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The Business World

Etiquette is a set of unwritten rules that apply to social situations, professional workplaces andrelationships. In the business world, good business etiquette means that you act professionallyand exercise proper manners when engaging with others in your profession. Good businessetiquette is a valuable skill-set that will make you stand out from others, enhance your chancesat success and help you land that dream job.

Business Etiquette Significance

In business, the relationships you build are critical. Establishing good rapport is significantif you want to progress your professional future, take on new clients, impress your bossor close that final sale. The way to build positive relationships in the business world is byexercising good etiquette, specifically by exhibiting top-notch communication skills. If othersare speaking, give them your full attention and make eye contact to let them know you areengaged in the conversation. This is known as active listening. When it is your turn to speak, beclear and concise, and avoid jargon that your audience would not understand. Add a smile and ahandshake so others find you pleasant to work with.

Effects of Good Etiquette

Good business etiquette is the recipe for advancing your career. In the business world, peoplewith good etiquette are rewarded for their professional and polite skills. For example, anemployee who arrives at a meeting on time (or early) and is ready to take notes has a betterchance of impressing his supervisor than the employee who shows up to the meeting late, andforgets to bring a pen. Those who exemplify good business etiquette are proving that theyrespect their position, job, coworkers and take their performance seriously. As such, theseindividuals win promotions and get ahead in their careers.

Importance of First Impressions

Making a good first impression is important. The way you dress, for instance, impacts the wayyou are perceived by others. Other peoples’ impressions of you should be positive so that theycontinue doing business with you. To accomplish this, start with your attire. Ask yourself if youlook professional, or if your outfit needs some fine-tuning. Looking sloppy, messy and dirty willput off your coworkers and turn away potential clients.

Builds Strong Relationships

Professional behavior helps to build strong relationships among management, employees andcustomers because proper etiquette entails honest and fair dealings with everyone. Loyalty toa business is generated through the solid relations developed by consistent professionalismand integrity shown by all company employees. Good manners foster positive relationshipsand people work with you they will appreciate politeness and more willing to enhance therelationships.

Promotes Positive Environment

Good working environment is fostered by good business etiquette. When management andemployees treat each other with the respect and sensitivity dictated by good business manners,it will creates a positive working environment. When employees feel comfortable satisfy, theyare likely to be more productive and maintain upbeat attitudes.

Reflects Confidence

Business etiquette reflects confidence because the individual is seen as someone whois together and knows what to say and how to say it. A confident approach will helps thecompany's marketability. Customers feel more secure dealing with a employee who displaysexceptional business manners. Confidence will also boosts the morale of employees who feelthey can accomplish more and react positively to change.

Prevents Misunderstandings

Business etiquette will helps to prevent misunderstandings in the company because properetiquette requires employees to interact professionally and communicate clearly and honestlywith other people. For example, managers who always speak on a professional level withemployees need not fear making inappropriate remarks as they guard against casual types ofinteractions.

Business etiquette extends beyond the office.

When you are required to attend a business luncheon or dinner, it is important that you adhere totableside etiquette standards as well as business etiquette. People with good dining mannerscan win over their colleagues and counterparts, whereas people with poor conduct may miss outon business deals.

Etiquette in Online Communications

Netiquette is etiquette that takes place over virtual mediums, such as email. Virtualcommunication is popular in the business world, so it is critical that businessmen and womenhave the right netiquette to maintain professionalism. Compose emails the way you wouldwrite a letter. Use complete sentences and proper grammar, and check your email for correctpunctuation usage and other technical errors. Avoid using jargon, abbreviations and emoticons.Do not type emails in all capital letters, as this is construed as yelling.

If you are not sure take a look at the top benefits of Business Etiquette.

1. Enhances Impression
  • People judge you and your business on how you carry yourself in social and professionalsituations. If you don’t know the proper way to shake someone’s hand or offer your businesscard, people might question your business skills.

  • By observing proper business etiquette, you suggest to fellow professionals that you’re ontheir level. You also portray yourself as someone who is confident and at ease, both in theboardroom and when meeting with people one-on-one.

2. Enriches Workplace Relations
  • With its focus on respect for others, business etiquette can pave the way for a collaborativeand civilised corporate culture.

  • Many basic business etiquette rules are actually common courtesies e.g.

    • not checking your email or phone during meetings

    • answering your phone when someone is talking to you

    • barging into other people’s offices unannounced

    • talking loudly all the time

    • using a speakerphone unless you have a private office.

  • Additionally, abiding by etiquette principles can eliminate some of the distractions associatedwith the workplace, such as gossip or personality clashes. It also ensures workplacerelationships stay professional and that colleagues don’t blur the line between work andpersonal life or allow their personal feelings to affect their workplace behaviour.

3. Promotes Business Growth
  • A little business etiquette knowledge can open up several professional doors.

  • Potential clients and associates will often judge you as much on your soft skills as they willyour business savvy.

  • Someone skilled in communication and comfortable in a wide range of professional situationswill inspire trust more easily than someone who isn’t.

  • When you observe business etiquette principles you will know how to handle yourself both inhigh-stakes meetings and at business lunches, you’ll impress people with your versatility andpeople skills.

