Globalization, Linguistic Fluency & Salespeople
The world as we know it has dynamically changed and is said to be heading towards an age of the fourth revolution. The implications for industries have transformed into major global solutions for the new world order. An order where with the use of information technology all sorts of necessary gaps. With the digital era, newer and more efficient ways have been developed while embedding technology as a solution to enhance productivity.
Organizations have moved towards translational thinking methods to connect with new global consumers. The perceived markets and new cultural contexts are far more than just business opportunities. To catch the so-called mashup of the new cultures, consumer desires, and ideas companies these days require a lot more than just being linguistically fluent. They require us to be culturally smart. It is necessary to communicate appropriately, deliver presentations and images, design websites, and negotiate deals. For all these aspects it is necessary that on expansion into a relevant cultural context an organization must predict the response of that context about their offerings for that specific context. The world as we know it has shrunk into the metaphorical global village without borders where information technology plays a vital role in the currency of trade. Understanding cultural gaps and perceptions of a specific culture help pave the way to organize sales. The attitudes and behaviors of the people within a certain context determine the approach an organization would take in defining the boundaries of sales territories and sales regions.
The smartest of the global firms are always headed towards expansion into untapped markets. With information communication technology on the verge, companies are engaging people through digital channels. To drive sales companies, focus on cultural fluency in delivering authentic and friendly translations that help maximize the sales efforts. Companies try to localize digital content and produce online selling methods that not only have a sound perception of the area but are more targeted to the attributes and physics’ of the people who live there. As firms do so more traffic and engagement enhance the conversion rates that drive more relevant sales. The ethos of cultural fluency requires the building skills such as awareness of the context, and knowledge about the territory. Firms have started to embed insight into their corporate processes because of the very knowledge about territories and regions. The global environment has a lot of potentially unforeseen cultural consequences, and a certain small action can have a huge impact on the overall foresight. One relevant example would be the French President’s statement, that upset billions of Muslims that called for a boycott of the French goods on a global level, resulting in sales decline on massive sales. Societies are learning to adapt to change and respect the cultural attributes of one another whether it be religion or some traditions. Firms like McDonald’s produce vegetable burgers in India rather than beef burgers. This signifies the fact that while expanding the domain these firms must consider how relevant their goods and products would be according to the culture at hand and adjust their products and sales strategies accordingly.
Salespeople have to be linguistically and culturally smart. They must know about the context and must be aware of the behaviors of people within and beyond their territories for relevant success in the market. They must be active listeners and show empathy towards the people of the region. They must exchange information and ideas and learn ways they could improvise and adapt to the newly targeted context. Meanwhile, modern social sciences suggest that by the end of the third revolution there would have been massive cross-cultural shocks and intermixing of many different cultures creating many new identities because of the very factors that have remodeled societies and have bridged large gaps into minute away distances. Traditional boundaries have become vague, and governments likely have less autonomy because of the world without borders and information technology. Meanwhile, this has changed the landscape of cultures, the sales force needs to adapt to the new breed of people and ways to engage them. For a relevant example, in Pakistan, there is a new subject emerging just because of social media called “Urdu in English ‘’. Many firms are already communicating their sales efforts through this linguistic trait. Moreover, we can notice a shift in the culture; especially on social media with people adapting more to this newer language than the standard Urdu or English.
In the end, the massive shifts in cultures and identities have induced a new globalized environment that has many firms worried regarding this newly emerging global culture. Digitalization and innovation cause humans to become lazy, however for people associated with sales it has major implications such as the foresight into the new behavioral changes and the emerging traits of their cultural identities.
