If you want to succeed in international business, understanding western culture is at least as important as understanding English.

I have a lot of friends who have high positions at multinational companies.  They often tell me how it is doing business in different countries.

They tell me that the people who understand western culture do better at work than those with better English skills.

A lot of business is about building trust and good relationships with many new people.  If a lot of people like you and trust you, they are much more likely to do business with you.  Of course, you still need to understand English and business very well, but this cultural understanding is often overlooked.

Things like going golfing or meeting the guys out for a beer after work can be as important as what happens at the office.  It’s necessary to learn how to have fun and be active in these international groups.  English is the international language of business.

Hang out with these westerners more and learn how to have fun in a new culture.  Don’t be fake, but challenge yourself to look at the world in different ways.  You will be well rewarded in many ways if you do this.  Of course, you will still have a deep cultural influence from your own culture, but it’s quite possible to learn a new one and be flexible when dealing with different kinds of people.

If you want to learn real international business culture, you need to learn the slang and sense of humor.  Learn the way that culture views the world.  you don’t have to agree with everything, just try to understand it.

Here is a great program for that:  Real American English

Being able to negotiate a good salary is one of the most important things you can do in your career.

Money is often a sensitive topic and it’s not easy to look your potential boss in the eye and tell him or her you need a lot more money than they initially offered. Western companies go around the world looking for cheap labor. It’s up to you to demand what you are worth. You need to stand strong and here are some useful tips.

1. Be able to explain clearly why you are worth the money you want.

Remember that this is a game where the boss is trying to save money. If you will accept a low paying job, why would he offer you more? If you can really add value to the company, you can make a lot of money. You need to be able to explain how exactly you will do this. CEO’s make a lot of money because they bring in even more money than that for the company. You need to show how you can justify your high salary.

2. Don’t accept weird excuses for low pay.

I used to work for a start up company in China and the boss always tried to pay the local workers a low wage. He said that the company wasn’t making any money yet and bigger salaries would come in the future. Everything was promised in the future. What he was saying was true, but this doesn’t mean that the employees should accept really low pay. Start up companies should plan to lose money for the first few years. There are millions of clever excuses bosses can use to offer a low salary. Demand a reasonable salary and be prepared to work hard to add value to the company. If the boss really believes you can help them earn big money, he will pay you well. It’s hard to find good talent.

3. Never sign anything the first day.

Always ask to take home the contract and look it over. Don’t be scared to make some changes and ask for more money. You won’t always get exactly what you want, but bargain hard and think about what you are really worth to the company. If you are just starting, maybe you don’t deserve a large salary yet. Always make sure you have room to grow in the company if you perform well.

Different people make hugely different salaries for similar jobs. It all comes down to being good at negotiation.

Being able to negotiate well is key to doing business. Different people get different prices for the same things. In a competitive market, this can make or break a business. There is a lot of psychology going on here and it’s important to understand some good tactics.

One common strategy is called “Lowballing”.
Lowballing is when you give a really low offer for something you want to buy. You probably don’t expect to actually get the item for this price, but it gives a starting point for negotiation. Even if the other person knows you are lowballing, psychologically it is difficult to totally disregard this initial number. The end price will probably be closer to this initial low offer than it would have been otherwise.

Suppose you want to buy some small company and the price of the company is really hard to determine. Both you and the owner really don’t know what the company is worth. Now imagine you are willing to pay $ 2 million. for the company. The owner doesn’t know that. It might be a good idea to offer something like $ 1 million.

This gives the owner some idea of what you will buy the company for. He will probably try to negotiate the price higher, but you’ll probably be able to get the company for much lower than you would have if you didn’t do this.

If you have employees, lowballing is also a good strategy to pay them a relatively low amount of money. Suppose that you are willing to hire someone for $4000 USD per month. Start with an offer of $2000 and let the employee negotiate up. They might say $3000. Some of them might even take the $2000 or something very close to that. This is a very powerful tool if used properly.

If you are looking for a job, you need to realize that your future boss is probably lowballing you and you should come back with a high counteroffer. It’s not necessary to accept anywhere near this price.

I’ve seen a lot of people I know get underpaid because they didn’t know how to handle lowballing. I know some bosses who are great at it and have many employees working for them for a very small amount of money compared to what they are worth.