How to Sell in France

In the French world of selling, Jean-Pierre Tricard is what Zig Ziglar is in the United States, Alan Pease is in Australia, and Erich-Norbert Detroy is in Germany –a superstar. He is simply the #1 sales trainer, a motivator who can mesmerize an audience of 3,000 and hold them spellbound.

Not only a supersalesman, Tricard is also a gifted educator and highly successful businessman. He started his career selling cars for Simca and became France’s top car salesman while working for Chrysler France. Tricard continued his career at Foucher-Lesieur (a direct competitor of Procter & Gamble) where he became product manager and later marketing manager. After several years with the advertising agency BBDO, he became president of Horwitz and later president of Courrege, an international fashion designer and manufacturer. In 1979, Tricard established his own sales training company and has conducted sales training courses for over 5,800 companies in France, Belgium and Switzerland. Over 40,000 salespeople have participated in his programs.

Today, Tricard and his staff of 45 offer an extensive range of services including sales recruiting, sales and marketing consulting, selling skills training (including telephone sales) and sales management training. Jean-Pierre Tricard Conseil is located in LeVesinet, France, about 20 miles outside of Paris.

In this one-of-a-kind interview conducted in French and translated for PSP readers into English, Tricard explains the basic principles of selling in France.

PSP: How do you see the differences between French salespeople and American salespeople?

Jean-Pierre Tricard: As you know, there are significant cultural differences between our two countries. For example, in our culture, the one thing that we tend to be afraid of is to talk about money. While the French are embarrassed to talk about how much money they make, Americans consider money as a concrete measure of success. In France, people who brag about how much money they make are looked upon as thieves.

How does this impact a sales negotiation?

When French salespeople get to the point of discussing the price, they start to panic. They literally don’t know how to deal with that because they have not been trained to talk about money. In my opinion, American salespeople are better equipped to talk about price.

What would be another big difference in selling between the two countries?

The second difference would be that American salespeople are very direct. When you want something, you ask for it directly. In our culture, we’re following different customs. We don’t want to risk offending someone and we’re afraid to show bad manners. As a result, we skirt the issues — we beat around the bush and it takes us much longer to make a request. Therefore, French salespeople tend to make more sales calls than necessary. They’re often afraid of leading the prospect to the close.

So you are saying that American salespeople who sell to a French prospect should plan on spending more time….

Yes, more time to listen to their clients, encouraging them to talk more, trying to get them relaxed and comfortable. French customers don’t like to be pushed to a conclusion.

What do American salespeople and French salespeople have most in common?

I think it is the false assumption that their customers like what they like. Salespeople all over the world need to be reminded that the only story a customer wants to listen to is his own not the salesperson’s. That’s why we base our training on identifying the customer’s motivations, then we teach salespeople how to select the product that is right for the customer, not the one they’d like to sell. I believe that all good sales are won through listening.

How do you see the major differences between French customers and American customers?

When an American customer gives a salesperson an appointment, he will see him more or less on time. In France, customers often leave salespeople waiting for 30 to 45 minutes. It’s not uncommon for customers to forget about the appointment altogether.

What do French salespeople dream about when they think of being successful?

The French salesperson’s dream is to become the sales manager. He wants to get out of sales and become the leader of the sales team.

Why?

Because the image of a salesperson in France has been historically very low. France is a country that values technical training more than anything else. For example, most CEOs in France have been trained as engineers. As a result, their priorities are: product first, service second, sales third.

So selling is a low level function.

In many ways, we’re still in a product oriented marketing era. French salespeople are expected to sell what the company produces. Marketing in France is still more a promise than a practice. There are very few universities that teach modern marketing methods and there are none that teach selling.

How would you describe the typical French salesperson?

In general, a salesperson is seen as someone who has failed at everything else in life. Someone who doesn’t want to do manual labor because it’s too hard, and someone who is congenial and able to relate well to other people.

How difficult is it to find salespeople in France?

