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 our personality style or that of the buyer any time soon, but we can learn to vary our communication style.
For example, imagine a horizontal axis. On the far left are people we would understand are low in assertion terms. They do not state their opinion openly, they keep a low profile, speak quietly and they are spending much of their time watching others doing, rather than doing themselves. The right side of the axis are people who are highly assertive. They state their opinion with vigor and seem to have a strong opinion on everything. They can be pushy, loud and aggressive. When we meet someone for the first time, we can pretty much pick where they fall on this horizontal axis.
Now picture a vertical axis cutting through the horizontal axis. On the top of the axis are individuals with a strong people focus. They are very much interested in helping others, they are concerned with how people feel. They often refer to the importance of people issues when making decisions or choosing between alternatives. At the other end, the bottom of that axis are people who are totally outcome, result, KPI focused. They don’t care that much about how the people feel. They care more for the results. They are totally focused on the numbers and getting the numbers is all that counts.
If the buyer is in the high end of assertion and outcome driven we call them a Driver personality type. This style and the other styles transcend their Japanese cultural traits. They are much more direct than other Japanese. They are often the founder/owner of their own business. They are “time is money” types, who don’t care much about having as cup of tea with you. They want to get straight down to business, because they are always time poor and super busy. They are quick decision makers.
When we are communicating with this type of person, we need to raise our voice loudness levels and pump up our energy levels in our body language. We can get straight to the point with them, telling them what they should do and the three good reasons that it makes sense. They are interested in how you can deliver results for them and little else. They don’t want a relationship with you, they don’t want a cup of tea with you, they want outcomes. They will make a decision on the spot without consulting anyone and will then want to move on. This cuts through a lot of typical time wasting here to get to a consensus on the way to making a decision in Japan. The down side is they will just say no and that is it, there is no going back to revisit the decision.
Their opposite number drives them nuts. The low in assertion/people orientated style are called Amiables – a sort of everyman type. As the name suggests they want to have a cup of tea and get to know you before they will be happy to get into a business relationship with you. They are people who speak quietly, display small amounts of energy or body language and who like to listen rather than do all the talking. They are slow to make a decision, because they need to make sure everyone is happy with what is going to happen. They are often the glue on the organization, going around to those who got sunburnt from the Driver types in the meeting, to make sure they are okay. Drop your voice and energy when you speak with them and emphasise how people will feel really good about the decision you are asking them to take.
The other assertive personality style is the Expressive who is similar to the driver, but has a greater people orientation. They tell jokes, smile a lot, have a lot of energy, like to party. They are often salespeople, trainers, actors. They like being around people and they love the macro, big picture. They grab the marker pen and are brainstorming on the whiteboard in a flash. They are thinking about the future, the vision, the great things that are to come.
Increase your energy when with them and expect to be invited to parties, dinners and events. They hate worrying about petty details and just about all detail qualifies as petty for them. The typical salesperson hates filling out the CRM after the sale’s call, even though the marketing department is tonguing for the detail and data. Talk big picture with them and spare them the data and evidence – they don’t have much interest.
