business – Page 8 – understand-culture

Rarely the final step

Formal presentations are rarely the final step in a German decision making process. Rarely do German managers make a critical decision shortly after having listened to the presentation of various options.

Instead they will take time to reflect, discuss with their direct reports, get additional input from subject area experts, use colleagues at different management levels as sounding boards.

The act of persuasion in the German business context is seldom aimed at getting a specific decision. Truly persuasive argumentation seeks to influence, steer, route the thinking to or in the direction of a desired decision.

“Don’t be pushy!”

Martin Wehrle, a German managment coach, writes career-articles for DIE ZEIT. In a recent article he advises: Nicht aufdrängen! – Don’t be pushy! He notes that many job applicants are far too aggressive, as early as in the initial sentences of their cover letter.

“Because I am a perfect fit for the position, I am sending you my application ….” Starting off like that almost guarantees an immediate rejection, writes Wehrle.

Instead of allowing the reader to make her own judgement, the applicant makes it for them. Personnel departments want to make their own decision who is right for the company. That’s what they get paid for.

Wehrle recommends: “Intelligent applicants act like witnesses before a jury. They don’t push the jury to a decision. Instead they simply state the facts, objectively.

The more objective the witness comes across, the more they are believed. The best applicants don’t speak for their application. Their application speaks for them.

Starting Point

The present is always the starting point for any action. The present is current, a result of what was decided, of what has been done, of action taken. To understand the present means to first understand how it became what it is, to understand its history.

Before Germans can be persuaded by any future action, they have to be convinced that the presenter has understood the present – the starting point – via its past.

Ten Slides

Imagine the same task given to ten different Americans, in ten different companies, in ten different business sectors. A thousand people. They’re asked to use a maximum of ten slides in a presentation in order to persuade an audience of fellow Americans about the virtues and value of their product, service, idea, concept, recommendation.

On average, how many slides would the Americans use to explain the present (current situation), the past (how the present was arrived at), and the future (the desired situation)?

Optimal e-mail frequency

Under the title Optimum Follow-up Frequency for New Leads Samuel Smith, a consultant and blogger on business and online marketing, posted the following advice:

„A good e-mail marketing effort doesn’t inundate your customers with hard sales pitches. Following up quickly is the first step. Schedule your first follow-up email to go out two hours after your customer submits his or her information.

From here, you may want to gradually slow your e-mail frequency and aim for about three content emails for one purely promotional email. Depending on your budget, you could aim, at the high end, for sending four emails a week, but with a smaller budget, you can send an email every two or three days and have similar success.

Once a potential customer has been receiving email from you for a couple of months, it’s okay to drop off the number of emails to once a week. The optimum e-mail frequency reminds customers several times over that your product has value to them.“

They’ll remember your product.

frequent follow-up

Interestingly, typing „frequent follow-up“ into Google leads to 179 million results. The first ten pages with ten results each all refer to healthcare:

Long-Term Follow-up of Asymptomatic Healthy Subjects. Frequent follow-up as data gathering and continued care. Colonoscopy Overuse A Result Of Frequent Follow-Up. Follow-up see eMedicineHealth. Is There a Benefit of Frequent CT Follow-up After EVAR?

The term follow-up in the medical space is about: care; staying on top of a problem; remaining proactive; constant monitoring; reacting to a changing situation.

Still a Priority

An additional purpose of follow up in the American context is to signal to the other parties that the agreement is still of high priority. No or late follow up can be interpreted as a signal that the agreement is no longer important to the other party.

Americans place a very high value on flexibility, on the ability to respond to the needs of the market, of customers, of changing situations. Big decisions are broken down into smaller ones. Isolating individual decisions allows for rapid reaction as well as rapid revision. Up to the minute overview of agreements is essential.

Follow-up is omnipresent in American life. The preference setting of email programs, social network accounts, as well as information sources can be set so that information is pushed immediately to the user.

Most doctors offices send out reminders to patients of their upcoming appointments via traditional mail, email and even voicemail. When one turns on the television five minutes prior to the show they want to watch, one sees a reminder indicating that the program they are want to watch is about to be shown. Banks offer depositors the option of immediate notification via email or text message of any changes to their balance.

Follow-up is in many cases simply a reminder.

Personal nice. Professional better.

In small talk situations Americans seldom jump directly into the business subject matter. For Americans business is always to certain degree a personal matter. In fact, Americans prefer to work with people they like, and who like them.

Germans, on the other hand, can and will do business with you even if you have little or no personal relationship. Most importantly, they want to know if you are good at what you do. Personal is nice. Professional is better.

Eric Schmidt – Google

The former Google CEO has reinvented himself as the prime liaison between Silicon Valley and the military-industrial complex.

General Thomas, who served in the 1991 gulf war and deployed many times to Afghanistan, spent the better part of a day showing Mr. Schmidt around Special Operations Command’s headquarters in Tampa, Fla. They scrutinized prototypes for a robotic exoskeleton suit and joined operational briefings, which Mr. Schmidt wanted to learn more about because he had recently begun advising the military on technology.

After the visit, as they rode in a Chevy Suburban toward an airport, the conversation turned to a form of artificial intelligence.

“You absolutely suck at machine learning,” Mr. Schmidt told General Thomas, the officer recalled. “If I got under your tent for a day, I could solve most of your problems.” General Thomas said he was so offended that he wanted to throw Mr. Schmidt out of the car, but refrained.

In an interview, Mr. Schmidt — by turns thoughtful, pedagogical and hubristic — said he had embarked on an effort to modernize the U.S. military because it was “stuck in software in the 1980s.”

Yes, Eric Schmidt is an American. But check out his last name. He is thoughtful, meaning intelligent. He is pedagogical, meaning can be pedantic. He is hubristic, meaning arrogant. Schmidt.

Business leader cults

The concept of cult is common in American society. A cult figure is a popular individual who has strong appeal, someone whose reputation is inflated in contrast to their success. The cult of personality or charismatic authority arises when an individual employs mass media in order to establish an idealized image of oneself to the public.

Many American companies – especially those operating globally – link their CEO personally with their products and services. These CEOs are the first and most important salesperson of the company. They maintain a personal dialogue with investors, customers, and key suppliers. They are a constant presence in the media. CEO as CMO – Chief Message Officer.

Some strive for and achieve a kind of cult status. See the late Steve Jobs – Apple, Bill Gates – Microsoft, Jeff Bezos – Amazon, Sergey Brin and Larry Page – Google, a few years back Jack Welch – General Electric, Lou Gerstner – IBM, further back Lee Iacocca – Ford.

The American comedian Bill Burr challenges this in a humorous and entertaining way: