We Buy From People We Like And Trust

Buying from people we like and trust is easy. Buying from people we don’t trust feels risky, even desperate. In today’s online sales environment, the real question for managers and executives is: how do we create trust, credibility, and likeability when the relationship starts on a screen — especially with Japanese clients who may keep cameras off?

Below is a practical, experience-based guide for sales professionals working with Japanese companies (日本企業 / Japanese companies) and multinational firms in Japan (外資系企業 / foreign-affiliated companies), especially in Tokyo (東京 / Tokyo), to help virtual selling feel confident, credible, and human.

In-person, buyers absorb confidence through dozens of small body-language cues — posture, eye contact, dress, timing, and even how you enter a room. Online, many of those signals shrink into a tiny on-screen box. That makes skepticism easier and trust harder.

Cause → effect: fewer visible cues leads to higher buyer doubt, so sellers must amplify professionalism to replace what the medium removes.

Mini-summary: Virtual sales reduces trust signals, so your professionalism must do more of the heavy lifting.

Professional presence is your best defense against buyer skepticism. That means:

• Be well presented, even online.

• Use a clean, branded background that promotes your firm and hides your home setting. This reduces distractions and frames you as “in business mode.”

• Keep gestures inside the camera frame so your arms don’t vanish into the fake background.

• Sit upright, and look at the lens (not the screen).

• Place the camera at eye level to create natural eye contact.

Cause → effect: clear visual authority makes buyers feel safe and guided, not wary.

Mini-summary: Camera, posture, background, and eye contact create your first layer of online trust.

Dress standards don’t drop just because the meeting is digital.

• Business battle dress still applies.

• For men, that means jacket and tie, even on screen.

• You want to avoid appearing “too casual,” because casualness online often gets read as low commitment or low status.

Cause → effect: a sharp appearance signals respect for the buyer and confidence in your value.

Mini-summary: Online meetings require the same professional wardrobe as face-to-face sales.

Online communication magnifies small verbal habits. So:

• Be precise and clear.

• Reduce filler words (“um,” “ah”) that dilute the message.

• Keep your explanations structured and concise.

Cause → effect: clarity lowers buyer confusion, and confusion is the enemy of trust.

Mini-summary: Clear language prevents doubt from creeping into the buyer’s mind.

Yes, but sparingly.

When slides dominate the screen, your face and the client’s face shrink — and you lose the body-language advantage. The rule:

• Share only what’s essential.

• Prioritize bigger faces, fewer slides, so both sides can read each other.

Cause → effect: more visible humanity creates faster rapport and lowers resistance.

Mini-summary: Don’t trade away face time for screen time — trust lives in the face.

What if Japanese buyers keep their camera off?

This is common in Japan, and many sellers feel powerless because the buyer is treated like “God.” But you still need to lead the meeting.

Do this at the start:

“Thank you for your time today. I know you’re busy.
Over the last few years I’ve done many online meetings, and they’re always more productive for both sides when we both turn cameras on — so let’s both turn our cameras on today for this brief meeting.”

Then the critical step:
Stop talking. Let silence do the work.

Cause → effect: respectful leadership signals confidence; silence creates social pressure to cooperate.

Mini-summary: Ask calmly, explain why, then go silent — leadership builds trust.

Isn’t it risky to push for cameras?

Yes. And that’s exactly why it’s useful.

If someone won’t show their face at all, they may not be a real buyer. Your chances drop — but you still proceed professionally.

If they say, “I’d prefer not to,” then:

• accept it politely

• mentally downgrade the probability of success

• continue the call as best you can

Cause → effect: camera refusal is a buying-intent signal; you adjust your strategy accordingly.

Mini-summary: Camera refusal often equals low intent — note it, adjust, and move forward.

What mindset helps sellers survive tough Japanese prospecting?

Japan can be brutally resistant to cold outreach. A real Tokyo example:

• First call: “We don’t deal with people we’re not already dealing with.”

• Second call, different time, different staff: same answer.

This isn’t personal — it’s cultural gatekeeping. Sellers need:

• resilience

• professionalism

• smart qualification

• volume plus patience

Cause → effect: cultural resistance means sales wins come from persistence + credibility, not pressure.

Mini-summary: In Japan, rejection is often cultural, so persistence and professionalism matter most.

• Professional presence is the fastest trust builder online.

• Dress and posture still signal credibility in virtual sales.

• Minimize slides so faces stay large and human connection stays strong.

• Lead the call — politely request cameras, then let silence work.

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.