Innovators in Japan Podcast: Kenji Negi

Hey everyone, this is Shohei from Innovators in Japan. I’m excited to bring you another episode of our Innovators in Japan podcast with our guest Kenji Negi, who is currently a Customer Success Manager at OpenX’s Tokyo office. Kenji is a Chicago native who’s experienced Japanese business culture first hand working for both US and Japan-based companies, both in their US and Japan offices.

Throughout the conversation, we ended up talking about his experience moving to Japan, both personally and professionally, what people incorrectly assume about Japanese sales culture, what to do if you want your Japanese branch to be successful, and much, much more. Hope you enjoy.

Some highlights of the conversation include:

• How to take the long view and adapt to Japanese culture as somebody who grew up outside of Japan
• Making customer case studies a strong tool when entering Japan as a company
• Similarities and differences in Japanese and US account management practices
• Myths of Japanese business practices non-Japanese people tend to have that are untrue
• What kinds of expectations non-Japanese companies should have before moving into Japan