Episode #37: How To Properly Prepare for Client Meetings

Why Do So Many Salespeople in 日本企業 (Japanese companies) and 外資系企業 (multinational companies) Struggle to Prepare for Client Meetings?

In many Tokyo-based sales teams, professionals are constantly rushing between prospecting, networking, client visits, and proposal creation. Amid this pressure, one core activity is often neglected: thorough preparation for client meetings.
Ironically, in an age where company information is only a few clicks away, many salespeople still walk into meetings without understanding the client’s strategy, financial performance, or leadership priorities.

Mini-Summary:
Sales professionals in Japan often fail to leverage readily available corporate data, weakening their positioning during client conversations.

Executives today publish extensive strategic insight in annual reports, interviews, and corporate communications. Issues such as:

• Financial performance and growth areas

• Corporate officer profiles and decision-making priorities

• Divisional results across regions (pure gold for sales conversations)

Understanding this context lets salespeople frame discussions around the client’s goals, not their own products or services. When a salesperson can connect their solution to what the company must achieve, the conversation becomes high-value and ROI-driven.

Mini-Summary:
Effective client research helps salespeople connect their offering directly to the company's strategic goals, enabling more relevant and persuasive conversations.

How Can Salespeople Use Corporate Goals to Ask Better Questions?

Executives judge competence quickly. If a salesperson asks, “Tell me about your business?”, it signals poor preparation.
Instead, questions should be grounded in publicly known strategic targets. For example:

“I noticed your President announced a 12% global growth goal for this year. Given the current market, that sounds challenging. Is this also the target for your Japan team?”

In Japan, where context and credibility matter, such a question shows respect, diligence, and understanding of their business reality. It also opens the door to discussing performance gaps where the salesperson may provide value.

Mini-Summary:
Goal-based questions elevate credibility and uncover performance gaps that reveal real sales opportunities.

How Can Understanding the Performance Gap Strengthen Your Sales Position?

Once you know the company’s overall targets, the next step is clarifying:

• Current performance

• Required performance

• The gap between them

• Their likelihood of success without your help

If Japan’s business unit must grow 30%—far above the global target—that creates a natural opening to explore how your offering contributes to achieving ambitious goals.
Conversely, if growth is easy for them, the salesperson may need a different angle.

Mini-Summary:
Identifying gaps between current and required performance helps determine whether you can offer essential support or need to adjust your sales approach.

Beyond company data, salespeople can access rich information on buyers through platforms such as:

• Google

• LinkedIn

• Facebook

• Instagram

• YouTube

Finding points of personal connection—shared universities, industries, hometowns, or hobbies—strengthens rapport quickly.
In Japan, where trust (信頼 / shinrai) and rapport (ラポール / rapport) are essential for business relationships, these small connectors accelerate the “know, like, and trust” process.

Mini-Summary:
Researching buyer backgrounds creates faster relationship-building opportunities, which are crucial in Japanese business culture.

How Can Salespeople Build Credibility Quickly With Japanese Clients?

A simple personal insight can open the door to trust.
For example, someone researching the author would quickly discover his Queensland roots and passion for rugby. Mentioning the Queensland vs. New South Wales rivalry would immediately build connection.

However, many salespeople in Tokyo still fail to use these “speedy connectors,” even when the information is publicly available.

Mini-Summary:
In Japan, demonstrating personal awareness shows respect, preparation, and cultural intelligence—key drivers of credibility.

How Should Salespeople Navigate Group Decision-Making in Japan?

Japanese companies often involve multiple stakeholders in decisions. Sometimes, unexpected participants join the meeting. While pre-research may be limited, post-meeting follow-up can include:

• Sending relevant articles related to their interests

• Sharing team-appropriate gifts (avoid individual gifts due to compliance rules)

• Offering group-based tokens such as snacks, which are culturally acceptable

Mini-Summary:
Group decision-making in Japan requires thoughtful follow-up that respects compliance rules and focuses on team-oriented gestures.

Why Is Research a Competitive Advantage in Japan’s Sales Environment?

In today’s information-rich era, failing to research clients is no longer acceptable.
Research directly improves:

• The quality of questions

• The depth of insights gained

• The relevance of the sales conversation

• The speed at which trust develops

To differentiate yourself from other salespeople in Tokyo, preparation is essential—not optional.

Action Steps

1. Read the client’s corporate annual report.

2. Research individuals through social media and professional networks.

3. Use search engines to understand the company’s recent developments.

4. After meeting new participants, conduct research to build future connections.

Mini-Summary:
Thorough research gives salespeople a decisive competitive edge in Japan by improving engagement, insight, and trust.

• Salespeople in Japan can significantly elevate credibility by researching company goals and individual decision-makers.

• Goal-based questions shift conversations from selling to supporting the client’s strategic success.

• Personal connectors accelerate trust-building, especially important in Japanese culture.

• Preparation is a simple yet powerful differentiator in a competitive sales environment.

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, continues to empower both Japanese and multinational企業 (multinational companies) with world-class training that transforms performance and drives business results.