Tokyo, Japan – “People’s basic behavior is the same everywhere,” explains Shozo Mori, president of Nippon Wilson Learning, sipping green Japanese tea in his elegant, yet strikingly simple Tokyo headquarters office. Last year, Nippon Wilson Learning delivered $67 million worth of management, sales and service training programs worldwide. While the company operates in 25 countries, the majority of its sales come from Japan, the United States and Europe. Twelve years ago Mori-san, as he is referred to by his staff, started a Japanese subsidiary of Wilson Learning. He was so successful in selling global sales training services to Japanese companies that last year he and his partners bought out the U.S. parent company form John Wiley and Sons.

Besides his superb selling abilities, Mori-san is driven by his company’s mission to “help people and organizations become as much as they can be.” According to his vision, “Five years from now there will be no more geographic boundaries in this business. We are all world citizens depending on each other.” He sees his own company growing in the new borderless world through global training services and a yet-to-be developed global satellite communications service network.

The Steps To Sales Success

“We all have the same basic qualities, “emphasizes Mori-san “These don’t depend on race or color. To be successful in selling globally, we need to stress our common base. Once we’ve agreed on that common base, it will become easy to identify the differences and then we can be successful in working on these differences.”

Mori-san’s organization has delivered sales and customer care training programs to such global companies as IBM, DuPont, Toyota, Dow Chemical, BMW, The Bank of Tokyo, Sony and many more. Here is his blueprint for a globally successful method for selling:

* DATABASE MARKETING:

Companies need to cultivate a database of prospective customers and prepare it for the salesperson’s use.

* CALL PREPARATION;

Salespeople should investigate the details of the customer’s business before scheduling a personal visit.

* OPENING PHASE:

During the initial contact, it is important to make a good first impression and behave courteously. Without establishing trust and credibility it is impossible to make a sale.

* IDENTIFYING CUSTOMER NEEDS:

The salesperson should achieve a good understanding of the customer’s situation, needs, problems and priorities.

* THE SALES PRESENTATION:

Effective salespeople tailor the solution to the customer’s problems to the personality or buying style of the customer. always offer creative alternatives and be flexible in your approach.

* THE CLOSE:

Always encourage the customer to make a decision and review the benefits for making the decision.

* FOLLOW UP:

Always make a special effort to preserve a long-term relationship with your customer.

These key steps to sales success are taught in The Counselor Salesperson course worldwide. One of the many global training clients is Nissan Motors. Last year, Nippon Wilson Learning created a customized course called Taking Charge of Customer Care which translates Nissan’s corporate mission statement into specific, daily behaviors. The video based, interactive training program has been carefully adapted to each country’s culture and language, yet the basic core behavior towards a Nissan Motors customer follows the same international standard.

Managing A Multi-National Company

With global competition comes the need for better global understanding and cooperation. As a borderless manager, Mori-san would like to see greater teamwork between nations. He sees the need for a common language and a new sense of fairness. He points out that for all worldwide meetings starting in 1993 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. plans to use English as their common language.

In Mori-san’s view, a multi-national company works best when everyone is allowed to participate. “I want this company to be everyone’s company,” he explains. “A company where ideas are shared, where employees own stock in the company, and where management is sensitive to the local culture. Italians work like Italians and they manage the company the way Italian companies are managed. Also, we reinvest the profits into the local business. This way both the local employees and the local customers benefit.”

Mori-san’s innovative concepts show in the way he manages his Japanese headquarters. To promote teamwork and to increase communications between the members of each team, every morning at 8:45 a.m. in each department employees stand in a circle where everyone shares briefly what they are going to do that day. Thanks to this quick, mutual, orientation meeting everyone knows what everyone else is working on. this promotes teamwork and keeps people focused.

According to Mori-san, new advance sin the communication industry will bring the world even closer together. The technology already exists to deliver information and training programs to every country in the world in English together with subtitles in the local language. He plans to have his company involved in the area of satellite communications and sees room for an expansion of his business in that field during the next 10 years.

