Business Etiquette

Business Etiquette


     As your career progresses, you develop skills which are respected and

expected, professional etiquette.  Professional etiquette builds leadership,

quality, business, and careers.  It refines skills needed for exceptional

service.  Whether you are an executive or just starting out, a seminar in

Professional business etiquette, nationally and internationally will definitely

be beneficial to you.

        Without proper business etiquette, you limit your potential, risk you

image, jeopardize relationships that are fundamental to business success.

Etiquette, formerly perceived as soft skills, business professionals have found

that etiquette influences their success because it differentiates them in a

competitive market.  Honors commitments to quality and excellence.  Etiquette

enables them to be confident in a variety of  people from many cultures.

Etiquette also modifies distracting and unacceptable behavior and develops

admired conduct (Klinkenburg.)

        Why should we be concerned about etiquette issues in the business arenas

of the 90s?  Basically because diversity, based on gender, cultural background,

age, and degree of experience in today's business, creates a clash of standards

and behavioral expectation.  Not only is these differences internationally a

concern, but also a concern among the relationships of  Americans.  Finally

globalization has changed the way we do business, demanding new levels of

expertise in dealing with people (Klinkenburg.)

     Rude business etiquette goes on daily in our country.  Sometimes it is

so common, people start to perceive it as normal behavior  of our society.  As

stated before, proper business etiquette will get you farther, just that extra

step will lead you to better business and better relationships.  One of the most

observed behaviors in United States is telephone rudeness.  For instance, not

returning telephone calls, taking calls in meetings, and not identifying

yourself on the phone.  The standard rule in business is to return routine phone

calls within 24 hours and to apologize if the call is later.  Return phone calls,

fax, write a note or have your staff call, but do get back to people.  It is an

expected professional  gesture to identify yourself when you place a call.  Say

your name, the company or business you represent to take people off the spot.

Then state the nature of you call.  If you do not identify yourself, expect to

be asked and do not take offense. When answering telephone calls, your expected

to make a connection promptly when a call comes in.  This is more than a form of

courtesy;  prompt telephone service suggests to callers an efficient company.

The appropriate telephone greeting conforms with the time of day and then the

policy of the company - for example, “Good afternoon, The Smith Company,” or , “

Good afternoon, Procter and Gamble.” Knowing that he/she has the right number,

the caller merely has to ask for the individual he/she is calling.

     Anyone who has a visitor in his office should avoid making calls, unless

they are pertinent to the business being discussed.

     As for incoming calls, when the individual who is you guest is very

important, or the subject of your discussion is involved, tell your secretary

not to put through any but the utmost urgent calls that come in for hem/her even

when he/she has a guest, because the alternative is a long list of calls to be

made afterwards.  If call do come in, excuse yourself to your guest and make the

telephone conversation as brief as possible.  Do not continue your conversation

with your guest as you pick up the receiver;  finish what you are say first and

then pick it up (Parker .)

     Interruptions are another complaint that is commonly observed as rude

business etiquette.  These rude interruptions are of conversations, of work, and

by telephone.  Let people finish their sentences and their thoughts.  Never

presume to know what they will say or how they should say it.  Develop the

judgment to detemining whether to rush a person in expres
This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Academic Library. Please register below now!









Subscribe to Academic Library
When you subscribe to the Academic Library, you get 24-hour access to the online database containing full-text articles written by thousands of scholarly students. For only $8.95 per month, you receive unlimited monthly access to view and download all of our 40,000 articles available online. That is less than the price of one textbook!
This price includes:

24-hours-a-day, 7 days a week unlimited access on any computer with Internet access
Complete access to all 40,000 articles, essays, and research papers
Ability to view and download virtually unlimited number of documents
Ability to browse through perfectly arranged catalog of articles
Superior search and relevancy ranking techniques using Google SiteSearch and our local search engine
Instant access to the online database after registration


You can pay by credit card, checking account. You get instant access after registration:


You will be billed $ 8.95 every 30 days (recurring billing) starting on the day you subscribe.

Your credit card will automatically be renewed for your convenience until you cancel.




If you are already registered, please click here to login.