As a native Greek speaker I often feel the frustrations of domainers attempting to engage in international sales.
English might be the language of commerce, however it’s not necessarily spoken or fully understood by everyone.
Many times, the exchange can lead to misunderstandings, particularly when the style and tone of a written communication is either overly formal or overly casual.
The solution is to communicate in the buyer’s own language, when trying to establish a sizable sale.
Usually, a buyer is pleasantly surprised when communication arrives in their language, such as Spanish, Italian, French, German, Arabic, Dutch, Russian, Greek or Mandarin Chinese.
There are many ways to reach out to a potential buyer and the language barrier – along with the price negotiation – is one important element of your selling strategy.
Use it to your advantage by hiring a professional copywriter fluent in that particular language, in order to accurately convey your message.
*
Americans are notoriously monolingual, so this is good advice.
Too bad our public schools are so lacking when it comes to foreign languages–that, more than anything else, will be our downfall.
When I lived overseas, I was fortunate that my colleagues in my host country were very understanding, but, still, I often felt like an ignorant bumpkin.
I did pick up the language (somewhat), and I did begin to understand some of the cultural norms (also important). But most of the people around me spoke 3 and 4 languages.
*
Several weeks ago I had an inquiry on a Spanish domain. The English was broken so I responded in both English and Spanish. The communication continued in English. It turned out the buyer was Chinese (living in Beijing) but was buying a Spanish domain name. Then a few weeks later I had a potential buyer interested in another Spanish domain. However, the buyer wasn’t interested in it because of its Spanish meaning but because of its Portuguese meaning (inquiry came from a Brazilian domain investor). The offer was low $xxxx but this particular domain was one I was in no rush to sell so we didn’t come to an agreement.
Where there’s a will –there’s a way. Translation websites help to bridge the gap.
More than language, I find that culture plays a part. I would point to China as the #1 example. I have had nothing but problems with Chinese buyers who seem to totally disregard “Western” rules of honoring business commitments. It often feels as if there is no end to the negotiations.
Very true. However getting it right is vital since nothing looks worse than contacting someone in their language but making mistakes that make you look stupid. Therefore a professional translation copywriter is a much better option than a quick Google translate copy & paste 😉