Why Japan Is Globally Competitive

Increased globalization will spawn the need for more learning and greater cultural flexibility. He sees 10 years’ worth of tough challenges ahead for Japan. The fact the Japan has few natural resources worries many business leaders. The dependency on other nations for very basic necessities is one of the driving forces behind Japan’s international expansion. Mori-san explains, “In Japan, people are the main national resource. But with land prices at an all-time high, younger people can’t afford their own homes, the housing industry in the Tokyo area is bound to suffer, and many supporting industries will shrink. Japanese companies are already growing faster outside Japan and the trend to build more factories overseas will continue.”

Like many Japanese, Mori-san is curious about the Western culture and often visits his United States and European training companies. “The Japanese still look up to the Western lifestyle,” he confesses, “that’s why the Japanese have such a desire to learn more.”

The United States Vs. Japan

As an international manager, Mori-san feels that although Japan is economically better off than the U.S., America is still the world’s political leader. He explains, “Americans are good at taking the leadership role. Look at the Persian Gulf situation. Japan has a tendency not to assume global leadership. We look at America first and wait to see what America is going to do.” He feels that the Japanese culture promotes group harmony and de-emphasizes individualism.

What could Americans learn from the Japanese approach to business/ Mori-san smiles diplomatically, “American business is already doing a good job in the area of quality, but with better teamwork, business productivity would improve. When you have 10 people working on a job where they work as separate individuals, your result will only equal 10, but if you have 10 people working together as a team, then the result you will bet is 10 plus a factor we call alpha. A team brings something extra within each individual that explains the Alpha factor.” His company is preparing a course on teamwork for release in the American market.

In his view, the Japanese are more mission-driven as a team and Americans tend to be more results-driven as individuals. He sees shortcomings in the old Japanese corporate structure with its rigid hierarchy. Says Mori-san, “When I look at people, I don’t look at their ages, I look at their performances and their potential. Mori-san would like American managers to become more sensitive to the Japanese culture: “Many Americans say that they want to learn from Japan but most of the time they seem unwilling to take the time to understand how our culture works.”

Solving People Problems

How does Mori-san handle people problems? “The first thing to do,” he says, “is to separate the facts from the emotions. It’s tough, but we have to practice it every day. We teach problem solving in our company and within our client organizations. Our concept is to discuss everything openly. We need to develop the capacity to deal with reality and to accept it as our daily challenge.”

Mori-san’s biggest challenge involved a surprise resignation of seven executives in his headquarters organization. He explained: “At that time we had a staff of only 40 people; I was shocked when I heard the news. They all lined up in my office and aired their complaints. After listening to them, I realized that they had different values from what we had established and I had to accept the fact that they would leave.” How did Mori-san handle the challenge of losing over 17 percent of his staff? “I tried to think of this as an opportunity and we got everyone together and everyone agreed that we all had to make an extra effort. That extra effort resulted in a 40 percent increase in sales, the largest increase in sales we’ve ever experienced.”

Work Attitudes

A guided tour of Nippon Wilson’s Tokyo headquarters, located in a modern office building in a prestigious area, showed the company’s commitment to high-tech solutions that enhance human performance. Nippon Wilson Learning uses video and computer technology to make learning more fun, memorable and action oriented. At 8 p.m. most of the executives were still busy at work. Mori-san’s team works an average 10-hour day. After-hours discussions with headquarters employees revealed mission-driven, consensus-managed and meaning-motivated people.

Mori-san is very concerned with fulfillment: “When I walk around our office, I try to relate to each person. It is important to be available, to listen and to hear them out. Are they having fun? Are they happy with what they are doing? Are they finding meaning in their work?” He is proud that his company is profitable and growing steadily.

Keeping in line with his company’s goals, Mori-san practices what his company preaches. Besides playing golf and skiing, he works out in a gym twice a week and loves spending time with his family. Among his personal heroes, Mori-san admires Mr. Honda for his personal interest in his employees and John F. Kennedy for his courage and leadership and both for their down-to-earth wisdom and vision of a borderless world.

If the ambitions demonstrated by his heroes act as a guide to Mori-san’s future, within the next 10 years Nippon Wilson Learning may well become the billion dollar training and communications company that Mori-san envisions.