Having spent almost two years in England as a student, I am pleased to see that this website lists all the important cultural characteristics of the British people. Businessculture.org is a powerful tool for students, business people and individuals who are looking for a helpful resource to communicate with other European citizens face-to-face or via the Internet.
Being French myself, I found all the typical French cultural characteristics and the requirements for a good negotiation or communication with French people. Saying “bonjour”, shaking hands, being on time… as many other elements that are so important in France and that you need to learn and be aware of when in France!
I experienced myself the difficulties related to differences between English and French ways to communicate during my several trips. Knowing how people react or act can be really helpful in many situations when you are in a new country and dealing with other business cultures!
This website will drive your success in communication in Europe. I am happy to finally find out a useful and ergonomic tool to run my business projects and encourage you to have a look (and more!) on this great website.
There are around 10 million active Twitter users in the UK which equates to 20.8% of UK internet users, with that number set to grow to 26.6% by 2017. With that many people actively talking on Twitter it’s likely very likely that your target market is also talking about products or services that your business sells; right now even, not too far from your doorstep.
If you cut through all the noise and listen to the right conversations taking place locally on Twitter, you have the opportunity to introduce yourself and convert that local customer into a sale. This method can be gold dust for businesses that only serve customers within a particular area. It’s easier than you think and I’m going to show you how it’s possible using Hootsuitein less than 15 minutes.
Set the scene…
Let’s say you’ve opened up a new clothes shop on Market Street in Manchester and you sell clothes that appeal to 18 to 34 year olds. I’ve deliberately chosen this example as Twitter penetration is the highest amongst this age demographic.If you know Manchester at all you’ll know there are plenty of clothes shops in this area and competition is fierce – all the more reason to listen out for local customers on Twitter and stay one step ahead of your competitors.
Start the timer…
Step 1 – Find your location/co-ordinates
Go to http://maps.google.co.uk, enter your address in the search bar and click the search button.
Once the page has loaded with the map displaying your location, right click on the pin and select ‘What’s here’. In the search field, the latitude and longitude co-ordinates of your location (or very close to your location) should now appear – like in the screenshot below.
Copy these co-ordinates to your clipboard, you’ll need them for step 3.
Step 2 – Brainstorm customer conversations
In this step, you need to put yourself in the mindset of your customers and think of phrases they would use when considering or looking to buy something that you sell. In our clothes shop example we’d probably be interested in someone saying “I need to buy some new clothes this weekend” in their tweet. Now, everybody’s tweet will be somewhat different so we need to pick out the main keywords people would use. To start, note down a couple of keywords that demonstrate buying intent and a keyword phrase that relates to a product or service you sell. Keep things simple and broad to start with.
In our clothes shop example we could start with these buying intent keywords: “buy” & “need”
And this product keyword phrase: “new clothes”
This will be an on going process and one that you keep fine tuning as you get used to how the advanced search operators work (which I’ll come to shortly), and the more you understand which keywords your potential customers use on Twitter.
Step 3 – Add a stream in Hootsuite combining step 1 and 2
If you haven’t already, register for a free basic plan with Hootsuite. Once logged in you’ll be taken to your dashboard which will have a column saying ‘Add stream’ with various icons to choose from. Click on the ‘Search’ icon.
You’ll be presented with a search field which is where you combine steps 1 and 2 to find those local customers. Using our new clothes shop example we would enter the keywords, buy “new clothes” (new clothes with the quotation marks), then the text, geocode: then paste the geo-location coordinates, 53.482651,-2.241073 directly after the colon, no space. Then add the search radius you want to cover, 40km. If you aren’t sure of what radius to cover then use this free tool for a visualisation.
The finished search query should look something like this:
Click search to see your results. Below is an actual screenshot of the stream at the time of writing this post.
As you can see, there are people within the Manchester area actively talking about wanting to buy new clothes every single day. Granted, there’s going be the odd tweet that’s irrelevant but there will always be sales opportunity tweets worth acting on.
14 mins 37 secs – Stop the timer! That’s how you find new local customers in less than 15 minutes! 🙂
Before I get into some best practices about acting on those tweets let me explain a couple of advanced search operators (rules that you can apply to streams in order to filter them) that you can use to improve the relevancy of your location based search streams.