Every successful company in France is looking for good salespeople, and sales managers complain that they can’t find enough. There are tens of thousands of openings for sales positions in France, yet there are not enough people who are interested in a sales career.

How about the level of sales training?

Most of the salespeople don’t know how to sell. They are just getting by, because they can talk a good game, but they don’t know any techniques. When they lose a sale, it’s never the salesperson’s fault. They’re always blaming it on the product, the price, the delivery or the competition. Many are incapable of looking at the sales process objectively and learning from each sales experience. I’ve never traveled with a French salesperson who said, “I’ve lost this sale and it was my fault.”

How about the level of compensation?

In general, French salespeople are paid a large base salary and a small commission on sales. The median income is between $24,000 and $36,000 per year in base salary with a chance to earn about 10 percent to 15 percent more in commissions. Of course, there are the exceptions — top sales producers earning well over $100,000 a year. Plus a company car and travel expenses. For someone who does not have a university degree, that’s very impressive.

Do companies change commission systems often?

Many times, the administrators get jealous of the high incomes salespeople earn and then they cut out the commission system and put everybody on a high base salary. The consequences? Sales drop immediately.

What about sales incentives?

In general, French companies are very creative in this area. For example, we are working with a company right now that sends its sales team to a race-car driving school; there are others who like to cruise the Mediterranean. Smaller companies may choose a weekend at a resort hotel.

Let’s talk about the strong points of French salespeople.

First, most French salespeople love their company. They tend to love their product more than their bosses give them credit for. They tend to work hard for their company. Also, they have a great desire to be well thought of by their clients.

How would you describe their relationship with their clients?

They go out of their way to help a customer solve a problem even when the problem has nothing to do with the sale. In other words, their aim is to be of service. Salespeople in France see themselves more on the client’s team. For example, if a reseller has an inventory problem, the salesperson will help the customer move the inventory.

Do you think that French salespeople are more guided by personal values than material values?

I think there is another operating principle at work. In the United States, everyone has his or her own place. In France, we have a tendency to do a little bit of everybody’s job. We love to circumvent, avoid or solve problems. We’re proud of our personal ability to forge lasting relationships.

How hard do French salespeople work?

Many salespeople see their first client at eight in the morning and leave their last customer at seven at night. They don’t work weekends.

How about vacations?

Five weeks per year.

When salespeople travel, do they mostly travel by car?

About 80 percent use their cars to see their clients.

By the way, French salespeople are very proud of their cars. It’s a status symbol. However, given the great advances made by the French railroads, more and more salespeople are using the train. Air travel is mostly reserved for sales managers and company executives.

What does the French customer expect from a salesperson?

First, the client expects that the salesperson is thoroughly knowledgeable about the product or service he sells. For this reason, good salespeople have to be specialists in their field. Customers have to be able to trust the salesperson.

What techniques do you teach in your classes? Can we review some of the selling skills you cover in a typical training class?

The first thing salespeople learn in our seminars is that customers don’t buy technical features, but the corresponding benefits. For example, customers don’t buy an ABS breaking system, they buy the extra security. They don’t buy a suspension system, they buy driving comfort. We tell salespeople not to launch into a lengthy presentation about the product, but first find out what advantages the client is really looking for.

Second, salespeople need to stop selling products or service and start selling images. A good salesperson is like a mirror that reflects the customer’s ideas. In other words, a salesperson has to evoke those images that the customer is interested in. For example, customers don’t buy a Mercedes, they buy social success; they don’t buy a computer, they buy the idea of successful management; they all buy images. And the job of the salesperson is to find the image that interests his client. Once that is found, the product is sold automatically.

How did you develop your selling system?

I started my sales career selling cars. I was the best car salesman in France. I worked for Chrysler, then I went into management with Foucher-Lesieur (that’s a direct competitor of Procter & Gamble). Later I joined an advertising agency BBDO. Then I became president of Courrege, a high-fashion company. But throughout my career I’ve always had an interest in teaching. That’s why I started to conduct seminars at colleges. One day I decided to assemble all my ideas about selling and started my own sales training company and offered my services to company presidents around the country. I love teaching. Since a good salesperson is a happy, enthusiastic person, our seminars are fun, exciting and very challenging.

