get_country_brief

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/main.ts:173-173 (registration)

  Tool 'get_country_brief' is registered in the ListToolsRequestSchema handler with inputSchema requiring a 'country' string parameter.

  { name: "get_country_brief", description: "Country-specific APAC buyer psychology, communication style, what works/kills, sales cycle, compliance, optimal times, seasonal warnings.", inputSchema: { type: "object", properties: { country: { type: "string", enum: Object.keys(COUNTRY_BRIEFS) } }, required: ["country"] } },

• src/main.ts:187-187 (handler)

  Tool handler for 'get_country_brief': looks up the country key in COUNTRY_BRIEFS and returns the brief as JSON.

  case "get_country_brief": { const d = COUNTRY_BRIEFS[country]; if (!d) throw new Error(`Unknown country: ${country}`); return { content: [{ type: "text", text: JSON.stringify({ module: "APAC Country Brief", ...d }, null, 2) }] }; }

• src/main.ts:11-100 (helper)

  The COUNTRY_BRIEFS data structure containing country-specific buyer psychology, communication style, what works/kills, sales cycle, compliance, optimal times, and seasonal warnings for 8 APAC countries.

  const COUNTRY_BRIEFS: Record<string, any> = {
    japan: {
      market: "Japan", flag: "🇯🇵",
      buyer_psychology: "Lifetime employment culture. Consensus-driven (nemawashi/ringi). Risk-averse, formality-first, long-term relationship oriented. Decisions never rushed.",
      communication_style: "Highly formal at first. Use proper honorifics (-san, -sama). Bow culture even on Zoom. Indirect communication — 'maybe difficult' = no.",
      what_works: ["Patience over months/years for enterprise","Detailed documentation in Japanese","Senior-to-senior introductions (the meishi exchange protocol)","Kaisya-name-first introductions, surname-only thereafter","Group consensus building before final 'yes'","Quality and precision over speed"],
      what_kills_deals: ["Direct 'will you buy?' questions","Western pressure tactics","Rushing the relationship","Showing impatience","First-name basis without invitation","English-only communication for traditional industries"],
      sales_cycle: "6-18 months for enterprise. 3-9 months for SMB. Decisions involve nemawashi (groundwork) + ringi (formal proposal circulation).",
      compliance_note: "Personal Information Protection Act (APPI). Recently strengthened. Cross-border data transfer needs explicit consent.",
      optimal_outreach_times: "Tuesday-Thursday, 9am-11am or 1pm-4pm JST. Avoid early morning + after 6pm.",
      seasonal_warnings: "Golden Week (late Apr-early May), Obon (mid-Aug), New Year (Dec 28 - Jan 5) all dead."
    },
    singapore: {
      market: "Singapore", flag: "🇸🇬",
      buyer_psychology: "Pragmatic, English-fluent, fast cycles. Multicultural (Chinese-Malay-Indian-Western). Trust efficiency and clarity. Strong rule-of-law expectation.",
      communication_style: "Direct but courteous. English standard. Mix of Western directness with Asian respect for hierarchy.",
      what_works: ["Concise English communication","Quick decisions, clear pricing","Government-grant / regulator-friendly framing","Cross-border (US/UK/AU) case studies","Online demos work well","ASEAN regional positioning"],
      what_kills_deals: ["Vague pricing","Too much enthusiasm or fluff","Ignoring race/religion sensitivities","Not understanding MOM regulations","Slow response times"],
      sales_cycle: "1-3 months SMB, 3-6 months enterprise. Among the fastest in APAC.",
      compliance_note: "PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act). DNC Registry for marketing. Spam Control Act on email.",
      optimal_outreach_times: "Tuesday-Thursday, 10am-12pm or 2pm-5pm SGT. Government calendar = many public holidays.",
