Dlaczego Polska?

Poles find the price the most important factor of the purchase. Therefore without at least a rough idea of price ranges they can reject further discussion. Prices in Poland are lower than in western European countries and there is local competition as well, but Poles appreciate foreign companies, especially from western EU or US and trust the quality and advancement of their products is worth investing in.

Offering a good financing option or extended payment conditions is a competitive edge as still most of the investments are made from a company’s own financial assets.

Unlike in Germany, meetings in Poland always start with some small talk, when no topics then about weather. It could even be perceived rude to just go straight to business.

Personal meetings are crucial. There is no chance to do business remotely.

Poles care about a good atmosphere. They are frank, but especially difficult statements are made very politely and in a diplomatic way in order not to offend anyone.

After the small talk, you need to present concrete proposals. Poles don’t like to spend time on high level discussions.

Poles like exaggerating problems. You need to consider that while evaluating your business chances. Often it is a tactic to push down the price or to gain better contract conditions. It’s a game and you should be ready to play. This does not release you from answering all questions and doubts, but gives you a chance to make your offer better and to get to know your partners better.

More and more people, especially in cities, speak English, but in most cases it cannot be the only language of the meeting and negotiations need to be lead in Polish. You can make the presentation and meeting in English, but make sure to deliver supporting materials in Polish and even send some in advance if possible.

Contracts can be written bi-lingually, but the Polish version must prevail in the case of any disputes.

It is a good practice to write down minutes of the meeting and indicate tasks, responsible persons and deadline and circulate it among all meeting participants. Poles are not the best at keeping in touch and sending confirmations and normally assume a small delay is acceptable. They are also very good at improvising so mostly a difficult situation can be creatively solved.

… and in Poland still quite literately. You need to consider that even with some disputes, it’s assumed that the customer is right. Poles are learning how to treat suppliers as partners, but the equality in this relationship is still not there yet. They can get angry and show their emotions in a critical situation, but don’t feel offended, it is an emotional nation. The positive part is that Poles are very open to different solutions for solving any problems, even testing some new ideas that can help.

In the B2B world in Poland, customer churn is rather low and that’s your prize at the end of the sales process. In Poland it is still seldom to regularly renew bidding procedures and review contracts, so if you keep the right level of quality and keep the customer satisfied there is little chance that you’ll need to fight again.