Blog

img

Work With US Clients From Offshore

Posted On: January 27, 2019

Do you work with US Clients from offshore (sitting in India or elsewhere outside of the US)? 

 

Do you or your team? 

  • Shy away from small talk, only using English for technical discussions? 
  • Speak good, clear, unaccented English, but can benefit from polishing their tone (word choices) when speaking with global team members? 
  • Shy away from asking questions? 
  • Say yes, but you aren’t sure if yes means “I agree,” “I will do it,” or “I will try”? 
  • Have limited to no face-to-face interactions with foreigners 

How would your interactions with US clients, colleagues or counterparts change if you had access to…..
  • A primer to US or North American business culture? 
  • Understanding how to use the modes of communication and time differences to their advantage? 
  • Tips on how to listen and speak more clearly during weekly status standup meetings? 

If you feel there would be a shift to a more fluid and easy working environment with access to this information, take a look at our course details below.
 
Understanding how to communicate cross-culturally with Americans and other native English speakers from Western countries is a business context is a learned skill. While many of the skills are taught to native speakers within their own country, there are some special hand-picked skills that are added to these sessions to help your foreign-located team members communicate with more clarity with you, making your life a lot easier. 


Participants will learn, discuss and practice:

  • How to confidently make small talk in a professional, virtual environment 
  • How to apply Western business values in conversation and behavior with Americans, British, and other Western English speaking counterparts 
  • How to deliver crisp, convincing messages over the phone, email or virtually 
  • How to handle difficult discussions or escalations with more confidence 
  • Phone and group meeting etiquette skills 

 

2 day (16 Hour) Virtual Live Instructor-Led Program: 


[Sessions are delivered in 1 hour segments a few times a week until content is exhausted.]

 
Day 1 Morning: Small Talk Games
Learn the dos and don’ts of small talk. What are acceptable, avoidable and cautionary topics when making small talk with US Americans? We will also practice how to make small talk in various situations: 
  • How to answer acceptable questions.
  • How to avoid asking and answering “taboo” questions.
  • How to talk about topics we don’t know the answer to.
  • How to include shy team members into the conversation.
  • Others 

Also included in the small talk section: how to introduce oneself over the phone, and in person (for those who may host clients offshore from time to time), and others as identified in the Training Needs Analysis (TNA).

 

Overview of Cross-Cultural Training For Virtual Teams and Global Teams

 
Day 1 Afternoon: Compare and contrast three forms of communication (phone, virtual, face to face).
How to compose crisp clear messages in emails, over the phone and in face-to-face environments. Participants will create templates they can use for various meetings or status reports that will save time and create more time-conscious, transparent communication.
Participants will do demos and role plays on the various forms of communication.
 

 Day 2 AM: US and Western Corporate Culture Values 
Participants will learn and practice 10 essential approaches (values) in the Western business world. Activities will focus on: 

 Day 2 PM: Role Plays 

Participants will recreate business scenarios, creating and delivering dialogues that test them on the the concepts learned over the past 1.5 days.

Participants will be broken up into groups. Each group will divide themselves into an India team and a Western (US, UK) team. The teams will be given a role play skeleton and have time to create a dialogue noting all the concepts from the past one and a half days in their final script. Ideal role play delivery requires three rooms. The “Indian” team will sit in one room, while the “US team” sits in another room, and the trainer/facilitator sits in a third room to overhear the call. The facilitator will give feedback to each group on:

  • their flow of meeting (meeting organization)
  • how well they have answered the problems in the role play skeleton against the concepts taught 
  • tips to speak more clearly over the phone (accent, speed, volume, etc.) as required.
 

Audience Profile:

  • A good grasp of English is required (upper basic to upper intermediate) 
  • Already client facing or will be client facing soon
  • Candidates with regular interaction with Western native-English speaking clients (phone, email, IM)
  • Offshore team members in global locations or expat employees or business people in the US wanting US culture training on advanced communication tips and Western mindset.
  • Currently or soon to be working on a global, co-located software team (or offshored projects in any vertical) 
  • For groups – A maximum of 10 candidates can attend this session.
  • For individuals – in-person or virtual guided webinars available (self-paced or guided with facilitator, see more below on customizations)


 Customizations in Syllabus and Delivery

While this program is best suited for an in-person instructor-led 2-day delivery, customizations have included: 
  • Virtual delivery with instructor (individuals or small groups of no more than 4) 
  • Virtual delivery without an instructor (sharing PPTs, handouts, quizzes/feedback) 
  • Available as a Train the Trainer (TTT / T3) program. Purchase yearly usage rights, license, etc. 
  • Certificates available as requested


 How much is a cross-cultural training program?
Session fees are set based on: Current rates, Number of Participants, and Customizations
Please contact us to discuss your group details and requirements for your quote.

