The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show

 We rush about chasing deals.  We nail one down and race off hunting for the next one.  Sometimes we need to switch from hunter to farmer and see if there is more to that first deal. We need to keep an eye on the satisfaction the buyer has with the first deal, to see if we can cross sell, upsell or get a referral.   The sales agreement is followed by the delivery of the product or service.  In som...

If we don't grab their attention and interest, then our message is lost to them as they head off to the internet.    "The good is the enemy of the great" is a clever saying and very true.  In presenting terms we can have people who are competent but not even close to maximising their potential.  They are sitting there in the lukewarm bath, never experiencing or understanding the joys of an extra t...

Japan has a very efficient education system around the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic.  There was an effort to bridge the creativity gap with other countries but that was abandoned.  Where are we with the gap between what industry needs and what the education system is producing?    Japanese education includes exciting things like adults screaming abuse, using threatening words, kids mo...

We usually think in terms of cultural differences with the West, when we are dealing with this unique country, Japan.  In fact, personality style differences of the buyer are much more important in business.  Cultural factors form a base and on top of that are the idiosyncratic differences between Japanese buyers and ourselves.  This becomes very key in communication terms.  We won't be changing o...

There are many things which impact an entrepreneurs success.    Usually, when we think about how to succeed in our own business, we favour things like sufficient cash flow and capital.  This is absolutely true, but this is a product of decisions we have already taken.  We need to focus on the core drivers of the company's success.  There will be certain businesses where technology alone makes it w...

Understanding the basics of Japanese business requires we have to know about nemawashi and what it means for us.   Nemawashi is a very important word in Japanese.  It is made up of two words "ne" which means root and "mawashi" which means to wrap around.  Or wrapping up the root. A good translation however is "groundwork", usually associated with a decision or a meeting.  In Japan they can move 15...

Today we are going to look at the proper use of visuals when we are presenting.  Many people ask us at Dale Carnegie, what should I do with preparing my slide deck for my key note presentation?  What's too much?  What's too little?  What's the best way to make this work for me?     Here's some guidelines for using visuals. Sometimes less is definitely best.  On a screen, try to avoid paragraphs. ...

The playbook on how to deal with difficult people wasn't anywhere in sight throughout our entire schooling.  When we went to work this playbook was also missing from the induction training and from every other piece of training we have ever received.    Sadly, not everyone is like us – wonderful, charming, amusing, attractive.  Despite our best efforts to be a role model of perfection, setting the...

Emperors and fishmongers.  The opposite end of the social spectrum, but in Japan, I discovered the levels of formality in meetings was unnervingly similar.  Formality in Japan is linked very closely to what is perceived as being polite.  European countries may feel more familiar with Japanese style formality, but for countries like the US, Australia, Canada etc., this level of formality is not the...

Storytelling by the speaker combined with audience participation is a winner.  We shouldn't go crazy and over do it of course, but we definitely should use this technique.   Whenever I am in the USA, I love watching the different television preachers in action.  I am not looking for salvation particularly, but I am looking for hints on how to work an audience.  Now obviously competing with their p...

The classic half-time locker room Churchillian oratory from the coach, whipping the team into a frenzy for the coming onslaught is now gathering dust in Hollywood's archives.  Today's most successful coaches are masters of human psychology, combining insight with superb communication skills.  What about leaders in business?  Conferences, off-sites, retreats are supplying substantial income for spo...

All of the sales text books tell us, use case studies with clients who have been successful, to sell the next client.  Case studies are great for gaining credibility with potential cients, so it all makes so much sense.  If only it was that easy to do in Japan.    Getting client cooperation to create sale's case studies in Japan is tough.  Japanese companies are very careful about how much informa...

Engaging our audience is one of the prerequisites for having persuasion power.  Smart people sometimes make simple errors which diminishes their ability to get their messages accepted.     Lawyers in Japan are an elite group.  Senior lawyers are the elite of the super elite.  When I landed in Tokyo on April 1st, 1979, Tokyo was completely different city than what it is today.  A low rise, rambling...

Conflict with bosses can often be a fundamental difference in personality types.  These differences are usually reflected in communication styles which don't match.  If we know these things about others, bosses we can more easily deal with the differences.   Are you the engagement survey assassin carving up your boss or are you the victim having to explain to senior management why your team's scor...

Understanding why people don't buy immediately after your brilliant presentation in Japan is a critical component of success here.  Aggressive American style wrangling with the buyer just won't work here.  We need to understand the limitations facing the person we are meeting and how the company decision making structure works.    In Japan, this "We will get back to you" response is often the resu...

You have genius within you, as yet untapped and never before displayed.  You have seen the good, the bad and the ugly in business.  You have witnessed folly, fun and the fantastic.  Your collection of experiences is a tremendous resource for stories in your presentations. Gripping material worthy of a movie or a book abounds and just perfect for your next presentation.  Let's look for opportunitie...

Rage, blind rage destroys relationships and intercompany teamwork.  We are all working around with super sort fuses today, impatient, irritated and volatile. Today let's look at how we can head this type of disaster off at the pass and keep the focus on the rivals and destroying them rather than each other.   "All of our problems walk on two legs and talk back".  I can't recall when I first came a...

Mistakes are either great learning exercises or catastrophes damaging the trust in the brand.  Step one is getting people to admit they made a mistake.  Finding out about a major mistake when it is too late is every bosses nightmare.  You have the authority, the power the money to fix it, but that window has closed out.    Sometimes things go wrong.  Mistakes are made, errors pop up, best laid pla...

Most of the presentations we listen to are a tour de force of data and less than fascinating facts.  Yet the rest of our lives are overflowing with dialogue.  Today we will look at what we can do with dialogue to make our talks more interesting and impressive.   Normally when we give presentations, they tend to be pretty dry affairs.  We marshal the facts, relate what happened, tell stories perhap...

We are running out of young people in Japan.  Covid has slowed down some major structural changes which must happen.  The implications of staff shortages are dynamic for Japan.  Let's explore some of these in today's show.   There is a great Simon Sinek video floating around about how companies say employees are important, but don't really act like it.  He lines up the typical CEO hit list of grow...

Having a buying need and doing something about it can often be quite disparate ideas.  There are many things we would all like to do in business to grow our companies.  The constraints are usually money and people.  The lack of resources holds us back and so we persevere, always hoping that somehow, we will be able to bridge that gap between where we are now and where we want to be.    At the CEO...

Positivity in life is electric and it can impact others very quickly. Our mindset and energy output are engines driven on the fuel of enthusiasm. In this week's show we take a look at why being enthusiastic is so important.   Enthusiasm of the seller for the product or service to the buyer". What are we doing when we are speaking? We are selling! "Hang on a minute there Greg. I am a professional,...

The brain when triggered by fight or flight impulses, releases adrenalin into the larger muscle groups.  It also fires up the brain and the mouth, but not always in the right order.  Today we look at how to control the chemical surges that can get leaders into serious trouble.   Our cave dwelling ancestor past is still with us today.  Rather than sabre tooth tigers though, we are reacting to anyon...

Sales is easy if you know what you are doing.  It is a flow, where each step intersects with the previous one and is a build toward a "yes".  Once we get to the final stages of the sales cycle, we have to really be on our game.  The wrong move, the wrong communication, the wrong timing and the deal is lost.   Finding clients is an art and so is building trust and credibility that you can help them...

Owning the room is doable with an audience of one hundred people but much more challenging when there are five thousand people in an auditorium.  Today we look at how to own the huge room.   This is what caught my attention lately: Japan's disease control center has been hit by cyberattacks amid virus   A key disease control center in Japan in the fight against the virus experienced a huge surge i...