How Americans Do Business Relationships

A few weeks ago I had coffee with a consultant I met at a seminar. The consultant's specialty is in doing business in Mexico and helping others do business in Mexico. Over the years, I've known a number of consultants whose focus is on international business and what's involved in it. One thing that keeps jumping out is the difference in how Americans do business compared with many (most?) other countries.

This consultant explained it to me at a very basic level. It made so much sense. As Americans, we often see that there's a tree and go in to grab whatever fruit we see on that tree. You've likely heard the phrase "low hanging fruit." That usually applies to where to put your sales efforts. Go after whatever seems the easiest sale to make, the easiest fruit to pick. This colleague said doing good business in many countries looks more like going in, planting the tree, letting it mature, and then carefully harvesting the fruit it bears so that it continues bearing fruit over a long period of time.

Although I am not particularly known for my patience in many things, the seed planting and then harvesting carefully over time sure seems to make a whole lot of sense when it comes to building a long-lasting business relationship. In fact, it makes sense for building any kind of relationship, don't you think? It gave me great pause, as I've just returned from attending a publishing conference for the seventh consecutive year, where many relationships are taking every bit of seven years to produce fruit that can be harvested.

Until next time,
Paulette - wondering why I'm so surprised by all of this!

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