Tips for navigating cultural differences in business winning

With travel no longer being a thing of the past, many of us are returning to the grind of working (far) away from home. I'm no stranger to juggling time between global offices and am here to offer some tips on the common obstacles you may face working with bids abroad. 

I was working on a bid in Malaysia, and I had some challenges walking into this one; some of these challenges I'm sure plenty of you have faced:

1. You are seen as an interloper.
Many people saw me as the villain coming to take over their big deal (even though we worked for the same company).

2. You don't speak the language.
At the time of this bid, I didn't speak Bahasa Maly (I still don't), so I could not have a real conversation with the customer or any of my colleagues who didn't speak English. 

3. You cannot be on site all the time.
I could only be in Malaysia for parts of the bid, so I travelled back and forth between offices. This left a lot of the work to be done on conference calls (at least it wasn't a Zoom meeting).

These three things make it hard to do your job and even harder to win bids. 

So, what do you do? 

Throw out your lifeline and phone a friend because what you really need is an ally.

I'd recommend someone who can be your eyes, ears, and voice when you're not in the room or for when you're feeling a bit lost and like a fish out of water. 

Enter my ally, Ayu.

The first time I met Ayu was when she came to the Singapore office to discuss a potential customer. Immediately, I was interested in the bid. It wasn't the potential business that impressed me; it was Ayu. 

Anyone who flies to the regional office to endorse a bid this early before RFT is ahead of the game. Ayu had started a winning process well before she came to us. I knew then that I wanted in and that we'd be a force to be reckoned with.

Upon reflection, these are some of the tips I'd recommend for navigating cultural differences in the workplace, particularly when working with bids. The first and most important is to find your Ayu!

Tips for working abroad

1. Form an alliance

Ayu was Malaysian and had the respect and a strong relationship with everybody who didn’t want me there. This is where having a solid connection with the team (even if it is only one person to start with), an excellent written strategy, and a quality plan come in!

2. Alter your communication methods

When we did strategy sessions, bid reviews, etc., we had everyone make anonymous contributions so that they could say whatever was on their minds. I find that having a communication method that encourages everyone to give feedback rather than just the gregarious and English-speaking members of the team really helps.

3. Adjust your leadership style

To overcome the interloper label, I had on my forehead, it became apparent that this bid had to be managed with us all as equals. 

Of course, we're all equals, but this meant putting on a different leadership hat. I had to support rather than be authoritarian, minimising conflict while still promoting different points of view.

No matter where you are in the world, interloper or not. Different points of view are vital in creating a more holistic picture of your customer, bidding environment, and competitors.

4. Develop a deep relationship with your customer

By developing a deep relationship with the customer, we could take elements of our strategy to them, formally or over a Kopi-O (Nanyang coffee).

Checking if: 

• We made the right assumptions about the evaluators and their issues
• Any other people might be involved in the decision
• Our hot buttons were on the money

5. Have a plan and have a strategy

Because Aya and I were working from the same playbook, we knew what was happening from the start to when we walked into the customer with a signed contract.

We were able to speak to management, team members, and the customer with a strong sense of exactly what was happening, no matter who was ‘in the room’.

The Shipley Integrated Solution Worksheet is a really useful tool for planning your response. When you have RFP requirements, strategy, solution, and other things, such as we did in this pursuit, you need to track every item in the same document. The Shipley Integrated Solution Worksheet will enable you to do that.

Navigating cultural differences will always be challenging, particularly in business winning, but with good planning, the ability to adapt and a trusty ally by your side, you'll be on track for success. So, good luck and happy travels!