Episode #160: Nine Major Mistakes By Japanese Salespeople

Many leaders in 日本企業 (Japanese companies) and 外資系企業 (multinational companies) across 東京 (Tokyo) tell us the same thing: “Our products are strong, but our sales results don’t match the potential.”

Japan is a modern, high-tech market — yet consultative selling remains uneven. Cultural habits like avoiding conversations with strangers or prioritizing harmony over directness can quietly sabotage performance. The result? Salespeople stay busy, but growth stalls.

Below are the nine most common weaknesses companies report in their Japanese sales teams — and what professional 営業研修 (sales training) can do to close each gap.

Japanese salespeople often prefer familiar relationships and avoid uncertainty. Risk aversion can make prospecting feel uncomfortable, so they stick with “safe” accounts.

What to do about it:
Leaders need measurement systems and incentives that reward new client acquisition, not only revenue from existing customers. Training should also build confidence in approaching unknown buyers with structure and purpose.

Mini-summary:
If growth matters, prospecting has to be measured, rewarded, and trained — not left to chance.

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2. Why do salespeople pitch products without understanding buyer needs?

Many reps dive straight into catalogs and specifications. But without discovery, they can’t know what the buyer actually values — so they “sell yellow” when the buyer wants blue.

What to do about it:
Consultative selling starts with curiosity. Sales training must rewire meetings around identifying needs before proposing solutions.

Mini-summary:
A pitch without needs-discovery is guesswork, not selling.

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3. Why don’t salespeople ask permission before questioning buyers?

In Japan, direct questioning can feel intrusive to buyers, so salespeople avoid it. Worse, they copy seniors who never asked questions either.

What to do about it:
Salespeople must learn how to request permission naturally and respectfully before asking deeper questions. This is a learnable communication skill.

Mini-summary:
Permission-based questioning is the cultural bridge to real discovery in Japan.

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4. Why do buyers control the entire sales conversation?

Because salespeople don’t know how to guide the discussion, meetings drift into buyer-led interrogation. Respect for the customer becomes surrender of control.

What to do about it:
By securing permission to ask questions and steering toward outcomes, salespeople can keep conversations balanced and productive.

Mini-summary:
Respect is vital — but control of the process is non-negotiable for closing.

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5. Why do salespeople fail to uncover real buyer needs?

Without structured discovery, needs remain surface-level or unknown. And you can’t hit a target you never define.

What to do about it:
Training must teach specific frameworks for uncovering explicit needs, hidden pain points, and decision criteria.

Mini-summary:
No needs → no target → no sale. Discovery is the foundation.

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6. Why do salespeople get stuck on specs instead of value?

Specs are easy to explain, but buyers don’t purchase specs — they purchase outcomes. Many reps stop at features, or maybe benefits, but rarely connect those benefits to business impact.

What to do about it:
Salespeople must learn to:

1. translate spec → benefit,

2. show how that benefit applies to the buyer’s world,

3. prove it with evidence,

4. confirm interest through a trial close.

Mini-summary:
Value selling means proving impact, not reciting features.

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7. Why are objections handled so poorly?

Japanese reps hear the same objections as everywhere else (“too expensive,” “not now”), but lack tools to respond. On-the-job training rarely covers objection craft at a professional level.

What to do about it:
Professional sales training teaches how to clarify objections, respond with value, and keep momentum without confrontation.

Mini-summary:
Objection handling separates amateurs from professionals.

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8. Why do salespeople drop price too quickly?

Discounting feels like an easy escape from tension — and culturally, it can seem polite. But it destroys margins and signals weak value.

What to do about it:
Teach reps how to defend value, reframe pricing conversations, and negotiate without defaulting to discounts.

Mini-summary:
Discounting is not the strategy — it’s the symptom of weak value conversations.

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9. Why don’t salespeople ask for the order?

Many meetings end vaguely because the rep never clearly requests a decision. Fear of rejection and cultural hesitation make closing feel risky.

What to do about it:
Sales training builds closing confidence and teaches respectful, clear ways to ask for commitment.

Mini-summary:
If you don’t ask, you don’t get — closing must be practiced, not hoped for.

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• Consultative selling is still under-developed in Japan, but highly trainable.

• The biggest gaps are prospecting, discovery, value-selling, objection handling, and closing.

• Cultural traits can be respected without sacrificing sales professionalism.

• Structured 営業研修 (sales training) gives teams repeatable skills that drive measurable growth.

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