11 top tips for speaking to overseas customers in English

Maybe you own your own business or maybe you work for a local company with an international outlook, but your need is the same:  to speak to overseas customers in English.  For the less experienced, an intense sense of dread usually accompanies a crisis in confidence that such interactions will work out ok.  What should I say?  How should I behave?  Will I be understood?  Is my English strong enough?  The list of questions that goes round and round in your mind goes on and on and on again.

Fear not.  Help is at hand.  Here are my top tips for speaking to potential overseas customers in English:

Tip 1:  Relax!  It's difficult to be at our best when we feel stressed.  Slow down breathing and think of happy positive thoughts immediately before and during the course of the meeting.

Tip 2:  Ask lots of questions.  Remember, people love to talk about themselves.  Many of us mistakenly believe that we need to do all the talking when speaking with Western customers for the first time.  This is a turn off at best and should be avoided at all costs.  Simple questions about food, family and business in general will more than suffice. 

Tip: 3  Listen.   We can only effectively communicate with others by truly listening to what others are saying to us.  When nervous or unfamiliar with a person, especially someone from another country, it is easy to let what they are saying wash over you without fully paying attention.  If you don't understand what they are saying to you, ask them to repeat themselves.  I'm sorry,  I didn't quite catch what you just said.  Would you mind repeating yourself? Ask follow up questions based on what they have said.  Where else would you like to visit while you are here?  Where do you recommend travelling to in your country?    

Tip 4: Talk about Hong Kong.  Everyone the world over loves Hong Kong.  Potential customers will want to know everything from where to savour the best dim sum to where are the best walking trails to experience Hong Kong's most stunning scenery.  

Tip 5: Be prepared.  Read more, speak more and write more English in your daily life.  Being comfortable in a language does not come overnight.  The more you immerse yourself in a language, the more confident you will become when using it.    Take small steps with the language to start with and don't try to look too far into the future.  By reading just a little everyday, maybe watching a movie or even penning one or two lines in a diary you are taking those small steps forward.  Soon you will be able to look back and see the enormous progress you have made.  

Tip 6: Avoid changing channel (language).  If in a business meeting, avoid slipping into your native tongue in the presence of your customer unless absolutely necessary.  This will almost certainly have a detrimental effect on your customer as he/she will lose the thread of the conversation which in the worst case scenario may cause the conversation to completely break down.  

Tip 7:  Observe basic protocols.  How we behave is just as important as what we say.  When meeting with potential Western clients, maintain eye contact when speaking to them, smile and don't forget to laugh at their jokes (even if they are not funny).  

Tip 8:  Think of the bottom line.  Successful meetings lead to successful outcomes.  These outcomes may not be immediately apparent or may not present themselves in obvious ways, but can only benefit you, your career or business in time.  

Tip 9:  Customers really appreciate you speaking to them in their own language.  It is a mark of great respect to speak to someone in their own language.  Often this fact is completely missed, but for overseas customers who are out of their home environment, it is greatly appreciated.  Just by speaking in English you are winning your customers over, no matter how poor you may think your English is.

Tip 10:  It gets easier.  Anything that we do in life gets easier with time.  This is the same for communicating with potential customers.  

Tip 11:  Have fun!  Finally, don't take such interactions too seriously and you will more than likely start to enjoy and relax into the experience.  Meeting international people is a tremendous opportunity to learn about the world around us aside from learning more about the industry we are in.  Go out there and make the most of it.