Pakistani Business Culture - Global Sales Mentor | Zach Selch

7 Apr 2020 · 2 min

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In this segment, Zach Selch explains how the cultural dimension of "indulgence"—or tolerance of differences—differs in Pakistan compared to the United States and other South Asian nations. He notes that Pakistani society, on the whole, is less indulgent and tends toward absolute views of good, evil, and religious truth. While individual business partners may be foreign‑educated and more open, the broader cultural context can affect how foreign representatives are received. Selch advises companies to carefully consider which personnel they send to Pakistan, as cultural reactions can influence the success of sales efforts. The segment ends with a call‑to‑action inviting viewers to contact his firm for help growing international sales.

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So I'm in Pakistan, just outside of Islamabad, and I want to talk about one more element of cross-cultural differences that can impact business between Pakistan and the United States, and Pakistan and other South Asian countries, because we like to sort of lump together South Asian countries, but they're very different culturally in certain indicators. And one of those indicators is what sociologists like to refer to as indulgence. That could be referred to as tolerance, but tolerance, I guess, has a more judgmental value to it. So we don't typically use that. We talk about tolerance. But one thing you're gonna find with Pakistan in general in terms of the culture, and that doesn't necessarily mean the people you specifically do business with, Because again, most of the people you do business with may be foreign educated. They may be a little bit different from the cultural norm or from the the general norm. But Pakistani society as a whole is a great deal less indulgent of differences between people or tolerant of differences, and that correlates with a belief in absolute good and evil or a belief in absolute. Truth in terms of religion. So you should just be aware of that in terms of the people that you do send to do business with Pakistan, because there may be a reaction to different types of people, and that might impact your ability to successfully do business in Pakistan. Remember, when you're ready to grow your international sales, reach out to us. We can help. When you decide it's time to grow your international sales, call us.