Believe it or not, in a business world that seems less social and more impersonal, those old fashioned manners learned from your Grandmother and Mother are still important today. Your business manners can form an impression on associates and customers that can potentially make or break your business. Yes, manners are that important!
I consider myself a polite woman in business. I say “please and thank you” at appropriate times and I say excuse me when I step on someone’s foot – I am a polite person. But, in a business situation recently I did something that has me reevaluating my manners.
Here’s the scenario: I was the opening keynote speaker at a convention and as such was invited to the wrap up gala dinner. I ate something at lunch the afternoon of the gala dinner and ended up sick to my stomach and unable to attend the dinner. Because I was preoccupied with not feeling well, it never occurred to me to let the organizers know I wouldn’t be attending the dinner. I could have asked my husband to run downstairs and let them know, but I didn’t think of it. Quite honestly, I didn’t realize anyone would miss me.
Well to make a long story short, they were all worried about me. It was then that I realized I had been rude and wasn’t thinking like a polite businesswoman. Lesson learned!
All this started me thinking about how often we miss the subtle “niceties” that can set us apart from the millions of other people in business – little things that can mean so much to others.
1. Making the time to send a hand written thank you card.
2. Returning calls in a timely manner..
3. Never saying anything in an email or on Facebook or Twitter that you wouldn’t want posted on a billboard in the middle of a busy highway.
4. Realizing off-color jokes and words are never appropriate in a business setting.
5. Being respectful at all times.
6. Placing yourself in the other person’s shoes before you speak.
7. Saying please and thank you never goes out of style.
Wouldn’t you agree that remembering our manners will not only help us make a good impression in the business world, but can also help us feel better about ourselves personally and professionally? I guess it is true, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
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Sharon Recommends:
Here is an offsite link to Amazon.com if you’d like to find some books relating to office etiquette:
Business Etiquette For Dummies
Here is the Kindle edition of the same book: Business Etiquette For Dummies
Disclosure: As an affiliate of Amazon.com I will get paid on any purchase of this product from the links within this article.
