As I mentioned in my Monday August 1 post, I have a new career advice book being released this month. It’s called Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact. Lydia Ramsey of Manners that Sell is my coauthor.
I’ve decided to give readers of this career success blog a sneak peek at the common sense tweets in Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact this week. Here are some of the common sense tweets you’ll find inside the book.
Meeting Manners
- If you are a first-timer in a group that meets regularly, ask where you should sit. Otherwise you risk taking someone’s usual seat.
- Don’t try to look more important than you are. Constantly checking your watch or cell phone is distracting and rude to those around you.
- Pay attention to your body language. If you are slumping, slouching and looking about the room, you are sending a negative message.
- If you have a valid reason for leaving a meeting early, tell the speaker in advance to avoid any misunderstanding or appearing rude.
- Prepare for the meeting. If an agenda is sent out in advance, read it, take a copy with you, and be ready to participate or take action.
- Arrive on time. When you arrive late, you send a message that your time is more valuable than others or the meeting is not important.
- Close your laptop, shut off your phone. Respect the other people in the meeting by giving them your full attention.
Business Introductions
- When you encounter someone you don’t know, immediately introduce yourself. Don’t wait for someone else to do it for you.
- When you encounter someone you have not seen for a while, reintroduce yourself. Possibly that person has forgotten your name.
- When you can’t remember someone’s name, reintroduce yourself. Most likely he or she will respond in kind with their name.
- When making business introductions, introduce junior people to senior people. Start by saying the name of the senior person first.
- Never avoid an introduction because you can’t remember someone’s name. Confess your memory lapse and ask for the name.
The Business Handshake
- People will judge you by your handshake. Yours should be firm, brief and inviting, not limp or bone-crushing.
- Men and women in business shake hands in the same manner. A man no longer needs to wait for the woman to extend her hand first.
- Always stand to shake hands. It shows courtesy and respect for the other person. By not standing, the business person loses credibility.
- If for some reason, such as an injury, you are unable to shake hands, always offer an apology and an explanation.
Customer Courtesy
- The three essentials of customer courtesy, which is the same as customer service, are eye contact, a smile, and using your customer’s name.
- When addressing customers, use their title (Mr., Mrs., or Ms.) until they give you permission to call them by their first name.
- Be yourself, as Mom told you. Don’t put on airs to impress clients. They will see right through you and soon become former clients.
International Business
- Be prepared before you travel. Read as much as you can and talk to other people about the countries where you will be doing business.
- The handshake is the universal business greeting. While there are variations on the firmness and length, the right hand is always used.
- Hugging and kissing are common greetings in business settings in parts of Europe and Asia. Do your homework and know what to expect.
- Learn to bow. Most Asian cultures have adapted to the handshake. Show respect by learning their traditional customs as well.
- Business attire is as important in other countries as it is here. Dress to the culture, which is often more conservative than U.S. dress.
- Always send your host a hand-written thank you note. This is one tradition that will hopefully never change, no matter where you are.
One More Thing…
- Knowing is not enough. Poised and polished professionals will read and act on this career advice. Be poised, polished and professional.
I hope you found these common sense tweets to be helpful in your journey to the life and career success you want and deserve. I’ll let you know when Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact will be available. It will be out sometime in August 2011. As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success. I value you and I appreciate you.
Bud
PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained. It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail. Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy. You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.
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