Q: Why isn’t marketing enough to keep the pipeline full?
A: Marketing can help through database segmentation, SEO content, white papers, eBooks, and paid search. Buyers will download or enquire, but from a sales point of view that’s never enough. If you want the top of the funnel to stay full, sales has to take control and generate leads directly.
Mini-summary: Marketing helps, but sales must actively create new opportunities.
Q: What does accountability look like in sales activity?
A: It starts with KAIs, Key Activity Indicators. Track the ratios from calls and emails to contacts, from contacts to meetings, and from meetings to deals. When you know these ratios, you can link daily activity to real results instead of guessing.
Mini-summary: KAIs connect effort to outcomes and make performance measurable.
Q: How do you work out how much prospecting you need?
A: Use your average deal size and annual target, then work backwards. If the average deal is one million yen and the target is thirty million, you can calculate the number of deals required, then the meetings required, then the original contacts required. In Japan, for most B2B sales, face-to-face meetings are often required, especially for a new supplier.
Mini-summary: Work backwards from target and average deal size to set clear activity volume.
Q: What can salespeople control, even if marketing is running campaigns?
A: You can control your own actions. Decide how many networking events you’ll attend, how many cold calls you’ll make, and how many orphan clients you’ll reactivate. Be clear on what an ideal client looks like and aim directly at them.
Mini-summary: Control your calendar and activity, not marketing output.
Q: How can one client help you win more clients in the same industry?
A: Rivals in the same business often share the same problems. If you’ve helped one five-star hotel in Tokyo, similar hotels likely face similar issues. Your insight becomes a battering ram to approach the other players with a relevant conversation.
Mini-summary: Use industry insight from one client as leverage with their competitors.
Q: How do you break through Japan’s “call killers” on cold calls?
A: Gatekeepers are polite but tough, and they protect the boss. If you can’t reach the sales manager, persistence matters. Use an approach that references success with direct competitors and asks to explore whether you could do the same. If the manager “isn’t there”, don’t give up. Keep calling back every few hours until you connect. Then protect the habit by blocking prospecting time in your schedule like any client meeting.
Mini-summary: Use a credible script, call back persistently, and schedule prospecting as non-negotiable time.
Author Bio:
“Dr Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is a veteran Japan CEO and trainer, author of multiple best-sellers and host of the Japan Business Mastery series. He leads leadership and presentation programmes at Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo.”
