Episode #227: Selling Online Forever

Online selling isn’t a temporary phase. It’s the new operating system for sales. The real question for leaders and salespeople is: are we adapting fast enough to win in this environment, especially in Japan?

The top three challenges haven’t changed — but online has intensified them:

1. Cold calling: still the hardest door to open, now with even fewer cues to guide the conversation.

2. Networking to find new clients: harder without in-person touchpoints, accidental meetings, and introductions.

3. Reaching the decision maker: more layers, more gatekeeping, and less chance to “bump into” influence.

Online selling removes travel inefficiency, but it also removes something more valuable: the natural relationship-building that happens face-to-face.
Mini-summary: Online sales boosts efficiency, but it raises the difficulty of trust-building, prospecting, and access to decision makers.

Why are existing clients easier to sell to online than new clients?

Existing clients already trust you. The relationship has enough history to survive a format change from in-person to screen-to-screen. When online became the only option, you could still serve them because the relational bank account was already funded.

New clients are different. Online makes first impressions fragile. Without history, trust must be built from zero, in real time, through a narrow channel.
Mini-summary: Online works with existing trust — but creating trust from scratch online requires new skills and more intentional time.

How do you build trust online with a completely new person?

You have to slow down before speeding up. In Japan especially, rushing into “business only” creates a purely transactional vibe. That kills trust early.

What works instead:

• Spend more time on warm-up talk (“shooting the breeze”) before shifting to agenda.

• Signal human interest first, competence second.

• Avoid over-indexing on “efficiency.” Efficient ≠ effective online.

When you skip this, the conversation falls into a muddy ditch of buyer-seller transaction: low care, low forgiveness, zero margin for error.
Mini-summary: Trust online grows through deliberate early rapport, not fast agendas — especially with new Japanese buyers.

What makes Japanese online sales meetings uniquely difficult?

Japanese buyers often start more stilted, formal, and cautious with people they don’t know. In face-to-face settings, non-verbal signals accommodate that stiffness. Online, those signals disappear, and uncertainty rises.

In Japan, when people feel unsure, the default response is often “do nothing.” “Do nothing” means “don’t buy.”

Foreign sellers sometimes get extra cultural slack via the gaijin (foreigner) card — but most sales teams here are Japanese, so they don’t have that buffer.
Mini-summary: Japanese buyers rely heavily on subtle non-verbal safety cues; online removes them, increasing caution and non-action.

Why do the first five minutes of an online meeting matter so much?

Because online meetings are closer to phone sales than in-person meetings:

• Body language is missing.

• Voice becomes the main trust signal.

• Buyers receive fewer cues to judge credibility and warmth.

The first five minutes decide whether the buyer relaxes into connection — or stays guarded and skeptical.
Mini-summary: In online meetings, trust is built (or lost) in the opening minutes because voice carries almost all meaning.

They need serious role-play repetition on:

• Opening rapport

• Transitioning from chit-chat to purpose

• Storytelling credibility bursts

• Handling early skepticism

Most teams practice this not enough. Daily or weekly coached role plays should be normal — not optional.
Mini-summary: Online selling demands coached role-play practice focused on openings, transitions, and credibility delivery.

How does storytelling bridge the buyer–seller trust gap online?

Storytelling compresses credibility into a human format. New buyers don’t know your value, so your story must earn attention fast — roughly 150 seconds max before attention fades.

Effective business storytelling includes:

• evidence

• credibility

• testimonials

• relevance to the buyer

• emotional clarity without exaggeration

This is especially vital for multicultural selling in 日本企業 (Japanese companies) and 外資系企業 (multinational companies), where trust rules differ but still start emotionally, not logically.
Mini-summary: Storytelling makes credibility feel real in limited online time, and it’s essential for first meetings in Japan.

Each solution needs a short “why trust this” history — framed as value, not a lecture. Example structure:

• origin problem

• why the method works

• years of improvement (kaizen (continuous improvement))

• present-day proof

Example idea (paraphrased for clarity):
Dale Carnegie began public sales training when he saw a market gap. Over decades, the method evolved through continuous improvement into today’s relationship-selling programs. That’s compact trust.

The goal: 25 seconds of credibility density — not self-praise.
Mini-summary: A solution story should be a tight value-history that signals reliability fast, not a long legacy speech.

What does this mean for sales leaders in Tokyo today?

Online is permanent. So the sales approach must be recalibrated at team level, not left to individuals to “figure out.”

What leaders should drive:

• group brainstorming on best opening formulas

• shared story frameworks

• role-play cadence with feedback

• consistent trust-building language

This is now foundational for 営業研修 (sales training), especially in 東京 (Tokyo) where competition for attention and trust is intense.

Mini-summary: Leaders must systematize online trust-building via shared practice, stories, and coaching — not improvisation.

• Online sales increases efficiency but raises the trust barrier for new clients.

• In Japan, the first five minutes online can decide everything — voice replaces body language.

• Role play and coached practice are the fastest way to level up online selling.

• Credibility storytelling (short, tight, value-history) is essential for first meetings.

Founded in the U.S. in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has supported individuals and companies worldwide for over a century in leadership, sales, presentation, executive coaching, and DEI. Our Tokyo office, established in 1963, has been empowering both Japanese and multinational corporate clients ever since.