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The following page shows you the steps you need to follow in creating
this plan.

KEY STEPS TO YOUR INTERNATIONAL VISITOR
WELCOME PLAN
1. Take stock and map the profile of your overseas visitors against the
existing language and cultural skills in your business. Involve your
employees as much as possible.

2. Think about the skills, in addition to language and cultural skills, of
the staff you will need to recruit – for example in marketing, web
development, HR and training.

3. Build your plan as necessary to:
 Develop the intercultural skills needed for overseas visitors.
 Develo clear and effective training in communication skills.
 Acquire and make use of basic to advanced language skills
throughout your company and develop these skills further.
 Use professional translation and interpreting services.
 Adapt your signage, printed information and website.

YOUR PLAN: DEVELOPING INTERCULTURAL SKILLS

Language barriers can be obvious but what about cultural differences?
Intercultural skills are the skills that can help us communicate flexibly
and sensitively with people from other cultures. You can improve
your customer relations in the following ways:

1. Enhance your team’s knowledge by observing other cultures and
accessing information through books, the Internet and cultural
briefings.
2. Encourage staff to understand their own cultural attitudes, and
develop cultural awareness and international communication skills
through training. They should ask themselves:
 how comfortable or uncomfortable are they with the distance that
a client stands away, and in engaging in body or eye contact?
 is the client’s behaviour different from their own expectations?
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