356 How To Win Business With Japanese Buying Teams
The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
Release Date: 06/22/2025
377 Curiosity, Then Context: The Smart Short Pitch
The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
Why use a one-minute pitch when you dislike pitching? Answer: In settings with almost no face-to-face time—especially networking—you cannot ask deep questions to uncover needs. A one-minute pitch becomes a bridge to a follow-up meeting rather than a full sales push, avoiding the “bludgeon with data” approach. Mini-summary: Use a short bridge pitch when time is scarce; aim for the meeting, not the sale. When is a one-minute pitch most useful? Answer: At events where you are filtering many brief conversations to find prospects worth a longer office meeting. You do not want...
info_outline
376 In Japan, Should Presenters Recycle Content Between Talks?
The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
Yes—recycling is iteration, not repetition. Each audience, venue and timing change what lands, so a second delivery becomes an upgrade: trim what dragged, expand what sparked questions, and replace weaker examples. The result is safer and stronger than untested, wholly new content. Mini-summary: Recycle to refine—familiar structure, higher quality. How can you create opportunities to repeat a talk? Answer: Negotiate for tailoring rather than exclusivity. Many hosts want “unique” content; offer contextualised examples, revised emphasis and organisation-specific language...
info_outline
375 Mentoring Under Pressure: How Bosses in Japan Make Change Work
The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
In Japan, why is “capable and loyal” no longer enough? Answer: Technology, the post-1990 restructuring of management layers, and globalisation have reshaped how work moves in Japan. Because hierarchies compressed and expectations widened, teams now face faster cycles and more frequent transitions. AI will add further disruption, so stability must be created by leadership rather than assumed from tenure. Mini-summary: Hierarchy compression + globalisation + AI = persistent change; leadership provides the rhythm that tenure used to provide. In Japan, what should managers do first...
info_outline
374 Selling in Japan: Why Two Out of Six Is a Win
The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
Salespeople worldwide use frameworks to measure meeting success, but Japan’s unique business culture challenges many Western methods. Let’s explore the BANTER model—Budget, Authority, Need, Timing, Engagement, Request—and see how it fits into Japan’s sales environment. 1. What is the BANTER model in sales? BANTER is a simple six-point scoring system for sales calls. Each letter stands for a key factor: Budget, Authority, Need, Timing, Engagement, and Request. A salesperson assigns one point for each element successfully confirmed. A perfect score means six out of six, showing a...
info_outline
373 From Scripted to Authentic- How Leaders Win on Stage
The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
In high-stakes business events, especially in Japan, executives are often forced to deliver presentations crafted by others. This creates a dangerous disconnect between speaker and message. Let’s explore how leaders can reclaim authenticity and impact, even when the material is not their own. Why is speaking from a borrowed script so risky? Executives frequently inherit content from PR or marketing teams. These materials may be polished, but they are rarely authentic. Japan’s perfection-driven corporate culture magnifies the stress, where even a small misstep can harm reputations. When...
info_outline
372 From Ritz-Carlton to Pasona: What Leaders Can Learn About Mood Making
The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
What does it mean for a leader to be the “mood maker”? A mood maker is someone who sets the emotional tone of the team. When leaders stay isolated in plush executive offices, they risk losing contact with their people. Research and experience show that a leader’s visibility directly affects engagement, loyalty, and performance. Leaders who project energy and conviction, day after day, create the emotional climate that shapes culture. Mini-summary: Leaders set the emotional temperature—visibility and energy are non-negotiable. Why does visibility matter so much? Japanese business...
info_outline
371 Why Clients in Japan Rarely Call Back – And What Salespeople Can Do About It?
The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
Why don’t clients in Japan return sales calls? Because the gatekeepers are trained to block access. In Japan, the lowest ranked staff often answer the phones, but without proper training. Their mission is to protect managers from outside callers—especially salespeople. Instead of being helpful, they come across as cold, suspicious, even hostile. This is your client’s first impression of your business. If you test it by calling your own company, you’ll likely hear the same problem. Mini-summary: Gatekeepers in Japan are defensive, not welcoming. This blocks callbacks from the very...
info_outline
370 Why New Salespeople Struggle In Japan – And How To Fix It
The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
Why New Salespeople Struggle New hires, whether they are brand-new to sales or just new to the company, almost always take time before they start delivering results. Yet leaders in Japan often expect immediate miracles. The reality is that ramp-up takes time, especially in a culture where relationships drive business. Even experienced people entering a new organisation need months to learn internal systems, client expectations, and industry nuances. When unrealistic expectations are placed on them from day one, they start their career already on the back foot. Mini Summary: Unrealistic day-one...