      seasonal_warnings: "Chinese New Year (Jan/Feb), Hari Raya, Deepavali — check Singapore public holidays."
    },
    korea: {
      market: "South Korea", flag: "🇰🇷",
      buyer_psychology: "Hierarchical (chaebol culture). Relationship-driven (jeong). Confucian respect for age/status. Quality and brand obsessed.",
      communication_style: "Formal initially, with proper honorifics (-님). 'Ppalli ppalli' (fast fast) culture but hierarchy must be respected. Drinking culture for relationship building.",
      what_works: ["Senior-to-senior introductions","Demonstrating commitment to long-term presence","Korean-language materials for non-international companies","Using 'we' over 'I' (collectivism)","Brand-name customer references","Patient persistence — they test commitment"],
      what_kills_deals: ["Disrespecting hierarchy (skipping levels)","Refusing dinner/drinking culture invitations","Being too casual","English-only outreach for traditional Korean firms","Rushing past pleasantries"],
      sales_cycle: "3-9 months for enterprise. Chaebol decisions can take 12+ months. SMB faster (1-3 mo).",
      compliance_note: "Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). Strict on cross-border transfer. KCC enforcement.",
      optimal_outreach_times: "Tuesday-Thursday, 10am-12pm or 2pm-5pm KST. Avoid Friday afternoons.",
      seasonal_warnings: "Lunar New Year (Seollal, Jan/Feb), Chuseok (Sep/Oct), summer vacation (late Jul-mid Aug)."
    },
    india: {
      market: "India", flag: "🇮🇳",
      buyer_psychology: "Relationship-driven, price-sensitive, consensus-oriented. Family-business culture in many sectors. Long meetings, lots of follow-up. Federal — state variations matter (Mumbai vs Bangalore vs Delhi vs Chennai).",
      communication_style: "Warm and personal. English fluent in business contexts. Indirect 'no' — 'we'll think about it' often means no. Negotiation expected.",
      what_works: ["Building personal rapport before business","Flexible pricing (negotiation IS expected)","Mobile-first outreach (WhatsApp business common)","Local references in same city/region","Showing patience with bureaucracy","Handling multi-stakeholder approvals"],
      what_kills_deals: ["Inflexibility on pricing/terms","Ignoring relationship investment","Skipping the small talk","Not understanding state-level differences","Underestimating procurement length"],
      sales_cycle: "3-9 months. Government-related: 6-18 months. Procurement complex.",
      compliance_note: "Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023. SPDI Rules. State-specific shops & establishments laws.",
      optimal_outreach_times: "Tuesday-Friday, 10:30am-12:30pm or 3pm-6pm IST. Avoid Monday mornings.",
      seasonal_warnings: "Diwali (Oct/Nov), Holi (March), Q4 (Jan-Mar) is fiscal year-end push, monsoon season slow."
    },
    australia: {
      market: "Australia", flag: "🇦🇺",
      buyer_psychology: "Direct, egalitarian, anti-hierarchy. 'Tall poppy syndrome' — distrust self-promotion. Practical, value-driven.",
      communication_style: "Casual-direct. First names always. Humor and self-deprecation valued. No corporate fluff.",
      what_works: ["Casual confidence (not arrogant)","Australian / NZ case studies","Cricket/footy references appropriate","Practical demos over slides","Beer-with-the-boss informality at senior levels","Respecting work-life balance"],
      what_kills_deals: ["Bragging or excessive self-promotion","Formal corporate-speak","Ignoring the 'fair go' value","Calling outside business hours","Being too American (sales-y) — they smell it instantly"],
      sales_cycle: "2-4 months SMB, 4-8 months enterprise. Federal/state govt slower.",
      compliance_note: "Privacy Act 1988 + Australian Privacy Principles. Spam Act 2003 for email. Do Not Call Register.",
      optimal_outreach_times: "Tue-Thu, 9-11am or 1-4pm AEST. Avoid Friday afternoons + school holidays.",
