Vietnam – Son Tran - Communicating with Other Cultures

Following up on the first post of my newsletter on LinkedIn, I am sharing this week’s article with a summary of the interview I did with Son Tran, from Vietnam.??

Son is a serial entrepreneur from Vietnam who recently immigrated to the United States to become a professor teaching business at SUNY (State University of New York State) Cobleskill, in upstate New York.? He also manages the Entrepreneurship Center at SUNY Cobleskill.

The article below is only a short summary of the conversation I had with Son, but in the recorded video, he explains more about how the cultural differences exist in different regions of the country, due to its history and how it has affected people’s mindsets until today. ?Son shared some rich insights and suggestions for foreigners to take note when communicating with their counterparts in the country.? Don’t miss out Son’s full video interview on this direct link.

For more information about Son, and his work, you can reach him through this link:?

LinkedIn:? https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/son-tran-ph-d-85a8832

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As I mentioned in the first post of this newsletter, all the international interviewees will be asked the same 7 questions.? The objective is for us to learn new insights on the most effective way to communicate and understand different cultures when doing business in the specific country where the interviewees work at.?

This will help the foreign businessperson who wants to enter a new market to increase empathy and cultural understanding with their international colleagues, clients, or partners.?

We will be publishing the full recorded interviews on our recently rebranded and relaunched YouTube Channel.?? I will share a summarized version of each of the interviews through a new article on this newsletter.? ?Do not forget to subscribe to the YouTube Channel and receive updates of the future interviews we will be organizing.

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So, let’s begin!

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The 7 questions, and Son’s answers, are the following:

1.?Tell us more about you and what kind of work you do.

Son is enthusiastic about teaching students the business principles on how to open and run a business.? He has a lot of experience running businesses back in Vietnam and sees this opportunity of working at the Entrepreneurship Center, and teaching at SUNY Cobleskill, as a chance to share a more global vision with the staff and students at the institution.?

Son has also studied and lived in the former Soviet Union for 10 years, and then returned to Vietnam.? He has lived in the United States in total of 5 years already, between his studies and moving there recently.? He has also traveled to 25 countries, which enables him to acquire a global perspective on cultural aspects when doing business abroad.?

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2.?What are some things you recommend people to do or say when first meeting and speaking with a person with whom they might initiate a new project or business opportunity together in Vietnam?? What should someone not do or say?

Son first highlights that the country has had difficult times in the past, and Son remembers one foreign diplomat serving in Vietnam mentioning to a group of people one time, “Vietnam is not a war, it is a country.”? Son recommends not asking or talking about the past wars in the country when you first encounter a Vietnamese for a business meeting or trying to break the ice in this initial interaction.?

The country is still divided about the war, he says, but after you get to know the local people, they will feel more comfortable with you, and then you can talk about anything.? Vietnamese people are very open.

Considering that Vietnam is still a communist country, it is a flexible communist, as Son describes it.? There exists a market economy, like in China, and the country is allowed to do business with others.? ?

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3.?We recognize that it is important to have a deeper cultural understanding of a local place when doing business there.? What cultural aspects might be considered when doing business in Vietnam?

The country has different regions, that have different cultural aspects.? Vietnamese people consider the country divided into 3 parts: the north, middle, and south.? But it is identified as a country divided into north and south regions.? The middle part is somewhat blurred and seen as belonging more to the southern region.?

The southern and middle regions were more aligned with a pro-American stance, during the Vietnam war, and the northern region was pro-socialist, supporting Russia and China.? It very important to be cautious when asking opinion from people in these different regions, in terms of politics, life, and the economy, for example.

If you do business in the northern region, you will find people very capable and smart, as Son explains.? But they will be more risk averse, they are not as flexible and are more aligned with the government way of thinking.

In the south, people are more flexible, willing to take more risk, and have a custom of honoring agreements with just a handshake.? In the north, it is essential to have signed agreements, on paper. ?

It is important to highlight that Vietnam is a very densely populated country, only second to Indonesia in Southeast Asia in population size.? A relatively smaller country than others in the region, there are an estimated 96 million people in the country, which is a very big market for business opportunities as well.

Just to reinforce, throughout the country, a signed and formal agreement is necessary for business interactions.? Yet, in the southern region, there is more flexibility and trust when doing business, and an initial handshake can be a starting point in discussions.? In the north, it is recommended to be more formal from the beginning when discussing business opportunities.??

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4.?If someone does not speak Vietnamese, what do you suggest a foreigner do to be able to communicate more successfully with locals in Vietnam, and to be able to do business there?

