Episode #75: Totally Ineffective Sales

Why do even experienced salespeople still fail to sell effectively?

A sales professional with 18 years of experience walked into my office in Minato-ku, Tokyo, expecting an easy win. Instead, he demonstrated a common and costly pattern: trying to sell a solution before understanding the buyer. In both 日本企業 (Japanese companies) and 外資系企業 (multinational companies), this mistake silently destroys trust, wastes time, and kills deals.

Mini-summary: Experience doesn’t equal competence. Without a structured sales process, even veterans revert to “feature dumping.”

A phone call came from an unfamiliar magazine that claimed to be featuring businesses in central Tokyo. Media exposure sounded useful, so I agreed. The interview was scheduled, and I was told a Japanese actor would participate.

On the day, the cameraman, actor, and journalist arrived. The actor took photos but asked no questions. The journalist conducted a short interview, then shifted gears. Despite his “journalist” business card, he was clearly the sales representative.

He immediately began explaining advertising packages: page sizes, placements, color vs. black-and-white, and prices. He never asked what our company needed, what marketing gaps we had, or what audience we were trying to reach.

Mini-summary: The interaction was framed as media, but executed as a sales call—without any needs analysis.

What should a professional sales cycle look like in Japan?

Selling—whether for 営業研修 (sales training) or ad space—follows a simple logic:

1. Research the buyer before meeting.

2. Build trust and rapport.

3. Explore needs with well-designed questions.

4. Tailor the solution to those needs.

5. Address concerns.

6. Ask for the order.

7. Follow up professionally.

This isn’t theory. Dale Carnegie Tokyo has taught these steps for decades through structured training, coaching, and roleplay.

Mini-summary: The sales cycle is universal. Skipping the needs stage makes everything after it collapse.

Why is “feature dumping” so ineffective with executives?

The salesperson gave me a tour of his magazine before knowing what mattered to me. That is exactly backward. Buyers don’t want a catalog—they want relevance.

Until he understood our priorities, he shouldn’t have even shown the price list. The correct approach is to keep solutions out of sight until needs are clear, then present only the most fitting options.

Executives are time-poor. When salespeople flood them with features, they create confusion instead of desire.

Mini-summary: Features without context feel like noise. Relevance creates attention; attention creates buying.

Once I realized it was a sales call, his lack of preparation was glaring. A quick scan of our website, YouTube, LinkedIn, or Google would have revealed:

• who we are,

• what we teach,

• the audiences we serve in Tokyo,

• and the business challenges we help solve.

He also missed easy rapport openings. For example, I’m a Shitoryu Karate 6th Dan—unusual for a foreigner in Japan. That alone could have started a meaningful conversation about discipline, sport, or shared interests. Rapport isn’t small talk; it’s trust-building through common ground.

Mini-summary: Research creates rapport and credibility. Walking in blind forces you to guess—and buyers sense that instantly.

What was the biggest irony of the whole situation?

He was sitting in the office of the President of a corporate training company that specializes in sales, leadership, communication, presentations, executive coaching, and DEI. We literally teach sales. And yet he had no professional sales skills.

So I did something unexpected: I gave him a copy of our Sales Advantage brochure (Japanese edition) and explained the sales cycle to him step-by-step. In effect, I started selling him on our training.

Mini-summary: The buyer ended up coaching the seller—because the seller didn’t know how to sell.

At the end he asked for $500 for a tiny black-and-white paragraph at the back of the magazine. I refused.

He claimed he explained the $500 charge over the phone. I don’t recall that, and I suspect it was deliberate. The real strategy seemed clear:

• promise a free interview for exposure, then

• pivot to selling ad space.

This technique might get short-term revenue, but it destroys long-term trust. Especially in Japan, where trust is central to business continuity.

Mini-summary: Bait-and-switch may create pressure, but it poisons relationships—and repeat business dies.

What lesson should sales leaders take from this story?

Sales behavior reflects leadership. If organizations don’t train, coach, and inspire their people, mediocrity becomes normal.

Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business. Dale Carnegie Tokyo helps leaders create that inspiration through リーダーシップ研修 (leadership training), エグゼクティブ・コーチング (executive coaching), and practical performance systems.

Mini-summary: Sales skill isn’t luck or personality. It’s leadership + training + repeatable structure.

• Research first, sell second. Trust begins before the meeting.

• No questions = no sale. Needs discovery is non-negotiable.

• Show only what matters. Tailor solutions to priorities, not catalogs.

• In Japan, trust is the deal. Once lost, it rarely returns.

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.

To explore how we train sales professionals and leaders in 東京 (Tokyo), visit our site for whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs, and seminar schedules.

Dr. Greg Story
President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
greg.story@dalecarnegie.com