Successful business relationships rely more than ever on personal contact. Courtesy, politeness, and service are necessary in all our business and personal relationships. Power etiquette is the ability to learn and use social skills to transact business with thoughtful consideration. This book offers suggestions on ways to treat your clients and business associates with courtesy and respect. It will help you become a more considerate, competent, and credible person.
You will learn appropriate and polite ways to relate to others in the business world. Whenever you meet with clients, you present an image of your company and the way your company conducts its business relationships. Your poise and professionalism affect all your business and social relationships. You want to be your best, bring out the best in your clients, and cultivate lasting business relationships. Your skills in relating to people have never been more critical to your success. Your ability to relate positively and professionally to your colleagues and associates will place you in the forefront.
Our business environment is dominated by technology: videoconferencing, computers, answering machines, facsimile (fax) machines, complex voice message systems, fax-on-demand, e-mail, pagers, cell phones, and more. Although these tools are designed to speed our transactions and improve efficiency, they do not replace the need for personal contact nor free us from the responsibilities of good communication. To the contrary, we have more communication tools to operate, more responses to make, and less time to do it in!
We are under pressure to do more in less time, without sacrificing the quality of our interactions with colleagues and clients. Our business survival depends upon our knowledge and practice of good manners. Business etiquette is not about being rigid or stuck within the confines of rules. Etiquette is better defined as guidelines for conducting business with ease, style, and confidence. So why is there so much resistance? It could be the word itself—etiquette—a French word that conveys an air of sophistication and, perhaps, stuffiness. It is difficult for some people to spell or even pronounce, so why bother with the “rules” of etiquette at all? Because when you properly acknowledge others with whom you conduct business, deliver what you promise, keep in touch, build the relationship, and offer competent service and a reliable product, people will look forward to working with you and will recommend you to others. People gravitate to those who are kind, considerate, thoughtful, courteous, respectful, and interesting.
You, your employees, and your colleagues present your company image wherever you go, during business hours and afterward. You are an extension of your company and the way it conducts business. Whether you are at the grocery store, health club, or on the golf course, you and your company’s image are visible. Be aware of how you conduct yourself; your manners are always showing. Your behavior affects your career in both obvious and subtle ways. Your behavior and manners, good or bad, can open or close the doors to your success. You never get a second chance to make a positive first impression.
Good manners are always in style. They change somewhat with demographics and time but they never disappear. Whether you are sitting for your first interview, re-entering the workplace, taking a new position, or wanting to polish your professional presence for career advancement, your knowledge of business etiquette is essential.
This book offers you the skills you need to use every day. Your “manners tool kit” weighs nothing, is invisible until used, and provides you with the confidence, competence, and comfort to meet new situations with poise and grace.
Some of the situations described may already be part of your own experience; others will be new. Learning how to handle situations appropriately, with proper business etiquette, will begin to prepare you for your next encounter. These are real experiences by real people. Fill your “manners tool kit” with new and necessary skills. The etiquette skills you develop will be useful to you throughout your career and in your personal relationships. Soon your business etiquette will become Power Etiquette. Power comes from knowledge. Knowledge builds confidence and confidence builds leaders. Be a leader by being confident and knowing what to do; practice Power Etiquette.