GM to the Top 1% 👋
Today's different. No frameworks. No checklists. Just a story and a lesson that took me 66 countries to learn.
🎯 THE MARKET IN MARRAKECH
A few years ago, I was wandering through the souks of Marrakech.
Imagine a labyrinth of narrow alleys packed with stalls selling everything from spices to leather to handmade copper lamps.
I stopped at a stall because a lantern caught my eye. The seller — a man who'd probably been doing this since before I was born — didn't pitch me. He didn't list features. He didn't quote a price.
He asked me where I was from.
"Ukraine, originally. Now the US."
His face lit up. He told me about a Ukrainian couple who'd bought a lamp from him years ago and sent him a photo of it hanging in their apartment in Kyiv. He asked about my family. About my travels.
Ten minutes later, I'd bought three lanterns. At a price I'm sure was generous to him. And I didn't care.
Because the purchase wasn't about the lanterns. It was about the connection.
🌍 TRUST IS THE UNIVERSAL CURRENCY
I've sold in boardrooms from San Francisco to Singapore. Negotiated in markets in Istanbul. Collaborated with teams in Tokyo, Berlin, São Paulo, and Mumbai.
Across 66 countries, one truth holds everywhere:
People buy from people they trust. And trust isn't built through pitching.
But trust doesn't look the same everywhere.
In the US, trust is built through competence and efficiency. Show me you know your stuff, respect my time, and I'll trust you.
In Japan, trust is built through patience and protocol. Rush the relationship and you'll never get a second meeting.
In the Middle East, trust is built through hospitality and personal connection. Business happens after the third cup of tea, not before.
In Northern Europe, trust is built through data and directness. Don't waste my time with stories — show me the evidence.
Same outcome. Completely different paths.
🔑 THE IMMIGRANT'S ADVANTAGE
When I moved from Ukraine to the US, I had no network. No cultural fluency. No understanding of how American business really worked.
I had to learn everything by watching.
That disadvantage became my biggest advantage.
Because when you can't rely on shared culture, shared schools, or shared assumptions, you develop a different skill: the ability to read a room before you try to sell it.
I learned to notice things native-born sellers take for granted: → How people greet each other (tells you the formality level) → Where they sit in a meeting (tells you the power dynamics) → What questions they ask first (tells you what they actually care about) → How they say no (some cultures never use the word)
Every sales rep today is selling across cultures. Even if you never leave the US. Your prospects come from different industries, different generations, different functional backgrounds.
The rep who treats every prospect the same will close some deals.
The rep who adapts to every prospect will close most of them.
📖 THREE RULES FROM 66 COUNTRIES
Rule 1: Listen for what's not being said. "Let me think about it" might mean "I hate this but I'm too polite to say so." Reading between the lines is a superpower.
Rule 2: The sale starts before the meeting. In relationship-first cultures, the "meeting" isn't where selling happens. It's where trust that was built beforehand gets converted into action.
Rule 3: Curiosity beats charisma. Every time. The seller who asks the best questions wins in every culture, every industry, and every decade. Charisma gets you the first meeting. Curiosity gets you the deal.
That lantern seller in Marrakech didn't have a LinkedIn profile or a CRM. But he had the most important skill in sales: he was genuinely curious about the person standing in front of him.
✍️ YOUR HOMEWORK
Before your next sales call, spend 5 minutes researching not just the company — but the person. Where are they from? What do they post about on LinkedIn?
Then adjust. If they're data-driven, lead with numbers. If they're relationship-oriented, lead with rapport. If they're time-conscious, lead with a clear agenda.
Same product. Different path to trust.
💬 QUESTION OF THE DAY
What's the most important cultural lesson you've learned in your selling career?
Hit reply — the best stories come from the most unexpected places.
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See you tomorrow,
Edward Founder, Morning Sales
P.S. Tomorrow we're talking about the biggest shift happening in sales right now: AI agents. Not the hype. Not the fear-mongering. The practical reality of what's changing and what it means for your career.