Normally, the foreign businessperson uses an interpreter when they are meeting with local Vietnamese partners or clients.? Everything should be written down on paper during the meetings.

When communicating with the Vietnamese, there are signs that can be misunderstood by Westerners.? These “codes,” in the spoken language, are usually only understood by someone with better knowledge of the local culture.?

People in Vietnam tend to be agreeable.? They say yes, but in fact, they may not be ok with the proposition. When they say yes or ok, it is best to double check.? They want to be nice at the moment, but they actually may be disagreeing with you.?

English is improving in the country.? Younger generations are learning and speaking English very well, Son explains.

It would be advisable to notify the local Vietnamese counterparts that the language to be spoken in the meetings will be in English, if that is how you want to set up the meetings, so that they can prepare beforehand.? Some people will try to speak English with you, in Vietnam, or they can bring someone to the meeting who does speak better English.

*Son provides some examples in the video interview.? Don’t forget to watch it to learn more.

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5.?To get better results in visibility or sales, what are your recommendations on the most effective ways to do marketing for products or services in Vietnam?

Son points out that you cannot use newspaper for marketing and other purposes because there is no freedom of press in the country.? ?The government decides what is written or not in newspapers.?

It is recommended to talk to people, especially people in the business sector in Vietnam, to understand better the best strategies locally to market your products or services.?

In terms of social media, Son doesn’t see many companies using these platforms as much.? There are a lot of people who would make negative comments towards the company and its products.? Son recommends having a direct communication channel, perhaps through the website of the company, to establish this dialogue with the customers.? ?

Facebook could be an option, but Son reinforces that you must control the comments and discussions online if you use this platform for marketing purposes.?

The country is still divided, mentally at least, between north and south, so there will be people from the different regions speaking badly about the other side, and the business interactions they are doing.?

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6. If a business partner in Vietnam wants to get to know you better, and invites you to a local coffee / tea place, restaurant, or wants to do a “virtual happy hour” via Zoom, what are the kinds of topics people in Vietnam like to talk about, and that is not related to business, for example?? ?

If you invite someone in Vietnam to a social gathering, like lunch or dinner, they will return this favor to you as well.

One question a local Vietnamese will usually ask you is your opinion of Vietnam.? What do you think about Vietnam?? As a tourist or businessperson, they may ask you for your opinion about the changes the country is going through.? They are interested in your perspective on this.

They would love to hear from you, on what you know about the country.? So do your homework before going to Vietnam.? Learn of its history.??

Avoid talking about the past wars that the country has gone through, since it is a sensitive topic to talk about.? It is more important to learn more about the person.?

Even with a challenging history of having fought many wars, Son proudly states that the Vietnamese are happy people.? They tend to live a happy life.? They are open minded, and after you get to know them better, perhaps you can talk about more sensitive topics.?

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7. What one word should everyone learn to say in Vietnamese, and why??

When arriving in Vietnam, there is an important word everyone should learn and use.? You should say Xin chào, which means hello!

Saying thank you is also a key word to use when meeting with your local counterparts in Vietnam.? The word is, C?m ?n. ?It is very much appreciated by the locals.

They are grateful of any good actions by the foreigners.? They want to communicate more with foreigners.? Son reminds everyone that the country used to be very closed, so now the locals are very curious to learn more about the foreigners, their cultures, and interests.

Additional words to know:

Please means, Xin vui long.

Sorry means, Xin l?i

Goodbye is, t?m bi?t.

But the key words to use are Xin chào and C?m ?n.

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Son ends the interview by inviting everyone to Vietnam.? It’s a beautiful country, but Vietnam does not do good marketing of the country to the world, he says.

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I hope you enjoyed this summary of the conversation with Son, and don’t forget to watch the full video interview with her through this direct link, and subscribe to our recently rebranded and relaunched YouTube Channel for more content on cross-cultural communication tips and lessons learned to share with everyone.?

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• Is there anything else, related to cultural or communication aspects with Vietnamese counterparts, that you think would be interesting to share with everyone as well??
• Or some experiences you may have had when working with Vietnamese colleagues, clients, or partners? Feel free to write them below in the comments.
• What other country (countries) do you want us to highlight in this channel, and to share their cultural and communication insights and suggestions?

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Would you like to recommend someone for us to interview from a specific country?? If so, write to us at, [email protected], for us to learn more about this person.

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*Please note that the answers provided by Son are based on his own experiences and knowledge of the local culture.? There is no intention to generalize all the Vietnamese to any specific behavior mentioned in this interview.

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Thank you again (C?m ?n, in Vietnamese).

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