Yoann Delwarde | The Art of Sales in China

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

● How Yoann’s work with startups and founders differs from his work with corporate clients

● Clients that Yoann typically works with as a sales trainer

● How B2B selling has historically been done in China compared to today

● The value of WeChat in sales

● General differences between how sales is done in the West versus in the East

● What Yoann has found to be the most difficult lesson for his coaching clients

● How Chinese buyers differ from Western buyers

● How is public speaking perceived in China and is it used as a tool for sales?

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we speak with sales trainer Yoann Delwarde, Founder and CEO of Infinity Growth Ltd, a Shanghai-based firm that offers sales coaching and consulting to a wide range of clients, including multinationals, startups, MBA students, and accelerators and incubators.

Yoann is one of twelve Experts in Residence for Chinaccelerator and a strategic advisor for allrites, Atiom, and GloCoach. He is also a lecturer on sales management and entrepreneurship at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai as well as Emlyon business school in Écully, France.

Infinity Growth aims to bridge the Western and Chinese mindsets toward entrepreneurship to ensure that they maximize their clients’ sales capabilities. Their key indicator of success is in the fact that they primarily attract their clients via word-of-mouth.

Because “it’s so easy to lose your reputation in China”, Infinity Growth looks at their increasing clientele as a sign that their sales training approach is resonating with and leading to great results among the local entrepreneurs and business professionals they work with.

Yoann shares what distinguishes sales in China compared to America and Western Europe, including differences in buyer behavior, the role of public speaking in the business world, and how eCommerce and social media are used differently in the East and the West.

Key Quotes:

“If there’s one thing I came to understand in China, it’s to always under-promise and over-deliver. [...] It’s so easy to lose your reputation in China, it’s insane.”

“If I take the angle of B2B sales, I think the main difference [between how sales are done in the West versus in the East] is around trust. In Europe, and even in the U.S., first, you make business, then you become friends. [...] In China, first you become friends, then you make business.”