When is a Gift Card a Good Idea?

Some people think gift cards are impersonal or insensitive. That can be true, but many of us are so busy, that we cannot actually spend the time to go and personally shop for the perfect gift for each of the VIPs in our lives. But if you pick the right gift card, and add a Handwritten note, your thoughts can be greatly appreciated.

If it is an important client, you will want to consider her or his interests and hobbies as well. For example, if you know that the person has an e-reader, you might put both the Note and a Gift Card inside an iPad, Kindle, Nook, or Tablet cover. (Which you can also order online!) Whatever your gift, make sure it is made in your home country.

Here is an example of a little note to enclose with a Gift Card for Digital products (like iTunes, Amazon.com, or B&N.com)

Dear ABC,

We have truly appreciated the opportunity to work with you this year. Since you enjoy technology, perhaps you would like to use this card to select a Digital present from (fill in the vendor...Amazon, Apple, B&N, etc.)

We hope you find some great Ebooks, useful Apps, or terrific tunes for your travels in 2012!

Happy Holidays!

Your Name Here.


Of course, if your client loves museums, sports, etc. - you can customize the gift card and personal notes to reflect those interests.

Hopefully next year we will all have the time and resources to deliver our gifts in person!

Smooth Sailing When Selling Around the World

My article, Smooth Sailing When Selling Around the World, in Insurance and Financial Meetings Management is getting some attention:

The link to the PDF is below - Look on pages 8 & 9.

http://www.themeetingmagazines.com/index/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=RzNFPmQJX%2b0%3d&tabid=212&mid=739

I hope you find it of value!

Free Webinar on Food, Flora, & Fashion Faux Pas at the Holidays!

Tuesday, December 06, 2011 at 1:00 PM-2:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada). (GMT-05:00)
Intercultural business & etiquette expert Terri Morrison shares seasonal tips, strategies and insights into doing business in other countries -- based on the popular Digital reference tool, Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands, and the Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands book series.
Join this live presentation and learn insights on "Food, Flora & Fashion Faux Pas at the Holidays!" Business Etiquette can be more stressful this time of year. Discuss the correct ways to interact with other cultures around the holidays, including:
• What colors, numbers, and symbols should never be used for a gift in Asia?
• Can a box of cordials be criminal?
• Where can gift baskets of Virginia ham, Canadian bacon or bratwurst be bad?
• When is a gift appropriate, and when is it considered graft?
• PLUS: A selection of general gifts that may please your international clients!
Terri Morrison will offer straightforward advice on holiday faux pas around the world for your global customers. If you’re wondering what presents will please your prospects in Brazil, Russia, India, and China - or what gifts are off-limits in Medina or Montreal, attend this FREE Webinar, sponsored by McGraw-Hill, on Tuesday, December 6th!
To join the webinar, contact:
Chaunfayta Hightower
Sr. Account Manager -Special Markets
McGraw-Hill Professional
Email: chaunfayta_hightower@mcgraw-hill.com
or Email: TerriMorrison@kissboworshakehands.com

Green Etiquette from a Novice Golfer

Green Etiquette

I’m a novice golfer. I decided to learn because, despite the cons (price, time commitment, questionable masculine-styled clothing requirements) the pros were awesome. Here’s my short list of pros:

Number #1 Females get a good bit of attention by just showing up.

Number #2 The whole “It’s a pretty day and I get to hang out in lovely landscaped areas that I don’t have to personally garden” is a real draw. It’s like you’re incredibly wealthy and can afford the most amazing backyard!

Number #3 It gives me a new conversational topic with colleagues – I can talk a little golf! Even though I’m a beginner, being semi-conversant in golf-speak is an asset. Bogey, birdy, Pings, pin-high… it’s a whole new vocabulary.

It’s also interesting how business deals and protocol dovetail on a golf course. And there are some inter-cultural issues in golf as well. (A few years ago, the LPGA considered suspending players who could not speak English well enough to be understood at pro-ams, in interviews, or in acceptance speeches at tournaments.) http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/LPGA-backs-off-language-requirement-1284408.php#ixzz1euU35kPQ

Golf faux pas

Over the unseasonably warm Thanksgiving holiday I played with three patient partners. And I committed a new faux pas. The Green (the roundish place where the flag and hole are) has its own set of special protocols.

The first rule is to keep silent while a player is putting. It’s kind of like church on the green…even rowdy, tipsy guys get solemn and prayerful as the putter contemplates, gently swings, and watches the ball roll towards the holy cup.

Beyond that, I found out you can’t walk just any old where you want on the green. Not only are you not allowed to march across the line of a golfer’s putt (particularly with cleats on – something I have yet to buy) but your shadow must behave too!

