The Naked Listener

Which country do you think has the best overall salesmanship? And the worst?

Some answers gathered:

• “Best is Japan; worst is China.”
• “Singapore has got to be among the worst. I’ve had cases where I come in 100% ready to buy and been thrown objections from the sales staff.”
• “Depends on the industry.”
• “Probably anything with Chinese salespeople, I’d say.”
• “If it’s high-end luxury goods, everywhere is great salesmanship. Otherwise, you’re dust.”

Here’s my take on overall salesmanship (retail and non-retail):

• Best all round are the USA and Japan tied in first place.
• Tied in second place are Italy, France, Portugal and Argentina.
• Tied in third place are Spain, Norway and Morocco.
• Tied in fourth place are the UK, Vietnam, Australia and Canada.

I don’t personally know about China, but the ‘below 100s’ are [South] Korea (too unresponsive), India (too servile) and Mexico (too aggressive and excitable).

Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan probably rank anywhere between 40th and 70th places.

What is most interesting (to me at least) was that I ranked Hong Kong as 6th place back in 1986.

(13 May 2012)

(Image via Elmer Wheeler Books)