of the meeting. In Japan, the smartest sales approach is to bring plenty of information, but control when and how the buyer sees it. The supporting documents should support the sale. They should not become the sale. Why do Japanese buyers want so much data in sales

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13:51

Silence Is Golden In Business In Japan

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/06/16

Doing business in Japan often confuses Western executives because silence, patience, and slow decision-making can look like hesitation. In reality, these behaviours are often signs of seriousness, hierarchy, risk management, and long-term partnership thinking. For salespeople, founders, country managers, and B2B leaders, understanding silence in Japanese business meetings can be the difference between building trust and blowing the deal. Why is silence important in Japanese business meetings

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13:11

Be Bullet Proof Against Criticism Of Your Follow Up

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/06/09

Being ghosted in sales feels modern, but the problem is ancient. You meet someone at a networking event, have a positive conversation, follow up politely and then hear nothing but crickets. The danger is not only losing the opportunity. The greater risk is either giving up too early or following up so badly that you create brand damage. Professional salespeople need a follow-up rhythm that is persistent, respectful and defensible. Why do buyers ghost salespeople after a good conversation? Buyers

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12:27

Your Agenda Or The Buyer's When Selling

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/06/02

In a sales call, the person who controls the agenda usually controls the outcome. Buyers are busy, cautious and often defensive because they worry about wasted time, poor fit, cash flow pressure and being sold something they do not need. Professional salespeople do not bully the buyer, but they also do not drift along sweetly while the buyer runs the meeting. They build trust early, set a clear structure, ask intelligent questions and guide the conversation toward whether real value can be created

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10:59

Work On Your Sales Not In Your Sales

The Sales Japan Series ·

2026/05/26

Business owners often hear the advice, "Work on your business, not in your business." The same principle applies to sales. If the founder, president, or owner remains the main rainmaker, the company may generate revenue today but struggle to scale, transfer value, or survive without them tomorrow. Sales can be addictive. Winning deals, building relationships, and landing major clients all create a powerful dopamine hit. The problem is that when the owner keeps doing the selling, the business stays

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