Broad keyword searches
This is the most basic search where you simply enter any keywords in any order and the stream will fetch back tweets that contain those words in any order.
Exact keyword searches
Wrapping quotation marks around two or more words will fetch back tweets that contain those exact words in the exact order you entered them.
OR searches
Putting OR in between two keywords or phrases will fetch back tweets that mention one keyword or key phrase, or both.
Negative keywords
You can filter out keywords by putting a negative sign (-) directly in front of keywords. Tweets containing the negative keywords won’t be shown. A couple I recommend you try are -http and -RT. These are really helpful if you are seeing a lot irrelevant tweets with links in and/or seeing the same tweet twice or more because of retweets.
Click on the image below to see how the different search operators filter out certain tweets and as a result display somewhat different streams.
CLICK TO ZOOM IN
There are other advanced search operators at your disposal but the ones covered in this post will do the job intended. If you do wish to read about the other search operators then I recommend you read this well put together post by Dan Wilkerson.
As mentioned in step 2, fine tuning your searches will be an on-going process (you can edit your searches by clicking on the downwards arrow at the top of each stream). For the ‘new clothes shop’ example I would probably get more specific and create streams for searches like need “new jacket” or shopping “new shoes”. Have a play around with different keywords and the different search operators until you have a row of streams that drip feed, potentially, new local customers 24/7.
Introducing yourself
So, you’ve got all these people showing an interest in the things you sell but how do you introduce yourself without sounding like a desperate salesperson? Really it’s all about trial and error, but because these people are already showing a desire to buy in their tweet then you can get away with being a tad salesy. There’s no ‘one magic tweet for all’ but there a few of things you should always look to do: Check out the persons bio & tweets, respond like a human, offer help and/or make them aware of any money saving offers you have – who doesn’t like to save money when shopping for new clothes?
Below are some examples of how you could respond to some of the tweets from our [buy “new clothes”] search above.
Prospect: “In serious need of some new clothes… Not liking a thing in my wardrobe at the min”
Reply: We know the feeling! Must be time for a belated spring-clean and a new dress…[Link to dresses]
Prospect: “winter is just an excuse for me to buy new clothes”
Reply: “It certainly is. Don’t forget the cable knit jumper though! We currently have 25% off our jumper range [link to offer] ”
Prospect: “Using my student loan to buy new clothes yay! :)”
Reply: “Exciting! We offer a great student discount if you need an extra helping hand : )”
Prospect: “Come on Friday – Pay Day! Need new clothes!!!”
Reply: If you’re off out to celebrate we have a gorgeous printed trouser/white shirt combo in stock! [Link to combo]”
Take inspiration from the examples above and don’t be afraid to try out new things. Don’t however, send tweet after tweet trying to lure prospects in, keep your tweets varied!
Limitations
Although this can be an invaluable technique, there are some limitations to it. In order for location based tweets to show, a user has to have their location enabled for tweets in the settings turned on. If they don’t then Twitter will look for a users’ location in their profile bio and use that location instead. This can cause problems by showing tweets from people who live in one area but are actually tweeting in another area many miles away. Also, if a users’ location on their profile bio is not filled in then their tweets will never show for location based searches.
This method can be tailored to most businesses, including yours. Listening and responding to people on Twitter who need you for specific things is a natural way to build brand loyalty, capture leads and acquire new customers. I hope you found this post useful, do let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below.
I am writing this article to convey my congratulations regarding the Passport to Trade 2.0 project. Having reviewed the website and the content regarding Ireland in particular, I can see this acting as a fantastic resource for many people.
In my own experience engaging with international communities, I have found that understanding the unique culture and national identity of individuals can play a key role in forming successful relationships. In fact, I have found that by quickly acclimatising oneself to the predominant social and business culture of a particular country, a good working relationships can be quickly formed.
In my opinion, the resources offered by Passport to Trade 2.0 provide an accurate and well-rounded representation of Ireland as both a place to work and live. In particular the advice provided regarding business etiquette and taboo subjects is a very informative.
The Irish people take pride in being polite and politically correct. This pride is rooted in the economic history of Ireland where agriculture and construction were the principal economic activities in the country prior to the recent Celtic Tiger economic boom. Both of these industries rely heavily on both teamwork and respecting a hierarchy of command. As such a culture of respect for your fellow man and respect for authority is pervasive in Irish culture today.