Since we were playing late in the afternoon, all the shadows quickly took on elongated proportions. Whenever our foursome got on the green, our silhouettes looked like an El Greco sketch. My “rude move” was to inadvertently let the shadow I cast fall on the line between the putter and the hole! Fortunately, I noticed he was sort of shifting his weight, looking uncomfortable, and I backed away. What’s really nice though, is that he immediately said “Thank you” before he actually putted. Wow.

Perhaps these guys are just amazingly polite, because no one even mentioned the shadow rule until long after I had committed the blunder. Or perhaps they didn’t want to criticize me too much, because there are so many rules to golf, a few faux pas may just be par for the course.

Just in time for the holidays: Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: Sales and Marketing

Vallejo Community Issues Examiner November 11, 2011

http://www.examiner.com/community-in-san-francisco/just-time-for-the-holidays-kiss-bow-or-shake-hands-sales-and-marketing-review?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Welcome to another posting of our new series: Just in time for the holidays

We are reviewing books that we think provide excellent food for thought as we transition into the 2011 holiday season. These are titles that are also great candidates for gift-giving.

Title: Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: Sales & Marketing

Author: Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conaway

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional

Print ISBN: 9870071714044
Pages: 288
Print Price: $20.00

The Internet gives everyone the opportunity, by browsing millions of websites around the globe, to immerse themselves in the cultures of their choosing. Should you be one of these surfers, how about testing your knowledge with this quiz?

Q: You are traveling to South Korea to close a business deal. When facing your South Korean business partners, how close should you stand?

1) 1 foot

2) 2 feet

3) 9 inches

4) 3 feet

(***Find the answer at the end of this posting)

If this question makes you pause, it probably confirms the fact that there is lots of cultural information on the Net, but little practical (and current) advice about successfully practicing business around the world.

It's a very specialized niche that continues to be the unchallenged domain of authors Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conway. Since the mid-nineties, their seminal book, Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands, has been the go-to bible for understanding all the subtleties of doing business around the globe.

What time should I arrive?

Their latest book, Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: Sales & Marketing, is billed as the "Essential Cultural Guide--From Presentaions and Promotions to Communicating and Closing." While the book contains much of the wisdom of their classic publication, it takes a step further, concentrating on how all parts of a business strategy needs to be effectively tuned to cultural differences.

For example, company websites are now one of the critical cornerstones of a business strategy. The authors remind us: "Inadvertently selecting the wrong website layout, the wrong sales approach, or the wrong advertising hook can result in lost market share." Readers get very specific pointers per country about taboo subjects, colors, images and words to avoid or to emphasize.

We also like their sections, such as How Close Should I Stand?, Three Tips for Selling, Language and What Time Should I Arrive? Calibrated for doing business in twenty countries, each section offers many strategic suggestions for starting, closing and keeping business deals.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

***Answer: 3 feet (#4) (Just the right distance for the de rigueur bows between business clients

Dining Etiquette

Dining, Drinking and Delicacies!

Questions on Global Dining Etiquette
(Based upon a quiz in our new book
Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: Sales and Marketing)

Soy Sauce - 5,000 years and counting!

Soy sauce is made from the soy bean, which is one of China's five sacred grains. These have been quoted as: rice, wheat, barley, millet and soy beans. Experienced cooks and soy sauce connoisseurs can discern the quality of a soy sauce by the odor, color, salt content, and taste. There are many varieties, some with different additives, and all with their individual flavors.

TRUE or FALSE? When you eat sushi, keep the fish side up, and dip the rice side into your soy sauce (or soy sauce and wasabi mixture).

ANSWER: FALSE! If you dip the rice side in, you may leave some soaked rice in the bowl, which can look crude. Turn the sushi over, and dip the fish side into the soy sauce.

Do you eat your sushi with your fingers, or with chopsticks? And do you eat it all in one bite?

#2 on BusinessWeek's book list

Honored that our new book "Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: Sales and Marketing" is #2 on Businessweek’s list of new business books about job-hunting, careers, management, leadership, entrepreneurship, and success! See link below:

http://www.businessweek.com/management/new-business-books-07012011.html

Thank you!

#1 in Kindle Global Sales and Marketing!

"Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: Sales and Marketing" is shipping! Thank you for making us Amazon.com's #1 in Kindle Global Sales and Marketing today!

