Successful B2B Selling for German Subsidiaries in the USA
The Challenge...
There are over 5,500 subsidiaries of German companies doing business in the USA, and more are coming online every year. Contrary to popular belief, most of them are not doing well financially. In fact, a majority of them regularly perform well below expectations, consistently missing their forecasts, while struggling to cope with excessive personnel churn rates, unsatisfied customers and excessive pricing pressures. The bitter truth is that far too many of subsidiaries of German companies in the USA are only able to keep the lights on because they receive substantial subsidies from their German parent companies. These underwhelming outcomes that should never be accepted because any company that can compete and succeed on the German market can certainly compete and succeed on the American market, too; just not in the same way!
The Usual Suspects...
German subsidiaries underperform on the American market for many reasons, but there are a few usual suspects, such as projecting a seeming lack of URGENCY by responding slowly, demanding excessively long lead times, failing to align (lack of ALIGNMENT and flexibility generally), communicating in norm-busting ways, relying too heavily on other German subsidiaries instead of learning to live off the land in the USA, relying too heavily on incoming leads from their websites and social media efforts instead of executing a proven B2B direct selling/marketing strategy. Due to their unadapted approach, German subsidiaries in the USA often find themselves commoditized. In other words, they continually end up being just one of three or four possible suppliers. This forces them to compete on price instead of value, which is the worst conceivable competitive position for almost any German company. To make matters worse, instead of focusing on creating a positive customer experience, which is the most important driver of growth and success on the American market, most German subsidiaries opt instead to focus on being more efficient, which only adds to their commodotization struggles. All these standard causes of failure are self-inflicted wounds. They can be easily corrected and the payoff for correcting them is more success on the American market: faster growth, healthier profits, more satisfied customers and employees - and more.
Learning to Live Off the Land in the USA...
Subsidiaries of German companies must learn to live off the land in the USA. And the starting point of that journey is to realize that, with very few exceptions, their brand doesn't carry the same weight on the American market as it does in Germany. Regardless of how well-known, how successful, or how long they've been in business in Germany, most of them are virtually unknown in the USA. For that reason, they will typically be treated like start-up companies by prospective American customers and partners. Given this reality, the only right thing to do is to focus on breaking into the American market by targeting a very well defined market segment with a very high-value offer, tailored exactly to that segment's specific needs. However, this is rarely what German companies do. Instead, they simply translate their German language website into English and call it the American website. They try to cast as wide a net as possible, arguing that standardization around the world and efficiency makes this necessary. The painful truth is that this is a bad practice for any country and it has consistently proven to be a losing strategy on the American market. Once again, focusing on a promising market segment and following a proven direct sales/marketing program, (instead of waiting and hoping for inquiries to come in), is the only approach that has proven to deliver consistently successful results.
Learn to Succeed in American Business with a Training Program that is Like Nothing Else, Anywhere...
As an American Management and Sales Trainer, based in Germany for much of my adult life, I have been teaching valued business clients in Germany and the USA how to sell to each other professionally and successfully for 33+ years. The insight and understanding that comes from learning to train and sell successfully in multiple cultures has provided me with a unique ability to get to the heart of any issue, quickly and efficiently. This is especially true when it comes to understanding and delivering value, building trust and credibility quickly, being persuasive without stepping over the line, answering objectives in a compelling, intriguing way and making the sales process a critically important and positive part of the customer experience, etc. I create, sell and teach these courses myself, and I promise you that this training works; it's proven and highly effective; it is easy to understand and implement, and it has been designed exclusively to help subsidiaries of German companies succeed on the American market. Just one more thing: I genuinely care! I want my clients to succeed and I am gladly available to help them master the best practices in American B2B selling. My clients consistently learn how to offer higher value to their own customers, how to sell more at higher profit margins, how to grow faster and earn more, how to contribute more to their firms, and how to do it all simply and systemicatically.