Episode #403 Rationalising Failure In Sales In Japan

Are there really “no excuses” for failing in sales?

Website_Prompt

The belief that “there are no excuses for failing in sales” sounds tough and motivational—but it ignores how real markets work. Sales is often a macho environment for both men and women: quotas, targets, and numbers are visible, and missing them gets labeled as “failure.” There’s nowhere to hide. You hit the target or you don’t.

But if every salesperson who missed target were fired, most companies would quickly run out of salespeople. In Japan, this problem is amplified by population decline and a widening labor shortage. The talent pool is shrinking, and firms are increasingly forced to hire “anyone with a pulse” simply to keep revenue coverage. In that reality, “targets smargets” becomes the uncomfortable truth.

Mini-summary: “No excuses” is a simple slogan, but Japan’s labor and market realities make it dangerously unrealistic.

Two structural truths shape sales outcomes everywhere:

1. Most salespeople are untrained.
   Many firms want “off-the-shelf top earners” they can hire, unleash, and watch bring in revenue. In Japan today, that expectation is an epic delusion. Strong sellers rarely move because companies fight to retain them. The ones who do move are often mediocre or underperforming. Even that supply is drying up, as firms keep weak performers just because they understand the product and know a few customers.

2. The market divides into thirds.
   At any given time:

   • One third will never buy. Reasons include budgets, internal rules, beliefs about self-sufficiency, poor judgment, or simple misfit.

   • One third will buy—but not on your quota schedule. Their timing won’t match your month-end pressure.

   • One third will buy—and your job is to earn that decision.

Mini-summary: Targets assume stable talent and predictable buyers. Japan has neither.

In Japan, immediate “meet-and-close” sales are rare. Decision making is dispersed: multiple stakeholders must align before a new supplier is approved. This internal harmonization takes time. A useful mental model is:

“The buyer is never on your schedule.”

Quota systems often ignore that reality, forcing sellers into short-term behavior that clashes with how Japanese organizations actually buy.

Mini-summary: Japanese buying cycles are consensus-based and slow, so quota timing frequently misreads reality.

Buyers don’t purchase from “firms.” They purchase from the individual sitting across from them. The decision is personal and trust-based:

• Is the chemistry right?

• Does the buyer believe you understand them?

• Do they feel safe committing to you?

Trust begins not with your pitch, but with your inner stance.

Mini-summary: In Japan, sales success is shaped by personal trust more than brand promises.

The biggest driver of trust is a salesperson’s kokorogamae (心構え = “true intention” / “inner mindset”). Buyers sense what’s really motivating you:

• Desperation to save your job by hitting monthly numbers?

• Greed for commission or promotion?

• Genuine intent to do what’s best for the buyer?

If it isn’t the last one, trust collapses. And without trust, even the “buying third” won’t buy from you.

Mini-summary: Correct kokorogamae (true intention / 心構え) builds trust; selfish intention destroys it.

Even strong intention gets crushed by toxic company culture. Doing what’s best for the buyer is not a smash-and-grab game aimed at instant returns. The goal of correct kokorogamae (true intention / 心構え) is the repeat order—not one lucky win. That requires patience.

When sales managers demand immediate revenue at all costs:

• buyer needs get ignored

• sellers manipulate or overpromise

• long-term trust erodes

• brand value declines

At that point, salespeople aren’t “failing”—they’re operating inside a system designed by leadership.

Mini-summary: Short-term pressure from leadership can manufacture failure and destroy long-term client trust.

Japan no longer has the luxury of cycling sellers in and out. With shrinking labor supply and declining talent quality, companies must develop the people they have. That means:

• Realistic targets with sensible timelines.

• Training as a non-negotiable. Especially training in how to ask smart questions to uncover real client needs.

• Replacing pitching with discovery. Selling a solution without understanding the buyer is wasteful.

• Shifting from hunting to farming. The repeat order is cheaper and more efficient than constant new-client pursuit.

Development takes time and investment, but there is no alternative.

Mini-summary: Japan’s sales future depends on training, realistic expectations, and repeat-order thinking.

• “No excuses in sales” ignores Japan’s labor shortage and slow consensus buying cycles.

• One third of buyers won’t buy, one third will buy later, and only one third is winnable now.

• Trust comes from kokorogamae (true intention / 心構え)—buyers feel your real motive.

• Companies must shift from short-term quota pressure to long-term seller development and repeat orders.

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.