The Many Challenges of Selling Internationally

ABOUT THE GUEST - ZACH SELCH, VP GLOBAL SALES AT PHARMAJET: 
 
Zach Selch is the VP Global Sales for a high tech medical company and coaches and mentors Global Sales Leaders. Over 30 years he has sold in more than 135 countries, lived in 6 countries and has driven 4 digit sales growth multiple times while adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the value of companies by building their international footprint. Zach is an ex-paratrooper, a father of 3 and boxes, smokes brisket, and runs a soup kitchen when he isn’t on the road. Zach was in Germany when the wall went down, Jordan when peace with Israel was signed, has breakfasted with the Dalai Lama, and has been in the right place for a surprising number of right times. 
 
Zach is a firm believer in the sales process, and that sales is an art and a science and isn’t something to be acted on impulsively or emotionally. Growing the international sales footprint is one of the very best ways to grow the value of a company, but when done poorly can also be one of the best ways to sink a small company or cripple a mid-market company. Zach will discuss how to avoid the common mistakes while navigating towards success. 
 
You can learn more about Zach at his LinkedIn profile here: 
 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zselch-internationalsales/
  
  
ABOUT THE EPISODE:  
 
Zach has been working in international sales for his entire multi-decade career, and has the scars, stories and lessons to show for it! In this episode, Zach shares with us learnings about culture, communication, and tricky navigational issues that you must be on top of it you want to succeed in sales outside of the borders of your home country.  
 
(0:45)  Zach’s background as the VP of Sales at PharmaJet - a company that makes tools that facilitate mass vaccinations
 
(2:45)  What drove Zach to focus on international sales - it was a choice from a very young age including multiple horizontal moves to cover as much of the globe as possible
 
(6:06)  What is it that makes selling internationally different. Culture is big part of it - and the obvious part that most talk about, but you can’t forget the technical elements, which is a common and often costly mistake. and then there is the whole communication bit...
 
(10:14)  Knowing how to sell is critical in all sales, including international sales, but how do you navigate the rest of the stuff specific to international sales that will make or break the deal - or your profitability
 
(12:50)  Why your shipping guy needs to go to an international shipping workshop
 
(14:36)  If you want to sell internationally, how can you start on the right foot. Zach explains how it is both simple and challenging, but how to make it more simple;
 
(18:25)  Most mistakes in international sales happen due to “don’t know what you don’t know” kinds of mistake. In light of that, Zach talks about how international sales related content is received on LinkedIn where he frequently shares content.
 
(20:08)  Even trade show booth (stand) design varies culture to culture
 
(20:46) Zach talks about Global Sales Mentor, his consulting practice that helps companies expand and excel in international markets
 
(22:57)  How to find Zach and to learn more about how he can help you with international sales