Participant Feedback: 
“I learned how we can better communicate bad news to the customer. With proper planning, brainstorming, mitigation plans and questions. This can be done without spoiling the relation with the client.” – Deepa Chandran, UST Global

“I learned the importance of voice modulation and posture while on a client call. I also learned how to schedule and better plan for a call.” ~ Harry Varghese, UST Global

“The session helps me to bridge the difference when delivering my view and work in a better way in a productive matter. I also learned how to be proactive rather than just being a doer in addition to building a cordial relation with my client through being specific and using more pleasantries.” ~ Silpitha Santhosh

“Making assumptions has caused us problems. I learned some skills in how to overcome assumptions to communicate clearly.”

“I know now it’s important to break meetings into segments and give the client a chance to talk. We have learned ways to do this, including how to ask questions.”

“Why should these skills only help us communicate clearly with Americans? We can use these skills with onsite and even in our teams here in Kochi. We can learn to communicate more clearly with anyone if we use these skills.”

“I learned how to make the client accept a mistake do

“I have learned a proper way to communicate updates with the client.”- Sujatha Poyyale, UST Global

See this and other group training photos at Facebook.

Post by Authentic Journeys – Cultural and Lifestyle Mentoring.


“Jennifer spent time to explain the concepts to us, gave us a chance to discuss and practice in role plays.” ~Microsoft Employee

“This course was a good use of my time. I learned many good tips that relate to my role here in Microsoft. It will help me relate better with Americans and Westerners onsite.” ~Microsoft Employee


Microsoft, Hyderabad

“This was a great learning experience. This training helped me to understand certain cultural differences between India and the US and also how to be prepared to communicate with a US client.. be it phone, e-mail or face-to-face (F2F). It is always nice to learn something new! For those who haven’t attended this training, I’d say this was an opportunity missed!”  ~Shreyas Benjamin, ThinkPalm

“This training was helpful. I learned how to make small talk and hold a meeting. I will suggest this training to others.” ~ThinkPalm Employee


“Since the training comprised more of games, presentations and other interacting sessions, it was so much fun. I really liked the role plays.” ~Arbitron Employee

 

Contact us for more information on these and other related programs.

 

Our Small Talk course, Building Trust and Good Relations With US Americans, teaches individuals how to engage in casual conversations with others. It covers topics like initiating conversations, asking open-ended questions, active listening, and body language. The course helps participants build rapport and establish connections with people they encounter in social settings. Overall, a Small Talk course is a valuable investment for anyone who wants to improve their social skills and feel more comfortable in various social situations.

 

Other Related Programs:
Seminar on Preparing to Come Onsite to the USA
US Corporate Culture Training for Offshore Professionals
Working With India: Cross-Cultural Business Training

Tags

Share

Categories

Related Posts

Find your Program!

Find your ideal program in just a few clicks.
Select Industry > Learning Level > Skill, to see 1-3 suggested programs.


—  Leadership/ Management Program
—  Coaching Skills for Managers
—  Managers Coaching Cafe
—  Work & Live in the US
—  Cultural Agility Coaching
—  Managers Coaching Cafe
—  Managers Coaching Cafe


—  Coaching Skills for Managers
—  Managers Coaching Cafe
—  Get Ready for Demos / Presentations
—  Work & Live in the US
—  Cultural Agility Coaching
—  Work Effecively with US Americans
—  Deliver Impressive Status Updates
—  Managers Coaching Cafe


—  Deliver Impressive Status Updates
—  Work Effecively with US Americans
—  Business English Seminar
—  Get Ready for Demos / Presentations
—  Building Trust and Good Relations With US Americans

—  Solution Focused Coaching Certifications
—  Coaching Across Cultures
—  ICF Mentor Coaching
—  Core Competency Mastermind
—  Coaching for Non-Native English Speaking Coaches