Know your customers…

Few days back, there was a post which highlighted “How language barrier could be a hindrance to your business“. Today’s article came in as an email forward from Alok Padhi that very well explains the above mentioned problem[& would surely bring a smile on your face ].

A disappointed salesman of Coca Cola returns from his Middle East assignment.A friend asked, “Why weren’t you successful with the Arabs?”

The salesman explained

“When I got posted in the Middle East , I was very confident that I would make a good sales pitch as Cola is virtually unknown there. But, I had a problem I didn’t know to speak Arabic. So, I planned to convey the message through three posters…

First poster
A man lying in the hot desert sand…totally exhausted and fainting.

Second poster
The man is drinking our Cola.

Third poster
Our man is now totally refreshed.

And then these posters were pasted all over the place “Then that should have worked!” said the friend. “What the hell it should!? said the salesman,but I didn’t realize that Arabs read from right to left”