Designing Country Culture into Your Global Experience

A dull and awkward presentation in Singapore many years ago taught me an important life lesson: One must know the local culture when presenting an experience to people to evoke the desired response. In this case, I didn't realize it was going to be different to presenting in the USA or UK. So, I kept asking for audience participation like I usually do and hearing crickets in response. It was a long morning.

Many organizations with a global presence have probably had a similar situation; what works in one country does not in another. You present your carefully planned and executed Customer Experience from Country A, where it is a wild success, roll it out in Country B, and you get nothing but crickets back. 

The good news is that you don't have to keep having this problem. The most successful global organizations know that an overarching strategy is essential, but so are relevant and localized tactics to achieve success. Once I adapted my expectations in Singapore, the presentation went well (i.e., no crickets). You can do the same with your customer experience.

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

In this episode, we discuss the realities of having the same emotional outcome when having Customer Experiences within different countries. The foundational elements of the process will remain the same. However, once you implement the experience you have defined for your organizations, you must adopt the tactics to reflect the country's culture where your customers live. Perhaps most importantly, you need to recognize that localized management and ownership will be the key to your success. 

Here are some highlights of the discussion:

• 03:50 – We introduce the key idea behind a Customer Experience Statement and using it internationally.
• 09:40 – Colin explains the 20 emotions that drive and destroy value and how that applies to the tactics you use for different cultures.
• 15:31– We discuss these ideas' practical applications for organizations, starting with a general step-by-step plan for segmentation.
• 18:15 – We discuss the importance of diversity in the global team and management representation.
• 20:16- We suggest that many of these nuanced differences are noticed by and affect the subconscious.
• 21:51 – We explain our recommended actions and the critical nature of measuring your results in your efforts to adapt locally.

Customer Experience Information & Resources

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LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC , which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on Linkedin and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

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