Why cultural awareness training is necessary before doing business in Europe?

Why cultural awareness training is necessary before doing business in Europe?

Developing strong business relationships is not really an easy thing to do. However, loosing your customers’ trust could be a very fast process if not managed properly. Compared to this, driving a Lamborghini or Ferrari on a German highway could be considered as very slow!

Creating the ideal “working together” when facing your own team or your clients could be a cumbersome thing.

It’s quite strange to understand that many companies are still not aware of the importance of local business culture. Far too often this crucial element is still treated like a “soft animal” and so not on top of the priority list.

Like every continent, Europe is full of “things to know”. With its complex structure and variety of people and countries it would be very challenging to use the terminology of European business. You can only make that failure once!

Interested to know some reasons why cultural awareness training is necessary before doing business in Europe?

“Listen very carefully; I shall say this only once”:

Europe does not exist All Europeans are truly different No single country is 100 % comparable to one another Even talking the same languages (linguistically) is not a guarantee for “equal minds” Sensitivity has a different value everywhere The voice and speech tone could distract you Some countries have an invisible wall to protect themselves The word and decision of the boss has a different value comparing country A to B People could just love or truly hate your jeans trousers Time to decide is something quite relative (like Einstein’s theory) Taking initiatives and risks changes from West to East and from North to South Political influences do probably exist everywhere but not all will tell you What people would do for money is far different in the East Lunches and dinners are or ”very important” or “for the stomach only” Many people speak many languages but not in every country Some countries can be “clustered” as more or less “comparable souls” Corruption is a national sport in many countries but ssssstttthhhh The climate stresses or embraces people Often “who you know” is more important than “what you know” The level of service is not always what you expect People are usually friendly but not everywhere and always Big behavior differences do even exist within smaller countries Only some local laws and regulations are truly common European Some countries have “silent trains” where you are not allowed to speak J Many cities have their own “brand” and high specialty

You need to create your business and communication strategy on a country-basis! Unless you would assume that a German business meeting would be similar to a French one.

So in conclusion, cultural awareness training is absolutely necessary before doing business in Europe?

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