info_outline
369 Corporate Ninjas of Concealment: How Leaders Lose Control
The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
Why Japanese Corporate Scandals Keep Happening — And What Leaders Must Do To Prevent Them Why do corporate scandals keep repeating in Japan? Japan has been hit again and again by revelations of non-compliance — from Nissan’s faulty vehicle inspections in 2017 to Kobe Steel’s falsified data and beyond. In some cases, these practices stretched on for decades before discovery. On the surface, companies chase the mantra: “reduce costs, increase revenue.” The Board applauds, shareholders smile, and quarterly reports look sharp. But behind the curtain,...
info_outline
368 The Cure for Corporate Cancer: Rethinking Sales Outreach
The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
Let’s talk about sales, and why the new year always feels like a repeat performance. Greek myths rarely have happy endings. They are mostly cautionary tales, reminders of how the Gods treated humans like toys. One myth, in particular, perfectly captures the life of a salesperson: the story of Sisyphus. He was condemned to push a massive rock up a hill, only to watch it roll back down again, forever. That is exactly what we face in sales. We push that giant rock—the annual budget—up the hill every year. We grind, we hustle, we celebrate the results at year’s end, and then what happens?...
info_outlineSelling to companies in Japan usually means sitting in a meeting room with a single buyer or perhaps two people. There are occasions though where we may need to present to a larger number of buyers in a more formal setting. It may be a pitch to secure the business, or it may be a means of getting the buying team more easily coordinated on their side.
Before we know how to present to a team, we have to analyse the people in the team. That means we need to know ahead of time, who will be in the room from their side. A team comprises multiple layers of responsibility. We might have some functional interests represented such as the Executive Buyer, Financial Buyer, User Buyer, Technical Buyer and Our Champion. Each one has a different driver for making buying decisions.
The Executive Buyer will have a strategic vision for the organization so they are interested in opportunities and growth. We need to include the big picture here of what our solution will do to position the company into the future, as well as today.
The Financial Buyer is always interested in cash flow, no matter the size of the organisation. They focus on the cost, the terms of the transaction and how much flexibility it can provide for them.
The User Buyer wants to know about the features, how easy is the solution to use, how reliable will it be?
The Technical Buyer is concerned about efficiency, practicality and capacity. Usually we are in that room because of our Champion. They are concerned about their relationships within the company, with having influence over the buying situation and gaining recognition for their efforts.
Just to make it more complicated, there are also the buyer personality styles to contend with.
The Amiable who is focused on relationships and is never in a hurry to make a decision.
The Driver is the exact opposite. They are dynamic, fast movers who just want the facts so they can make a decision and move on.
The Analtyicals want data and lots of it. Three decimal places is fine for them.
The Expressives are bored with the nitty gritty detail, preferring the big picture.
It is possible to focus on just one group but not very wise. The presentation should have a little something for everyone.
There are also going to be attitudinal differences. Some will Hostile, Resistant, Discontent, Ambivalent, Favourable, Supportive and Enthusiastic. We need to get our body language meter on full throttle to read the audience and we need our Champion to give us the who’s who of who is in the room, so we can anticipate where we might hit trouble.
There are different levels of expertise in a team. There will be varying levels of Experiences, Education, Biases, Problem/Positive issues, Goals, Expertise and Culture. Before we present we need to know who is going to be in the meeting and try to understand what will be driving their reaction to what we are going to say.
We may not know this completely beforehand but we will certainly start locating people into different sectors once we get into the meeting room.
We need a presenting structure which will be well regarded by the majority of people in the room. We need an opening to grab attention, a statement of need for change, an example of the need for change and to suggest three possible solutions.
For solution one, we outline the advantages and disadvantages. We repeat this balanced formula for solutions two and three. We then suggest the best solution of the three, with evidence as to why it is best. In our closing remarks we repeat the final recommendation.
Selling to a buying group is fraught with difficulty, because of the massive variations in the room, as to perspectives, needs and interest. Nevertheless we can use this structure to cover off as many of the needs in the room as possible.
We rely on our champion to brief us on who is in the room beforehand and to go around drumming up support following our presentation. We win or lose though the quality of our preparation and our structure.
If they are both in good working order, then the chances of winning the business go up dramatically. We won’t get so many chances to present to a buying group but we need to be well prepared when we do.