China is not your specialty. I don’t care how well you know it, how long you’ve lived here or how good your Mandarin is. Smart Chinese professionals learned this a long time ago, and now it’s time for ex-pats to get clued in. Knowing China well is a good tool for adding value, but it can’t be your entire ‘value-added’ – unless you are a tour guide or a translator.

Traders, managers and entrepreneurs have to get past their knowledge of China and speak to the real value they bring to their clients or organization.

Don’t fall into the “China generalist” trap.

• 1.3 billion people can all lay claim to China knowledge. There will always be someone with a longer, more impressive China resume. When you say “Buy from me because I know China” you are validating the claims of every local trader who is trying to undercut your price.

• Interesting, but not profitable. And not even that interesting any more. People are getting bored with the story. China is not the flavor of the month any more. The Eastern Europe and Central America ex-pats are getting more cocktail party mileage these days.

• You can’t transact on China Knowledge. You transact on product or system knowledge. If I need a new car, I want to talk to someone who knows about cars – not the neighborhood he’s trying to sell cars in or where the car was made.

• Can make you suspect. What team are you playing for? A recently arrived Midwesterner told me her sister’s parting advice was, “just don’t forget where you come from”. This is especially true as China becomes more of a competitor and less of a source of low-value parts and materials.

• Can easily go negative. Those tales of woe and intrigue in China may end up making you seem like the best swimmer in the shark tank. Maybe you’ll survive for a while – but it’s not someplace your prospects want to be anywhere near. You may be talking yourself out of sales without knowing it.

Showing up may be half the battle to success - but half isn’t going to win you much. You have to be able to solve clients’ problems or boost your company’s profitability. There was a time when China was such a difficult environment in which to live and work that you got points for just knowing the terrain – but those days are long behind us.

Whether you are selling products or applying for a position, remember that “less is more” when it comes to promoting your China experience. The most effective sales pitch is the one that goes to the target’s needs and concerns right away. If you are being asked about your China knowledge, the correct answer is some nicer version of, “I know enough about China to have helped 100 people just like you in the past” – and then tell them how. If you get bogged down on the length of your stay or your HSK score, then you have taken a wrong turn. Focus on the needs of your counter-party, and demonstrate that you can add value in those areas that he cares about.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 at 10:24 am and is filed under Sales Management, Managing in China. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.