Passport to Trade 2.0 also offers an insight into how the Irish combine their work and social lives, with the local pub traditionally known as a place for both socialising and networking. The famous Irish Poet and Writer Oscar Wilde once said: “I can resist everything but temptation”, while this stereotype has habitually been associated with social life in Ireland, Passport to Trade 2.0 accurately portrays the place of the local pub in Irish culture.
For many people, the most difficult aspect of adapting to a new culture, is overcoming pre-conceived ideas of what a given culture should be. This process can be fraught with opportunities to make missteps that can create unintentional anxiety. The success of Passport to Trade 2.0 lies in how it can provide individuals with the tools they need to move beyond their pre-conceived ideas of what a country should be to what it actually is.
I would recommend this resource to anyone interested in forming relationships with Irish businesses, or anyone interested in working in Ireland.
Once again I would like to convey my congratulations to all the team involved in producing this fantastic resource.
Culture influences how people interact with each other. In the business world, culture guides decision-making, behaviour, thinking patterns and values. However, it seems to be one of the least understood aspects of international commerce.
Each country has a unique personality and national characteristics so in order to understand these distinctions there is a great need of raising awareness about international business culture.
Passport to Trade 2.0 Project is one of the tools that help businesses to overcome this culture barrier through specific resources and guides.
One of the countries that Passport to Trade 2.0 Project focuses on is Lithuania. It provides all needed information on Lithuanian business culture from how to make business connections to official meetings. The project gives a valid and concentrated overview of communication culture, what to avoid and how to act in different situations as a businessman. Specifically, these tips and tricks allow opening a business conversation that leads to loyal relationship.
“Loyalty and respect play a significant role in building business relationship in Lithuania, so fostering Lithuania’s national values and adapting them is undoubtedly important.”
However, international business culture advice is not the only sector Passport to Trade 2.0 focuses on. It also provides a clear view of possible education opportunities, living arrangements and social media guides. Lithuania is a small, but very innovative and tech savvy country with endless opportunities:
Passport to Trade 2.0 is a great resource that allows familiarising with country’s national culture and values whether you are looking to study and make business there. Learn more about business culture in Lithuania.
In 1976 Raymond Williams famously observed ‘culture’ as “one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language”. And yet the evidence of culture is something that is all around us constantly. To make matters more complex most of us are also aware of the presence of different cultures or at least culture differences. Sometimes we are aware of snippets of advice about interacting with other cultures such as “Always wait to shake hands” or “Never use first names at the first introduction”. The advice is often wooly can sound like a piece of folklore. Worryingly the advice that we hear in this way can sometimes be completely incorrect.
All of this can appear amusing and is the source of many jokes for stand-up comedians. With the added dimension of trying to conduct transnational business any misunderstanding and the potential to cause offence can become very real and represent a loss of millions of pounds (or euros). Add in the further complexity of social media where the traditional visual cues of a gesture or a tone are lost and you could be excused for wondering how business is ever successfully conducted internationally.
These are exactly the concerns that the EU-funded Passport to Trade 2.0 project tackles through its businessculture.org website. The site contains a range of free resources that covers the basics of conducting business across cultures as well as a series of countries guides for the member states of the European Union.
A unique element of businessculture.org is the attention to the social media differences that exist between countries and the importance of recognising how these differences can have an impact on doing business. A quick scan of the social media entry for Portugal reveals a very different landscape to say the UK or Finland. Usefully there are also pointers to social networks that will not be familiar to the uninitiated. Star Tracker was certainly a new one to me. Reading the entry for Portugal also reminded me of the need to consider of age and access issues within individual countries. A combination of issues that has become almost entirely assumed in the UK and elsewhere.
Businessculture.org is useful for the broadest range of activities too. Reading through the entry for Sweden finally explained to me why everyone was so well-dressed at an end-of-day conference session a few years ago.
The Passport to Trade 2.0 project is never going to help clarify the definition of ‘culture’ but then that luckily isn’t its purpose. As a tool for encouraging business and to help SMEs to explore European markets you can’t really go past this free resource.
And yes, language is an important dimension of culture. Businessculture.org is offered in nine different languages that represents the geographic span of Europe. I am almost embarrassed to say that I can only confirm the merits of the English content.
