Selling Year In, Year Out (Part One)

Why do salespeople feel a “new-year reset,” and how can we use it productively?

Every January 1st (or whenever your fiscal year begins), salespeople often experience a psychological “reset.” It feels like a clean slate—even if last year was tough. Sales is demanding, and many professionals finish a year tired or discouraged. Still, the calendar encourages us to believe: this year can be different.

That mindset is useful only if we turn it into action. A fresh start isn’t magic. It’s permission to recommit to the basics that create results.
Mini-summary: A new year motivates, but results come from renewing your focus on core sales behaviors.

In Japan, most sales roles aren’t fully commission-based. People typically work under base + bonus or base + commission systems. That means even when results dip, salespeople can still support themselves financially.

The performance pressure is also softer because dismissing employees for low sales is difficult. Courts expect companies to reassign poor performers rather than terminate them quickly. Combine that with the fact that many salespeople are untrained amateurs, and the social expectation to excel becomes low as well.

This environment can feel like a lukewarm bath: comfortable, but not inspiring.
Mini-summary: Japan’s sales system reduces risk and urgency, which can unintentionally lower motivation for excellence.

What are the real “blocking and tackling” basics of sales?

Vince Lombardi said football games are won through “blocking and tackling.” In sales, the equivalents are:

1. Prospecting — finding new buyers.

2. Closing — converting interest into commitment.

Great salespeople must be both farmers and hunters:

• Farmers nurture existing customers, protect relationships, and trigger repeat orders.

• Hunters pursue new opportunities and expand market reach.

If either skill is missing, the pipeline dries up.
Mini-summary: Sales success rests on prospecting and closing—nurture current clients while actively finding new ones.

Why is “know, like, trust” still the foundation of buying decisions?

No buyer purchases from someone they don’t know. So the first requirement is simple: visibility. If the client has never heard of you, there is no sale.

Today, marketing and the internet often do this work for you, generating inbound leads. But a lead only means awareness. It does not mean the buyer likes or trusts you yet.

Your job begins where marketing ends: turning awareness into confidence.
Mini-summary: Marketing helps buyers know you; sales must earn like and trust to move forward.

People are taught: “Don’t talk to strangers.” So when a buyer contacts your company, the first interaction shapes trust.

This is where Japanese organizations often struggle. Accountability is expected from sales—but not always from the whole company. Many front-line staff are trained to avoid risk, not build relationships. They may have been warned they’ll be scolded for passing calls to sales.

So they act cautiously, treating unknown callers as “guilty until proven innocent.”
Mini-summary: In Japan, early trust is fragile, and internal caution can damage first impressions.

Imagine a buyer calls asking for you. If you’re away, the receptionist says only:

“They’re not at their desk now.”

No help. No alternative. No warmth.

The buyer’s impression becomes: This company doesn’t care about me.
Even if you personally are excellent, your team may be weakening the relationship at every touchpoint.

Jan Carlzon’s “Moment of Truth” highlights this perfectly: trust isn’t built only by sales. It’s built (or broken) by everyone the customer encounters.
Mini-summary: Your company’s small interactions can erode trust before you even meet the buyer.

Trust collapses when messages change mid-process.

Example: a Tokyo contact presents a product one way, but headquarters later describes something different. The buyer doesn’t just distrust the product—they distrust both people.

To protect trust:

• Stories must align across teams.

• Promises must match reality.

• Information must stay truthful and consistent.

In Japan (日本企業 Japanese companies) and multinational firms (外資系企業 foreign-affiliated companies), internal alignment is a non-negotiable trust signal.
Mini-summary: Persuasion fails when integrity fails—buyers trust consistency more than charm.

• Japan’s sales environment reduces urgency, so excellence requires intentional discipline.

• Prospecting and closing are the “blocking and tackling” of sales—master both.

• “Know, like, trust” still governs buying, especially in relationship-driven markets like Tokyo (東京 Tokyo).

• Trust is built by the whole organization, not just the salesperson.

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.