As a provider of international tax consulting services, LSL CPAs understands the importance of communicating clearly with international clients. Even with the 21st century advances in virtual communication services and online technologies (here we will link to the first article), communicating with international clients takes thought and advanced planning. Your company needs to rely on proven strategies that have been shown to be both successful and effective.
The normative challenges of working with an international client are even more pressing when virtual communication comes into play. Despite the evolution of virtual communication, such interactions lack the insight provided by in-person body language and facial expressions. Even with video conferencing, such traditional communication assets are limited. In fact, without the immediacy of actual presence, virtual perception can be eschewed to a certain degree by the limitations of technology. This is why virtual communication strategies are needed.
The international tax consultants at LSL CPAS have found that by being careful and precise in strategies taken toward virtual communication, casual misunderstandings can be avoided. Once instituted, virtual communication strategies can be used over and over again. Below is a list of communication strategies that have proven effective in past dealings with international clients. Although this list is not comprehensive, and there are other excellent resources for virtual communication strategies available, it is a strong and valuable start.
3 Effective Virtual Communication Strategies:
- Practice Engaged Listening & Measured Response
- Repeat Back What The Client Says In The Meeting
- Write Down Results & Email A Summary To The Client
1) Practice Engaged Listening & Measured Response:
When it comes to working with international clients, the normal impulse is to provide an immediate solution. It is essential, however, to first understand the three-dimensional nature of the problem being presented from the perspective of the client. The impulse to immediately solve a client’s problem is born of a desire to demonstrate your value and worth as an advisor. What works better than jumping the gun is to practice engaged listening by hearing the full account of the client’s situation and problems before offering any solutions.
After listening, the key to providing a measured response is asking directed questions that help flesh out the intricacies of the client’s challenge at hand. When a client feels like they truly have been heard, they will leave a meeting with a sense of value. At the same time, if your measured response has been actively directed, probing the details and specific content of their needs, they will believe in your ability to achieve their desired outcome.
2) Repeat Back What The Client Says In The Meeting:
Whenever a client gives you specific instructions or presents intricate details of a business scenario, repeat this content back to them. Given both language barriers and cultural differences, you cannot take for granted that what a client meant is the same as what you heard.
For example, the international tax consultants at LSL CPAs have been able to clarify questions of jurisdiction by repeating back information received from an international client. At first, it seemed like the client said his tax situation was under international law when he actually was trying to explain the difference between state and federal jurisdictions within the United States. By repeating back the details, the client was able to clarify the initial misunderstanding without being put in a position of feeling confronted. Such a positive outcome is a prime example of why repeating back information is so important when it comes to communicating with international clients.
3) Write Down Results & Email A Summary To The Client
After a meeting characterized by virtual communication with an international client is over, write down the results, outline the deliverables and email this summary to the client. If necessary, go over the recordings or transcripts of the meeting (here we will do a second link to the first article) to make sure that your written notes and your memory are on target. By creating a written record and having the client sign off on it, you ensure virtual communication success and preclude unnecessary problems. Even if the client does not fully agree with your written account, you have avoided a larger future issue by uncovering a misunderstanding right away. A written record agreed upon completion of virtual communication is like a guarantee that the meeting was successful for all parties involved.
