Business Crude
Americans have never been known for their manners and etiquette, but apparently electronic communication has made this worse. I remember when we were taught in high school how to write polite business letters. Anyone remember, 1) date, 2) inside address, 3) greeting/salutation, 4) paragraph or two of information, 5) closing, 6) signature? Badaunt gives examples of trying to help friends doing business overseas (she's from New Zealand and lives in Japan):"The U.S. is the worst in terms of simple business etiquette, and I can't blame email for this. On one memorable occasion before we had email, a response to a fax I sent was my own fax sent back with a scrawled, difficult-to-read note in the margin and an arrow pointing to the question it was answering. The question was answered, but showing it to our client was embarrassing, it was so unprofessional. This was an extreme example, but unbusinesslike responses are not unusual. The tone is not professional, questions are not answered fully, and most of the time if there is more than one question they are not answered at all.
The same goes for companies in the U.K.. People apparently do not read emails to the end, and nor do they read them properly. Responses from the U.K. tend to be more professional in tone, but the content is no better."
She gives some suggestions:
1. PLEASE LEARN TO READ AND WRITE. Alternatively, hire somebody who can. A person who can compose professional, businesslike letters addressing your clients concerns in full will do wonders for your company's image in the international business world.
2. PLEASE DO NOT PUT UP A WEBSITE WITH A SPECIAL FORM FOR ENQUIRIES IF YOU HAVE NO INTENTION OF RESPONDING TO THE ENQUIRIES YOU ARE SENT.
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2 comments:
As a former secretary in training I always thought this was a "you get what you pay for" situation. When I would work for companies that wanted to pay their secretary and office staff a pittance, this is the sort of thing that went on regularly. When I worked for companies that paid their employees well, thereby retaining excellent employees, this was not tolerated. And I'm in CA. It's sad to read that this is more commonplace than I thought.
And I'm right with you on that website thing...my son has Celiac Disease so I spend a lot of time researching food products and asking companies which of their products are safe for him. I filled out one of these online forms for a vitamin company. Two weeks later I received an e-mail that said, "Your question will be answered more quickly if you call us directly." Uh...
I was talking to an American friend here about this the other day, who is thinking about setting up a business, and she told me that in some of the books she had read about running a business, this practice - of answering a fax by writing the answer on the original and sending it back - is actually recommended as good business practice because it saves time, and therefore money.
She was as horrified by the idea as I was. It is PARTICULARLY not good business practice if you are dealing with a different culture. Japanese business practices tend to be very formal, and such casual behaviour comes across as insulting.
It is a real shame that the people who are employed to do this sort of work tend to be undervalued and low paid. They are the face of the business, as far as clients are concerned. They are IMPORTANT.
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