The face to face: an essential of Japanese business. (Part 1)
Recently we received a call from a client in Japan. He was going to be in Portland on a certain date, and wondered if we couldn't help him get to the city hall of a nearby town to meet with an official there. I picked up the gentleman downtown and we made our way, about a 40 minute drive in the heavy morning traffic, to his destination. He was a very kind man, and we had a pleasant discussion about the differences in raising children in Japan and the US. We got to our location, and met with the city official. I was surprised to see that this gentleman was taken aback to see us. "What are you doing here?", he asked with a happy grin. "I came to deliver our report, as you requested," replied our Japanese client, "and I wanted to stop by and say 'hi'". Introductions were made, and our client presented the city official with a Japanese picture book about fishing "because you said you enjoyed fishing in your free time." The official looked sheepish and said "I probably shouldn't be accepting this, but I appreciate it very much. I wish I knew you were coming, and I could have returned the favor." The large envelope containing the report was also given, and the apparant long-time friends talked about changes in leadership in the electrical engineering organization they both belonged to, and who would be at the annual convention. When he had a moment the official turned to me in private and said "I can't believe he came all the way here. He could have just dropped the report in the mail. He didn't need to come and give it to me by hand, though it was a nice surprise."
I, too, was a bit confused. I was led to believe he had a meeting with this man, and it's lucky that the official wasn't out that morning. I asked about it, and the client told me he was on his way back to Japan the next day. He had business in Seattle the day before, and thought it would be nice to fly down to Portland and deliver the report in person.
This seemed remarkable to me. Even if my business was booming, I would have a hard time justifying the time and expense of two extra nights and a plane ticket to deliver a report by hand that could just as easily been delivered by mail. This interaction opened my eyes to some key points in Japanese culture, especially business culture.
1) Face to face interaction is essential. We translate surveys from Japanese to English for companies that have satellite offices in Japan. One common complaint from vendors was that representatives of the product company didn't visit their stores enough. The American product company visited the stores when their product was first released, but then never again after that. The product company was happy with e-mailed reports of sales and returns, but the Japanese vendors wanted representatives of the product company to pick up these reports, or to simply stop by now and again. A few of the surveys found this "invisible company" becoming less and less trustworthy. What a strange turn of events!
The reasons are not so hard to guess, though. The main reason is that with so much of communication happening through non-verbal information, periodic physical meetings are essential to maintain a relationship in Japan. How can you read the kuuki if you can't see it? As long as the business is continuing, the communication must also. The vendors who were complaining didn't have any particular complaints about the product or company. The product sold well, and customers seemed satisfied. The simple fact that they hadn't phyically seen a company representative darken their door in several months was enough to make them lose trust in that company.
This ability to "read" another person is an essential in Japanese business, and is a likely contributor to some of the successes Japanese corporations have in Japan and around the world. I am reminded of a scene from Juzo Itami's wonderful film Tampopo. The movie is about a ramen-loving truck-driver helping a ramen shop owning single mom get her little restaurant out of a slump. The truck driver, Goro, spends time training the shop owner, Tampopo, in the complete art of making ramen, as well as how to be a good business owner. They practice using his trucking partner, Gun (played by the almost unrecognizable Ken Watanabe), as new customer. (As memory serves), Gun says "LOOK at the customer when he comes in. What kind of person is he? Is he hungry? Is he tired? Is he drunk? Is this the kind of customer you want in your shop?" Goro is telling Tampopo to read the kuuki before any verbal communication even happens. Of course, this is a comedy, and one might think that Goro's instructions may be over-the-top for a simple seller of ramen, but it does emphasize the need for people in business to be savvy in the art of reading the customer.
Next week we will look at other reasons our client felt the need to visit the city official in person, despite the expense and time required.
Recently we received a call from a client in Japan. He was going to be in Portland on a certain date, and wondered if we couldn't help him get to the city hall of a nearby town to meet with an official there. I picked up the gentleman downtown and we made our way, about a 40 minute drive in the heavy morning traffic, to his destination. He was a very kind man, and we had a pleasant discussion about the differences in raising children in Japan and the US. We got to our location, and met with the city official. I was surprised to see that this gentleman was taken aback to see us. "What are you doing here?", he asked with a happy grin. "I came to deliver our report, as you requested," replied our Japanese client, "and I wanted to stop by and say 'hi'". Introductions were made, and our client presented the city official with a Japanese picture book about fishing "because you said you enjoyed fishing in your free time." The official looked sheepish and said "I probably shouldn't be accepting this, but I appreciate it very much. I wish I knew you were coming, and I could have returned the favor." The large envelope containing the report was also given, and the apparant long-time friends talked about changes in leadership in the electrical engineering organization they both belonged to, and who would be at the annual convention. When he had a moment the official turned to me in private and said "I can't believe he came all the way here. He could have just dropped the report in the mail. He didn't need to come and give it to me by hand, though it was a nice surprise."
I, too, was a bit confused. I was led to believe he had a meeting with this man, and it's lucky that the official wasn't out that morning. I asked about it, and the client told me he was on his way back to Japan the next day. He had business in Seattle the day before, and thought it would be nice to fly down to Portland and deliver the report in person.
This seemed remarkable to me. Even if my business was booming, I would have a hard time justifying the time and expense of two extra nights and a plane ticket to deliver a report by hand that could just as easily been delivered by mail. This interaction opened my eyes to some key points in Japanese culture, especially business culture.
1) Face to face interaction is essential. We translate surveys from Japanese to English for companies that have satellite offices in Japan. One common complaint from vendors was that representatives of the product company didn't visit their stores enough. The American product company visited the stores when their product was first released, but then never again after that. The product company was happy with e-mailed reports of sales and returns, but the Japanese vendors wanted representatives of the product company to pick up these reports, or to simply stop by now and again. A few of the surveys found this "invisible company" becoming less and less trustworthy. What a strange turn of events!
The reasons are not so hard to guess, though. The main reason is that with so much of communication happening through non-verbal information, periodic physical meetings are essential to maintain a relationship in Japan. How can you read the kuuki if you can't see it? As long as the business is continuing, the communication must also. The vendors who were complaining didn't have any particular complaints about the product or company. The product sold well, and customers seemed satisfied. The simple fact that they hadn't phyically seen a company representative darken their door in several months was enough to make them lose trust in that company.
This ability to "read" another person is an essential in Japanese business, and is a likely contributor to some of the successes Japanese corporations have in Japan and around the world. I am reminded of a scene from Juzo Itami's wonderful film Tampopo. The movie is about a ramen-loving truck-driver helping a ramen shop owning single mom get her little restaurant out of a slump. The truck driver, Goro, spends time training the shop owner, Tampopo, in the complete art of making ramen, as well as how to be a good business owner. They practice using his trucking partner, Gun (played by the almost unrecognizable Ken Watanabe), as new customer. (As memory serves), Gun says "LOOK at the customer when he comes in. What kind of person is he? Is he hungry? Is he tired? Is he drunk? Is this the kind of customer you want in your shop?" Goro is telling Tampopo to read the kuuki before any verbal communication even happens. Of course, this is a comedy, and one might think that Goro's instructions may be over-the-top for a simple seller of ramen, but it does emphasize the need for people in business to be savvy in the art of reading the customer.
Next week we will look at other reasons our client felt the need to visit the city official in person, despite the expense and time required.
posted by John T at
5/19/2006 11:41:00 AM
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