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A question that is asked of me often is "How do I develop trust in the global marketplace?" Nobody knows this topic better than Dr. Marsha Firestone, founder and president of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), a nonprofit membership organization of women presidents running multimillion-dollar businesses....
“Recently, we celebrated five very successful years in Canada, and in those five years, we have grown four chapters and are looking forward to launching a fifth,” Firestone proudly states. “Our rapidly effective expansion could never have happened without a basis of leadership, trust and commitment.”
How did she do it? She connected with an influential leader in the Canadian women’s business community. After numerous conversations, they established trust because both parties conveyed a clear dedication to their causes.
“To further validate the WPO as an effective organization, we put our Canadian potential members in touch with our USA members. Our WPO-USA members were knowledgeable ambassadors for the organization and supported our claims with concrete examples from their experience. That’s how we launched our first chapter in Canada,” she adds.
Lesson Learned: Dr. Firestone says that these five gems have enabled her to build trust in the global marketplace:
1. Research: Understand the dynamics and needs of the community to which you plan to expand.
2. Adapt: Understand and respect traditions and cultural differences. What works in your community or country may not work abroad.
3. Learn: Ask your counterparts abroad for advice on how to proceed – and listen with open ears!
4. Follow-through: Capitalize on your commitments. The more dedication you exert, the more you will receive from your counterparts abroad.
5. Support: Show your future partners that you support them. Also show them that you have support. Have clients, members and partners who can validate your claims and speak on your behalf. Referrals from happy clients are the best entry into the global market.
Now, what have you done to earn trust with a supplier, partner, client or friend? Care to share?
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Comments
Laurel,
Excellent! I do think that in some cultures (e.g., the US) we need patience to build trust because we are a cautious and a "show me" people. Relationship building is a great way to earn that trust.
Posted by: Lewis Green | 01.19.07
Totally agree Lewis. There are no short cuts to winning trust. If people would just do what they say they are going to do, do it well, and do it on a consistent basis, trust happens.
Thanks for weighing in.
Much appreciated,
Laurel
Posted by: Laurel Delaney | 01.19.07
Thanks for highlighting us Laurel! A note on patience [to Lewis and Laurel], it's just as important when expanding regionally as it is globally.
Posted by: Marsha Firestone | 01.19.07
My pleasure Marsha and you are an inspiration to us all whether locally or globally!
Best,
Laurel
Posted by: Laurel Delaney | 01.19.07
Laurel:
The insight that hits me the hardest in building global trust, based on painful personal experience, is this: your "international" partners have unique needs and long memories. If you decide to expand globally, understand "they" don't take US English spec sheets, have the same product needs (or features, or power cords, or voltage requirements), and that you may not see a nickel in profit for years. But if you're going to do it, you have to do it for the long term.
Amazing how few companies do it right.
Posted by: Stephen Denny | 01.20.07
What? Understand and respect traditions and cultural differences? This is your recommendation for building trust?
Sounds to me like a formula for political-correctness that has done more to destroy trust than build it.
Instances of multi-culturalism and bi-lingual education provide perfect examples of how trust has been eroded in those "institutions".
Please - as Judge Judy says, "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining".
Posted by: Jonathan Kantor | 01.22.07
Hi, Stephen,
Thanks for your comment. Sounds like you had a pretty bad experience somewhere along the line. Well that will only make you all the more experienced in the global marketplace!
When it comes to creating spec sheets, meeting consumer needs and determining a country's voltage requirements, you really have to do your homework and gather information on a per-country basis. For example, selling China is a lot different from selling Australia -- with Australia being a whole heck of lot easier.
If you want to find some of the easiest places on the planet to do business, check out The World Bank's "Doing Business Series 2007." As a resource, I absolutely love it and highly recommend it as a starting point for anyone who is confused on which country to do business with first:
http://www.doingbusiness.org/EconomyRankings/
Hint: click on the top of each column, you can prioritize or sort data by columns. It's fantastic. Hope you find it useful too.
And as for trust, it takes time. Stick-to-it-iveness is vital if you are going to maintain the committed effort needed to make things work. Don't quit before you have to just because you lack the nerve to keep up your efforts when there's no payoff in sight. Persevering through the discouraging, nerve-racking times will give you strength and confidence to carry you through even bolder efforts in the future.
Take care,
Laurel
Posted by: Laurel Delaney | 01.22.07
Hi, Jonathan,
Help us out here. What are you talking about?
Thanks,
Laurel
Posted by: Laurel Delaney | 01.22.07