Episode #102: How To Speak The Many Languages Of Sales To Your Clients

Why do so many salespeople still “talk at” clients instead of asking questions?

In many Japanese and multinational companies in Japan, sales meetings are still driven by presentations, not by conversations. Salespeople rush to explain their product, their company history, and their slides — and forget to deeply explore what the client actually cares about.

The result: clients feel “sold to,” not “understood.” Opportunities are missed, proposals miss the mark, and price becomes the main differentiator.

In this podcast episode, recorded live at the American Chamber of Commerce Chubu Branch session in Nagoya, we look at why even experienced sales professionals often lack formal training in questioning skills — and what leaders can do about it.

Mini-summary: Most salespeople are untrained in structured questioning, so they talk instead of listen, which weakens trust and reduces closing rates.

---

What is the real cost of poor questioning in sales?

When salespeople ask only superficial questions — or none at all — several problems appear:

• They misunderstand the client’s real priorities, risks, and constraints.

• They propose generic solutions that sound like every competitor’s pitch.

• They fail to uncover the emotional drivers behind the decision.

• They cannot build a strong business case that resonates with senior decision-makers.

Poor questioning leads directly to longer sales cycles, more “We need to think about it,” and more lost deals to competitors who listen better. For leaders responsible for revenue, this is not a soft skill; it is a hard business risk.

Mini-summary: Weak questioning leads to weak proposals, slower sales cycles, and more lost opportunities.

---

Why must salespeople change their language depending on who they talk to?

Even when salespeople do ask questions, many use the same language with everyone: technical buyers, end users, line managers, and senior executives. That is a critical mistake.

Different stakeholders care about different things:

• Executives listen for impact on revenue, risk, brand, and strategy.

• Line managers focus on efficiency, workload, and team performance.

• End users think about ease of use, practicality, and daily frustration.

• Technical experts look for compatibility, stability, and security.

If your team uses the same vocabulary and question style with all of them, important decision-makers will feel the conversation “does not speak their language.”

Mini-summary: To have maximum impact, salespeople must adapt both their questions and their wording to the role, priorities, and mindset of each stakeholder.

---

How can my sales team start asking high-impact questions in client meetings?

High-impact sales questions are:

• Open-ended – inviting the client to explain, not just say yes/no.

• Client-centered – focused on their situation, not your product.

• Progressive – moving from broad context to specific needs and risks.

• Impact-focused – connecting problems to business outcomes.

Examples of high-impact questions include:

• “What business results are you most focused on achieving this year?”

• “What is not working as well as you would like in your current approach?”

• “If this problem is not solved, what will it mean for your team and customers?”

• “How will you evaluate whether a new solution is successful?”

At Dale Carnegie, we help sales professionals practice these questions in realistic role-plays so they can use them naturally in real meetings with clients in Japan and across the region.

Mini-summary: Good sales questions are open, progressive, and impact-focused — and they must be practiced until they become a natural part of every client conversation.

---

How should we adjust our questioning style for executives vs. non-executives?

The same question, asked in a different way, can either open doors or close them. For example:

• With frontline users:

  “What frustrates you most about the current system in your daily work?”

• With middle management:

  “Where do you see bottlenecks or inefficiencies that slow your team down?”

• With executives:

  “Where do you see the biggest risk or lost opportunity if this area does not improve in the next 12 months?”

The core topic is the same, but the language shifts from personal frustration, to team performance, to strategic risk and opportunity. This is how skilled sales professionals create relevance at every level of the client organization.

Mini-summary: Effective salespeople adapt the same core question to match daily users, managers, and executives, using language that fits their priorities.

---

What did we explore in the live Nagoya session with the American Chamber?

In this live recording from a session with the American Chamber of Commerce Chubu Branch in Nagoya, we focused on three practical themes:

1. Everyone is in sales
   Whether your title is “sales” or not, you are selling ideas, projects, and initiatives every day — internally and externally.

2. Most people are untrained in questioning
   We highlighted how even experienced professionals rarely receive systematic training in how to structure questions that reveal true needs, motivations, and constraints.

3. Language flexibility multiplies influence
   We demonstrated how the same intention, expressed with different language, can create trust with different types of stakeholders and increase your impact in the room.

Mini-summary: The Nagoya session showed that modern business professionals must see themselves as influencers, learn structured questioning, and adapt their language to each audience.

---

How does Dale Carnegie’s global and Tokyo experience support sales teams in Japan?

Dale Carnegie has over 100 years of global experience in leadership, sales, presentation, executive coaching, and diversity, equity and inclusion. For more than 60 years in Tokyo, we have worked with both Japanese and multinational companies in Japan to:

• Build sales cultures based on trust, curiosity, and value creation.

• Train sales professionals to ask better questions and listen actively.

• Help teams adapt their communication style for global and local stakeholders.

• Strengthen relationships that lead to repeat business and long-term partnerships.

Our programs are designed for business professionals who need to influence across cultures, hierarchies, and functions — including in complex, high-stakes sales environments.

Mini-summary: With global heritage and decades of experience in Tokyo, Dale Carnegie helps sales teams in Japan master questioning skills and client-focused communication.

• Untrained questioning is a hidden revenue risk – Most salespeople have never been formally trained to ask strategic, impact-focused questions.

• Language must match the listener – Adapting your wording to executives, managers, users, and technical experts multiplies your influence.

• Better questions create better proposals – When your team deeply understands client needs, your solutions are more relevant, differentiated, and easier to approve.

• Sales conversations are a leadership opportunity – Every client meeting is a chance to demonstrate insight, empathy, and partnership – not just to present information.