Diferenças Culturais - Diferencias Culturales – Cultural Differences

People are different, cultures are different. Imagine how boring the world would be if they were not.

Understanding local culture plays a major role at Catalyst Global. Working with companies all over the world requires us to adapt to both large and small differences. Collectively, the partners on the Catalyst team have worked and lived in their home countries and abroad, spanning all the continents. Real-life immersion in different languages and cultures plays a significant role in our ability to adapt and create customized Service and Sales Development Programs which are based on local culture and challenges.

Speaking as a Brazilian living in Brazil and Mexico, our wonderful Latino culture, which accounts for about 20% of the world population, is known for being warm and friendly. And certainly, more relaxed when compared to the culture of European and North American organizations our clients often work with.

In Latin countries, punctuality is, shall we say, “more flexible” than European or North American standards. This is both for cultural and practical reasons. In the past, traffic and road conditions were much more unpredictable than today and to arrive a couple of hours late was common practice and culturally acceptable. Today, however, road improvements and with so many navigation apps available on any smartphone, it is possible to have a prediction of travel time. We can organize to leave in such a time that we arrive on time, mostly. This is best in class behavior and, of course, highly appreciated by customers.

Globalization means that many customers in Latin America are often subsidiaries of European or North American businesses. No matter where they are located in the world, these subsidiaries follow the customer’s parent company culture. One of the key things we do in this area is to build an understanding of the gap between local culture and the parent company’s culture. We can share the customer’s perspective on punctuality and give real life examples of the impact on a customer’s perception of a supplier’s Service Brand. Not to mention the field technician’s credibility. We facilitate change in behaviors and cultivate proud (and more punctual) brand ambassadors.

It is paramount to establish a clear perspective of customer expectations. When customers purchase highvalue quality capital equipment their expectation is that the performance of the service team is to the same high-quality standards. This means keeping the delivery representatives informed on what was promised in terms of both performance and timely execution.

Our Rule 5 of service is all about leaving the best possible net impression with the customer. A key element of this is punctuality. The most successful field technicians in Latin America have learnt this. They use their experience, credibility and warm personalities to build relationships of trust with the customer. They keep them informed on what has been done during a service intervention or maintenance visit. They brief the customer on the status of the equipment and give informed advice. Their suggestions are backed up by facts to help protect customers from the risk of future unplanned breakdowns, loss of quality or productivity.

This beautiful, warm Latin culture also has some big advantages. It provides more opportunities to engage the customer in a conversation. The field technician can share key information focused on increasing uptime and preventing unplanned downtime. Many times, as field technicians, we make the mistake of assuming the customer knows everything about our service offering. This could not be further from the truth. Engagement between the service technician and customer during and after a service visit or intervention is key to build a long-term strategic partnership, where the technician is seen as a Trusted Advisor sharing valuable information, not just somebody fixing the machine.

Finally, an example of thinking about customer perception and net impression is the vehicle we arrive in. In large countries like Brazil or the USA, a typical service tech spends 100+ days per year, flying from city to city, and then jumping in a rental car. High travel volume means car rental status is equally high which at times comes with the privilege of taking any car on the lot. Nice as it may be to take a free upgrade to a MUSTANG convertible or Cadillac CTS, we recommend that all service technicians, from all cultures to, please, just take the Toyota Camry.

Customers react when the technician turns up in an expensive car and are convinced that they are paying too much for the service. These are the little things that damage the brand, sour a relationship and result in a 6, 7 or 8 NPS score instead 9 or 10.

We should never lose the depth of our local culture and the advantages it brings, but, in a global world, we should always think about perception and net impression.

Adair Zanatto

Catalyst Global