Was it difficult for you to get started?

I think that it is much easier to start a company in the United States. It’s the land of entrepreneurs. For example, very few French bankers help entrepreneurs. I was very confident, however, that I would succeed. I sensed the need in the market.

How many independent sales training companies are there in France?

About 2,000, but there are only about 20 who are really serious. Since I had developed a system of repeatable and very concrete steps to selling, I knew that I would succeed.

How many companies have you worked with?

During the past twelve years, we’ve worked with 5,800 companies in France, Switzerland and Belgium. We also conduct public seminars where we train about 4,000 salespeople a year. We pursue a policy of constant improvement. Every time we work with a client, we gain new experiences that help us improve our seminars. It is important to create a system that helps you learn from your experience. As you say in America, “If we don’t learn from our mistakes, we’re doomed to repeat them.”

How do French salespeople use high-tech sales tools?

There are very few salespeople who use a cellular telephone — less than two percent. This is mostly a tool for top executives. Using a car phone is very expensive in France.

How about FAX machines?

Every company uses a FAX machine in the office, but almost none are portables.

How about laptops?

In the field of distributor sales, many salespeople use handheld computers to take orders and modem the information to the factory. More and more salespeople in the field of technical sales are using laptops, but a large number of French salespeople still depend on a manual system to track their clients.

What about telemarketing?

There are certain types of products that sell well on the telephone, like subscriptions. In general, telemarketing is limited because companies don’t like to give up the personal contact with their clients. In several companies we work with, they have a telemarketing staff just to make appointments for their outside sales staff. It is fairly easy to sell appointments in France, but it is very difficult to sell products on the telephone.

How important is the business lunch in France?

In my opinion, it’s not a good idea to invite a prospect to lunch with the object of closing a sale. Lunch is great after you’ve closed the sale. It’s great to celebrate, to blow off steam and to cement the relationship. But let’s say if a salesman sells telephones, and he takes a prospect out to lunch, what does he really sell in the restaurant? He’ll end up selling food to the client, not telephones! To me, a business lunch is only good if it’s done after the sale has been concluded.

How about dinner invitations?

You have to know your customer very well before you can invite him to dinner. When a salesperson has worked with the client for a long period of time, it is possible to take an important client out to dinner. As you know, dining is an art form in France, it is taken very seriously. It is part of our mentality. We just don’t invite someone we don’t know to dinner.

For example, in the typical French restaurants that are known to the business traveler you’ll see many Japanese, a few Americans but not a single French salesperson.

What are some of the most important mistakes American business people make when they try to sell a French prospect?

The first thing that Americans try to do is to impose their point of view. The stereotypical American brags, “We are the greatest, we are the biggest,” etc. and continually imposes his way of seeing things. To us, this approach is a form of subtle aggression that we tend to reject instantly. The second problem is that most American businesspeople don’t speak French. This problem is compounded by the fact that most French people don’t speak English very well. Of course, a good interpreter can easily bridge the gap.

There are many American companies that have successfully adapted to the French market.

Absolutely, and they have earned a great deal of respect. Most large American companies employ perfectly bilingual French executives as CEOs to reduce the cross-cultural conflicts. There are many American companies that could do very well in France; however, they don’t make the investment to understand French business customs. Inevitably, they pick the wrong distributors, choose the wrong marketing tools and hire the wrong people. I think false pride prevents them from seeking expert advice.

So if you want to sell successfully in France, you have to start by understanding your customer and his environment.

Exactly. For example, when the American sales executive calls the head of a French company by his first name, the French executive won’t say a thing, but I can assure you, he won’t like it one bit. There are many little subtleties that escape the average American visitors and, if they don’t learn, they won’t sell. I am sure that this works both ways. If the French would be more adaptable, they would sell more in the United States.