Many people believe that intercultural training courses are only relevant for international assignees, high level global executives or members of multicultural teams wanting to work more effectively with foreign counterparts. Intercultural training courses are indeed relevant for these populations but they can also have real impact for people in other roles such as customer service or client relations.

Business is becoming increasingly global as organisations expand into other countries and employ individuals from multicultural backgrounds. Employees who support customers in or from other cultures need a high level of cultural awareness, understanding and adaptability skills to be effective, whether over the phone or face-to-face.

© istockphoto.com/ Chris Schmidt

This is especially true in the luxury industry where customers from newly developed and fast growing countries like China or India are becoming more and more present. The increasing population of customers from other countries is leading to an increased need and demand for intercultural training. Luxury brands such as Chanel, Harrods and Burberry who want to take advantage of this new customer market must understand the different cultural expectations, needs and shopping habits of their international customers.

Being prepared to deal with international customers can greatly increase the ability of sales personnel to provide a superior service and meet their sales targets. Intercultural training will enhance their performance by giving them the cultural knowledge they need to decipher customers’ behaviour and answer their unique needs. This in turn will increase the customers’ loyalty to the brand bringing the company profit for longer.

For example, an intercultural training course about Chinese culture will help customer facing employees develop strategies for welcoming and serving large groups of Chinese customers. In addition to helping them find ways to manage groups of Chinese customers, intercultural training also gives them an understanding of why many Chinese customers come as a group as opposed to individually. Intercultural training would also give them information about Chinese culture that they could use to build relationships with their Chinese customers which can only help the sale.

Understanding cross-cultural communication styles, either verbal or non-verbal is also crucial when selling across cultures. Using the right tone, adapting to the customer’s level of English or answering complaints in an appropriate way is as important as interpreting the meaning of a silence or a smile which can have completely different meanings from one culture to another.

Customer facing employees must have a high level of intercultural awareness as well as the ability to adapt to their international customers’ needs and expectations in order to be successful. Tailored intercultural training programmes provide a comprehensive overview of the intercultural practices and strategies they need to ensure they provide the best customer service to customers of any nationality. Communicaid’s intercultural training programme Selling across Cultures will give your sales team the competitive edge they need to take advantage of this interested and ever increasing international customer base.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010