After a slight hesitation, the Dutch businessman replied, “Because they are too smiley.”
He had been asked by American-based marketing staff why he was critical of the use of “success stories” as sales collateral. It had become all the rage in the U.S. to use professionally written stories as a way to both flatter important clients and convince prospective customers. He went on to explain that these stories came across to the Dutch as too unrealistic and contrived. To him, the stories even seemed a shade dishonest.
“You mean to tell me the Dutch are not mindless positivists?” asked one of the Americans. The Dutch burst into laughter, vigorously nodding.
There is a difference between the can-do optimism Americans ...
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