      seasonal_warnings: "Christmas-New Year (mid-Dec to mid-Jan) effectively dead. Easter long weekend. Footy finals season impacts attention in Sep-Oct."
    },
    hongkong: {
      market: "Hong Kong", flag: "🇭🇰",
      buyer_psychology: "Fast-moving financial hub. East-meets-West. Pragmatic + relationship-driven. Strong British colonial business heritage with modern Asian sensibilities.",
      communication_style: "English-Cantonese bilingual. Formal in writing, friendly in person. Status-aware (which firm, which floor in IFC).",
      what_works: ["Quick, sharp pitches","Cantonese-friendly business cards/materials","Lunch meetings (yum cha culture)","Financial services positioning","Cross-border references (esp. US, UK, China)","Speed to deal"],
      what_kills_deals: ["Mainland China-specific approaches (politically sensitive post-2020)","Slow follow-up","Not respecting time zones (HK juggles US + Europe + Asia)","Confusing HK with mainland China"],
      sales_cycle: "1-4 months SMB, 3-6 months enterprise. Faster than most APAC.",
      compliance_note: "Personal Data Privacy Ordinance (PDPO). Spam: Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance.",
      optimal_outreach_times: "Tue-Fri, 9am-11am or 2pm-5pm HKT. Many in office until 7-8pm.",
      seasonal_warnings: "Chinese New Year (Jan/Feb), Easter, October Golden Week impact."
    },
    taiwan: {
      market: "Taiwan", flag: "🇹🇼",
      buyer_psychology: "Tech-heavy economy (TSMC and ecosystem). Relationship-warm, less hierarchical than Korea/Japan but more than HK. Mandarin-Taiwanese bilingual.",
      communication_style: "Friendly-formal. Use of LINE messenger common in business. Mandarin Chinese standard for traditional firms.",
      what_works: ["Tech-supply-chain references","Traditional Mandarin (NOT simplified)","LINE messenger for follow-ups","Building genuine relationships","Patience and politeness","Foodie culture — meals matter"],
      what_kills_deals: ["Simplified Chinese characters (signals mainland)","Calling Taiwan 'China' (sensitive)","Pushing too hard","Skipping the meal invitation","Ignoring tech-stack alignment"],
      sales_cycle: "2-6 months SMB, 4-9 months enterprise.",
      compliance_note: "Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). Spam regulations under Telecommunications Act.",
      optimal_outreach_times: "Tue-Thu, 9am-12pm or 2pm-5pm TWT. Many work late.",
      seasonal_warnings: "Lunar New Year (Jan/Feb), Tomb Sweeping (April), Mid-Autumn Festival (Sep/Oct)."
    },
    indonesia: {
      market: "Indonesia", flag: "🇮🇩",
      buyer_psychology: "Relationship-first, hierarchical, religion-conscious (largely Muslim). Patience essential. Bahasa Indonesia for non-international companies.",
      communication_style: "Warm and respectful. Use of Bapak/Ibu (Mr/Mrs). Indirect communication. Smiling can mean discomfort, not agreement.",
      what_works: ["Building trust over multiple meetings","Bahasa Indonesia materials","Respecting prayer times (5x daily)","Halal-friendly business practices","Family-business cultural awareness","Long-term presence signals"],
      what_kills_deals: ["Arrogant Western approach","Ignoring religious sensitivities","Underestimating bureaucracy","Direct confrontation","Female sales reps without local cultural prep (varies)"],
      sales_cycle: "4-10 months SMB, 6-12 months enterprise. Lots of meetings.",
      compliance_note: "Personal Data Protection Law (PDP) 2022. ITE Law on electronic transactions. KOMINFO regulations.",
      optimal_outreach_times: "Tue-Thu, 9am-11am or 1pm-3pm WIB (avoid prayer times: ~12-1pm, ~3-3:30pm).",
      seasonal_warnings: "Ramadan (varies, lunar) — slow business hours. Eid al-Fitr week. Lunar New Year for Chinese-Indonesian firms."
    }
  };