Ask international professionals to describe North Americans and inevitably one of the most common words that they use is “demanding."  In Spanish they usually use the word exigente, which also means "demanding."  Funny thing though, when people use this term to describe North Americans, it seems to have a positive connotation.  Often they say things like, “demanding yes, but fair,” “demanding, yes, but open.”

Christian Sala uses similar terminology in one of our videotaped interviews when he discusses whether North Americans fit the stereotype of being pushy:

Well, in my opinion and in my experience I can say that when North Americans are negotiating, yes you can say that they are direct; they are rigorous, and are a little demanding as related to certain subjects, but in no way can I say that they are pushy or to use a more Spanish term, that they pressure you or that you feel pressured, pressured to make a quick decision.  For example they don’t say things like, "if you don’t make this decision now I can’t keep this price."  They don’t do things of that nature.  I cannot say that this is my experience.  My experience is more that they are direct, they go straight to the heart of the matter, and they have a relatively clear idea of what their topics are.  They know the aspects of what is on the table to negotiate, but I cannot say that I have felt pressured at all, in fact quite the contrary.

If by “demanding” you mean that Americans go straight to the heart of the matter and that they have a clear idea of what their objects are, well then yes, Americans can be exigente.  So there you go, a perfect example of how sometimes cultural differences can be seen as a positive thing.