Review: Library Journal

Morrison, Terri & Wayne A. Conaway. Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Sales and Marketing: The Essential Cultural Guide—from Presentations and Promotions to Communicating and Closing. McGraw-Hill. Nov. 2011. c.288p. ISBN 9780071714044. pap. $20. BUS 

This latest in the “Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands” series is designed for sales and marketing people who frequently travel and do business with companies around the world. It covers countries on all seven continents, and individual country profiles cover such topics as population, median age, legal drinking age, descriptions of popular advertisements, the structure of the work week, how promptly one should arrive at meetings, what behaviors are considered polite and impolite, how much physical space to give another person, appropriate greetings and body language, good conversational icebreakers, when to give out business cards, the best ways to make a sale, and key language phrases and words. Readers are advised to arrive early for business meetings in Japan, to have business cards with Portuguese on one side and English on the other in Brazil, and never to show annoyance when someone is smoking nearby in Argentina—which along with Chile has the highest smoking rate in South America.  

VERDICT This resource is full of clear explanations and practical advice and will be appreciated by businesspeople preparing for a trip overseas and by students of business who anticipate travel in their futures. 

—Lucy T. Heckman, St. John’s Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY
Link to original content

Press Release- Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Sales & Marketing

KISS, BOW, OR SHAKE HANDS: SALES & MARKETING
The Essential Cultural Guide—From Presentations and Promotions to Communicating and Closing

Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conaway

The bestselling authors of Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands bring you the new must-have guide
for sales and marketing professionals!

How do you break the ice in the UAE?
When should you bring out a contract in China?
How close should you stand to a South Korean?

Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Sales & Marketing offers straightforward advice on how to sell in global markets, work with multinational teams, and interest international customers. If you’re wondering what drives purchasing decisions in Brazil, Russia, India, and China - or what advertisements are off-limits in Medina or Montreal, Terri Morrison, author of KISS, BOW, OR SHAKE HANDS: SALES AND MARKETING: The Essential Cultural Guide—From Presentations and Promotions to Communicating and Closing (McGraw-Hill Professional; November 2011; Paperback, $20.00), has the answers. As the authority on global business etiquette, her classic Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands has been the quintessential guide for business travelers across the board. This focused follow-up book speaks directly to sales and marketing professionals who are traveling and conducting business with international clients.

As the global community comes closer together, Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Sales & Marketing will be a valuable resource to every person in every industry around the world. 
Gil A. Cardon , Convention Manager, Japan National Tourism Organization

Just as you can be a connoisseur of wine, Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: Sales and Marketing can help make you a connoisseur of cultures, philosophies, business behaviors, and social practices. Read it not just for work, but for the human side as well.Giuseppe G. B. Pezzotti, Sr. Lecturer, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration

Focusing on sales and marketing spheres, Morrison guides professionals on how to greet global prospects, successfully negotiate sales, avoid costly and embarrassing marketing & advertising gaffes, and more. Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Sales & Marketing leaves no stone unturned when it comes to cross-cultural communication for sales and marketing professionals, addressing such topics as:
    •    Icebreakers
    •    Global Advertising Guidelines
    •    Negotiating
    •    Workweeks and Holidays
    •    Closing the Sale
    •    Body Language and Attire
    •    Public Speaking and Presentations
    •    Design elements (Symbols, Numbers, Colors)
    •    Data Gathering
    •    Useful Foreign Phrases
    •    Marketing Blunder
    •    Dining Etiquette
    •    Global Trade Guidelines

This definitive business etiquette guide will give sales and marketing professionals the extra edge they need to succeed. Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Sales and Marketing helps you understand your prospect before you pitch your product!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Terri Morrison is co-author of nine books, including Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: The Bestselling Guide to Doing Business in More Than Sixty Countries (A Library Journal Best Business Books Winner and an Amazon.com Bestselling Business Etiquette Book) and Dun & Bradstreet’s Guide to Doing Business Around the World. She conducts seminars in intercultural communications, has written for many publications, and is President of Getting Through Customs, developers of Kiss Bow or Shake Hands Digital - available through McGraw-Hill Digital. She has appeared on CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, and repeatedly on NPR. She has been profiled and quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Weekly, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Fast Company, National Geographic Adventure, ESPN, Business 24/7,  Fortune, Inc., AmEx Open Forum, FOCUS, Asia Times, and many more. 

For more information, please visit: http://www.mhprofessional.com or http://www.TerriMorrison.com.

KISS, BOW, OR SHAKE HANDS: SALES AND MARKETING
The Essential Cultural Guide—From Presentations and Promotions to Communicating and Closing
November, 2011; Paperback; $20.00; 288 pages
MHID: 0071714049; ISBN: 9870071714044

For interviews, review copies, excerpts, or more information, please contact:
Pamela Peterson, Publicist, McGraw-Hill Professional: 212-512-3653 / Pamela_Peterson@mcgraw-hill.com