John N Vassos | How To Communicate in International Business

Mastering Cross-cultural Communication in the Business World

Our world is connected. We are connected to people by our phones, our laptops, and our social media accounts.

There are lots of great benefits to being connected to people around the world, but there are also challenges. Business communication in a multi-cultural world takes a strong cultural competence.

One challenge is how to handle cross-cultural communication. There’s a lot that goes into studying international business and producing effective communication across borders.

Keep an Open Mind

According to John Vassos of CAPX Solutions: “When communicating with someone from abroad you’ll need to keep your mind open. Intercultural communication takes a clear head and an open mind in order to effectively understand the other party.”

Don’t let prejudices or preconceived notions of that person’s country cloud your mind as you speak with them.

Instead, understand that what you know about them may not be accurate. You may have made assumptions based on common stereotypes or biases.

Instead of immediately judging that person, wait and listen and try to learn from what they say.

Understand Diversity

If you’re communicating with someone different from you, whether they’re a different ethnicity or from a different country, you need to understand diversity.

Know that not everyone grew up how you did, listens to the same music as you do, or eats the food you like.

Understand that different cultures have very different customs that will affect the way they communicate with you.

If you know you’ll be communicating with someone from another country on a regular basis, do some research on their country. Learn about them. Try to figure out what about their culture’s communication style is different from yours.

 

  Stay Simple

Today, English is considered the universal language of business. However, that doesn’t mean that everyone is fluent!

You may find yourself communicating with people who have different levels of English or who may not speak English at all. For effective business communication, know the audience you are speaking with and be prepared to work with people who are not fluent English speakers.

Keep the words and phrases you use simple. Avoid idioms. Idioms are confusing and are very colloquial. Not everyone knows what they mean, and it is confusing to explain to someone.

It’s also important to speak in short, simple sentences. Make sure that you aren’t talking too much or too quickly. Try to keep things clearly pronounced and understandable so that the other person can effectively communicate with you.

Get Help!

It may seem like a failure to have to use a translator, but sometimes that’s the best option!

Getting a translator ensures that your communication is clearly understood by the other person. There’s no concern that they won’t understand your grammar, accent, or vocabulary. Instead, you can rely on a highly trained professional to clear up the confusion for you.

It’s also a great idea to get a simple phrase book of the other culture’s language. Knowing a few phrases can help you in a pinch.

If you’re trying to communicate a simple concept but can’t break it down, knowing a few handy phrases can be a lifesaver!

Cross-cultural communication easily gets tricky and convoluted. Don’t let it! Follow our guide to making sure your messages never get lost.

Here at CapX Solutions, we believe in positive communication around the world. We work with everyone to bring down barriers and increase productivity in your worklace.

John Vassos

John Vassos graduated from Salisbury University, after which time he took over BCE Corporation. BCE Corporation is a family-owned office equipment company which is based in Bethesda, Maryland and was started by his father. Initially, the company was a small office with only a few employees, but John Vassos has grown it to what it is today - a multi-million dollar company with clients all over the country. John Vassos is also a philanthropist, who began his work volunteering as a football coach at the Bullis School shortly after finishing college. John went on to coach his children’s football teams and even led four teams to Pop Warner National Championships. John loved teaching his boys and the teams they played on about teamwork and the value each team member has. John’s philanthropic efforts also went toward funding expenses the team incurred and ensuring that anyone could join, regardless of the cost.

John began to focus more of his philanthropy on giving schools scholarships. Between both his personal and corporate giving, John has given over 2 million dollars to children who cannot afford to go to schools in the area. He hopes to change their path by giving them access to an outstanding education.

In 2011, John sold BCE Corporation to Sharp Electronics and planned to retire. He quickly grew tired of retirement and went back into business in 2016 when he opened CapX Solutions LLC. Similar to BCE Corporation, CapX Solutions sells office equipment and has also grown to service hundreds of clients and generate millions of dollars in revenue. He continues to fund his philanthropic work with CapX Solutions, and his most recent effort was creating a 3-year scholarship to the Washington Jesuit Academy. Many other organizations also benefit from John’s work, including the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and The National Center For Children and Families.

Today, John lives in Bethesda, MD with his wife and four children, Nicholas, Erica, Allison, and Luke. Nicholas has taken after his father has been key in growing CapX Solutions to what it is now with a new office located in the heart of Bethesda.

John N Vassos PRESIDENT, CAPX Solutions LLC

John N Vassos - Sales and Service of Office Equipments at CAPX Solutions.

John Vassos has spent his whole adult life as both a businessman and philanthropist. After graduating from Salisbury University, he took over running BCE Corporation, the family-owned office equipment business that his father started. It quickly grew from a small, two-room office to a multi-million dollar company with hundreds of clients. His philanthropy also began during those early years after college as a volunteer football coach at his alma mater, the Bullis School. As his business and family grew, John spent most afternoons after work on the fields of his sons, coaching their teams, and even took four football teams to Pop Warner National Championships. He loved teaching these boys how to play football, but more importantly about teamwork and the value everyone has on the team. One year his team even won both the Pop Warner National Championship and the Sportsmanship award, a combination that had never been achieved before. He personally funded most of the expenses these teams incurred, including all their travel, so anyone could play regardless of how much it cost.

As his business grew, he began to focus much of his giving on helping schools with scholarships and financial aid. To date, between his personal and corporate giving, he has donated over 2 million dollars so underprivileged youth can attend the best schools in our area, with the hopes of changing their trajectory through education.

John was fortunate to sell BCE Corporation to Sharp Electronics in 2011 but soon discovered early retirement wasn’t for him, and in 2016, opened CapX Solutions LLC, another office equipment sales and service business. Like BCE Corporation, CapX Solutions has also quickly grown to a multi-million dollar company with hundreds of clients. Through this thriving business, he continues to fund the philanthropic projects he is passionate about, most recently supporting a 3-year scholarship for a young man at the Washington Jesuit Academy. There are so many other organizations that benefit from his giving that it would be impossible to name them, but the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and The National Center For Children and Families are just a few among many.

John currently lives in Bethesda, MD with his wife of 31 years. He has four grown children, Nicholas, Erica, Allison, and Luke. Nicholas is following in his father’s footsteps and has been instrumental in growing CapX Solutions, just as John did with his own father’s business.