Underpromise, overdeliver: How to sell in Southeast Asia

Viktor Kyosev is chief of staff at Docquity, an online community for healthcare professionals.

I don’t have a background in sales, but early in my career, I had to figure it out.

This was particularly important when I started working in Southeast Asia, first as the co-founder of photography marketplace Snaplio in Malaysia in 2016. Since then I’ve held various roles at companies in Indonesia and Singapore.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

I discovered that this region has little tolerance for businesses that aren’t making money, so I learned the indispensable role of sales the hard way.

In my last business, through trial and error, I grew revenues from zero to US$1 million in annual recurring revenue.

Given the unique nature of the region and its high degree of price sensitivity, I want to share what has worked well for me:

1. Not in writing? Then it didn’t happen, sorry.

2. Be highly responsive. No matter the day of the week or time of the day (as long as you are not asleep), you have to respond fast. It doesn’t need to be a sophisticated reply – you just need to acknowledge the message, as people here value attentiveness.

3. Most people overpromise and underdeliver. The easiest way to drive positive word of mouth is to do the opposite.

4. Everyone expects some level of negotiations on price, but many people will push for unreasonably more. Those clients will require a lot of attention and will deliver little revenue. Think carefully if you want to deal with them.

5. Follow your client’s preferred method of communication, but then summarize decisions over email to avoid misunderstandings.

6. Connect with prospects in an authentic way. The typical playbook in Southeast Asia is whiskey and karaoke, but I don’t buy into that. I prefer to sell by connecting authentically and delivering on my promises.

7. Always enter the meeting prepared, with a high degree of context on the current state of the deal. Repeat back to the client their challenge or frustration to prove that you actually understood it.