Episode #244: The Craziness Of Sales In Japan

Why do many highly capable Japanese teams still underperform in sales by Western benchmarks?

Japan is world-class at precision, trust, and customer experience—yet many leaders in 日本企業 (Japanese companies) and 外資系企業 (multinational/foreign-affiliated companies) notice a gap in “sales professionalism” compared with North America or Europe. The paradox is real: a country that runs the Shinkansen (bullet train) with near-perfect punctuality often relies on vague closes, rapid discounting, and product-spec pitches instead of value-based conversations.

This page breaks down nine recurring cultural patterns we’ve observed through 営業研修 (sales training) in 東京 (Tokyo) since 1963—then shows how to upgrade them without fighting Japanese business culture.

Mini-summary: Japan’s business strengths can inadvertently create sales blind spots; understanding the cultural mechanics is the first step to improving results.

Japanese business settings tend to prioritize harmony, risk avoidance, and respect for hierarchy. These are advantages in operations and service quality, but they also influence selling in predictable ways:

• Avoiding direct “no” to preserve face

• Prioritizing certainty and zero-defect thinking

• Viewing the buyer as an authority figure rather than a partner

• Preferring detailed specs over benefit narratives

Mini-summary: The same cultural values that make Japan safe and reliable can also suppress assertive closing and consultative selling.

Why is “asking for the order” often avoided?

In many Japanese sales conversations, leaving outcomes intentionally vague protects both sides from embarrassment. Because saying “no” is culturally uncomfortable, sellers often don’t explicitly invite a decision. The result: long cycles, ambiguous next steps, and opportunities that quietly expire.

A consultative close in Japan must feel respectful and non-confrontational, but still clear.

Mini-summary: Clarity can coexist with politeness; the close should be explicit while preserving face.

A common reflex when meeting resistance is a rapid price drop (often around 20%). Instead of defending value, sellers use price as the safest lever to reduce tension fast. In Western terms, this is a default objection-handling strategy rather than a last resort.

Training needs to reframe objections as information and teach value-anchoring language that feels culturally safe.

Mini-summary: Discounting is often an emotional safety move; sellers need tools to explain value without escalating tension.

Many sellers position the buyer not as a “King” but a “God”—someone to be obeyed rather than engaged as a peer. This makes it hard to challenge assumptions, explore needs, or negotiate terms. Base-salary compensation and modest commission culture can reinforce this passivity.

A healthier frame is “trusted advisor”: respectful, prepared, and confident enough to guide.

Mini-summary: When buyers are treated as absolute authority, sellers won’t negotiate or diagnose needs effectively.

Sellers often arrive with catalogs or decks and walk through data line-by-line. They rarely “rise above the spec waterline” to explain outcomes: why the spec matters, what it enables, and how it links to the buyer’s goals.

In consultative selling, specs support the story—but benefits drive decisions.

Mini-summary: Specs are necessary but not sufficient; benefits and application create perceived value.

Why is needs analysis frequently skipped?

Jumping into product detail before asking questions is surprisingly normal in Japan. Sellers may fear that asking about problems could seem rude or presumptuous.

A simple cultural adaptation fixes this: ask permission to ask questions. Once buyers grant permission, discovery becomes natural and welcome.

Mini-summary: The issue isn’t curiosity—it’s cultural etiquette; permission unlocks effective discovery.

How does buyer-controlled conversation shape the sales process?

Buyers often demand a full pitch upfront, then dismantle it to remove risk. Japanese buyers are famously risk-averse, reflecting a “zero-error” business culture. Sellers become reactive, moving from pitch → objections → silence.

A more effective approach is co-creation: structured discovery, shared criteria, and stepwise agreement.

Mini-summary: Without a joint process, sellers become followers; consultative structure restores balance.

Why do sellers prefer farming over hunting?

Many Japanese sales teams focus heavily on existing clients. Prospecting is often outsourced to brand reputation, inbound demand, or senior relationships. Proactive “hunter” behavior feels risky and socially uncomfortable.

Building confident prospecting habits requires skill practice plus permission-based outreach systems.

Mini-summary: Farming dominates because it’s safer; hunting grows when prospecting feels skillful and culturally appropriate.

Teaching sellers to say, in effect:
“May I ask a few questions to understand your situation better?”

This single permission step aligns with Japanese etiquette, lowers buyer defensiveness, and opens the door to real consultative selling.

Mini-summary: Permission-based questioning is a culturally compatible gateway to high-trust, high-value sales.

• Japan’s cultural strengths (harmony, precision, risk control) can unintentionally reduce closing, discovery, and value-defense behaviors.

• Nine patterns—vague closes, fast discounting, weak objections, spec-heavy pitching, and buyer-dominated flow—repeat across industries.

• Consultative selling in Japan works best when adapted to etiquette: permission-based questions, respectful clarity, and benefit-led stories.

• Dale Carnegie Tokyo has been upgrading Japanese and multinational sales forces since 1963 through practical, role-play-driven 営業研修 (sales training).

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.