'Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands' is a new guide for international sales and marketing

"International sales manager P.J. Delaye was met at Jakarta International Airport (Indonesia) by his prospective distributor, who happily announced, 'I canceled your hotel room; you're coming to my house for the weekend!' write authors Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conaway in "Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Sales and Marketing." "While this major change in plans was startling, it turned out that the contact was married to a daughter of former President Soeharto (Suharto) and their family's home was palatial.

"After Mr. Delaye spent an entire weekend following his prospect's agenda (seeing the country, meeting family, etc.), he was offered a durian — a vile-smelling local fruit that many Indonesians consider a delicacy. Mr. Delaye, who is of French descent, thought the stench was deplorable but gamely tried the fruit. His feat so impressed the Indonesian distributor that he exclaimed, ‘You are the first Caucasian I've met who ate the durian!' Dining on the durian closed the deal."

When I asked Morrison to share some of her favorite anecdotes included in this new book, Morrison cited Delaye's story as "a great example of dealing with things on the fly" and making an effort to adapt to local cultures and customs.

Morrison and Conway's latest volume in the "Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands" series contains many cultural tips like this for communicating and closing deals overseas. Back in the 90s, Morrison first created a digital database on doing business in 60 countries. Some of the first users of this database included Booz Allen Hamilton, AT&T and DuPont. In 1994, that database was the foundation for the first "Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands" book, which is still very popular among international business executives and professors as a reference guide or even "bible" of international culture and business etiquette.

As a fan of these previous "Kiss, Bow" books, I am very pleased with the latest focus on international sales and marketing. This recent release is informative, entertaining and arranged in easy-to-read sections profiling 20 major countries.

In what country might a newly introduced business associate ask you seemingly intrusive "icebreaker" questions about your age or even your salary? According to Morrison and Conway, these may be legitimate topics in Japan for introductory questions to ascertain your status.