4. Endorses your Personal Brand
  • Yes the products & services you offer are extremely important, but your/your staff’s businessetiquette and behaviour of you employees is just as essential.

  • People gravitate toward those who project self-confidence and success and knowing theappropriate business etiquette guidelines will allow you to display more of these qualities andexude a powerful personal brand.

  • Being noticed for your great business etiquette skills is a sure way to get recognised andmoved up the ladder.

  • Advantages of Business Etiquette In The Corporate World

    • Watch your sales graph change figures

    • Watch your customer retention rate enhance

    • Watch doors open to secure appointments which you thought were out of reach •Watch your business relationships strengthen and solidify

    • Watch clients calling you up to give you business instead of you chasing them for the same

    • Watch your rise up the corporate ladder happen twice as fast with half the effort

Brand You

We are all actors, each playing different characters at various moments on this stage calledlife. In my trainings on Brand You I want to share with you the methods and techniques, theexercises that will help you transform yourself into a Brand You. It is very important to know howto express yourself in every role you play, in a confident way, is the most important attribute tomanifest your Presence of Brand You.

This means its YOU who makes the difference. This is your opportunity to identify your uniqueskills, strengths and talents. It's your chance to tap into your values and passions to find thepurpose of Brand You to set your presence goal.

Self-Image is important because how we think of ourselves directly affects how we respond tolife which forms the basis of our Visual Self. A positive self - image affects our physical, mental,social, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

Mindfulness is a fundamental survival tool. By listening mindfully, you collect the relevantinformation to help people solve their problems and in the process, you make Brand You,stronger, more likable. Being mindful is just the tip of the iceberg. What lies beneath is a biggerconcept which serves as a base for an emotionally intelligent Brand You. The key skill that I amfocusing here is being in the moment to work up your self awareness.

After all Brand You is all about really learning to be more effective as a human being. It is aboutevery role you need to play, that you play with your presence. Create and nurture your uniquepersonal brand. Stand and be known for something. Make sure that everything you say and do isin alignment with Brand You.

Luxury Boutique and Retail Training

We support Luxury Retail Stores and Boutiques in business transformation, businessrelationships development and improvement of team cooperation. We care about businessdevelopment and also how the business is developed. We specialize in working on companyvalues and making them tangible for their employees and their customers. This means helpingcompanies to create “unique customer journeys? and to structure consistent “customerexperiences? in which all the actors are pushing for the same objective. We strongly believe increating a Brand Experience by creating a brand that attracts.

We have passion for work, passion for people and passion for products.

Today’s business is all about results. Our trainings shows how sales turnover, profitability andcustomer satisfaction are important to us. At the same time we care about values, ethic andworking in multicultural environments.

We prepare company leaders and commercial and service managers in a pragmatic yetengaging way, helping them to overcome the challenges of the contemporary businessenvironment. Often, this means putting the participants out of their comfort zone in a protectedenvironment, helping them to find the answers by themselves.

We feel more like partners for our clients than consultants. We have a long commercialexperience acquired in the field at an international level with concrete business results and weoffer the same pragmatic approach to our clients.

Being extremely passionate about people development enables us to support the new leadersto make the difference in their current business environment.

We analyze, we implement an action program and we follow up. We believe in execution. Everymodule we design is aimed to create a unique experience for the participants.

Working side by side with our clients and customizing every program based on their needs leadsour programs to be practical and fitting our clients’ business needs.

How to sell luxury retail :

1. Have A Treasure Trove

Your salespeople must have a million ways to develop trust and sell your product. Theone-size-fits-all approach that might work for someone working in a department store will notwork when selling non-essential goods. Customers who purchase the best brands have strongerpersonalities, are self-assured and are just like the most exclusive luxury goods - no two are everalike.

2. Have Four Versions of Stories

Yes stories and product details are what make your luxury goods unique, but the fourpersonalities demand that the story be shaped to their individual styles. That means cut it downso Drivers quickly see why it’s the best, stretch it out with reams of information so Analyticalsknow how it’s the best. Expressives want you to explain its uniqueness, and Amiables want toknow how popular it is and which celebrities have endorsed it.

3. Address Smartphones

Luxury customers are busy with multiple demands on their time, even when they’re shopping.This is where your intuition, personality style training and patience have to kick in. While acoffeehouse can put up a sign, “Please finish your call before ordering,? you can’t, so come upwith a way to deal with the probable interruptions. Even though every interaction/interruption willbe different and there will be no one “right? answer, you must discuss these situations with yourcrew using past experiences as material for role playing. Otherwise, their hurt feelings might killthe sale.

4. Know All The Brands

Whether you sell cars or cashmere, the new luxury buyer is a player; their connections, brains,talent or looks got them their money. Salespeople must notice the brands that these customersare already wearing, from the Jimmy Choo shoes on their girlfriend’s feet to the OmegaSeamaster watch on his wrist. Premium customers appreciate talking to people who know thedifference in feel, in smell, in taste and in service. If they don’t sense this shared appreciation, those customers won’t respect any advice or goodwill-building the employee has to offer. They’llremain nameless.

Building a BRAND EXPERIENCE is what is typically missing in many retailers. We helppremium brands upgrade and reboot their customer experience.

Hospitality

The Hospitality Industry, just like any business, will only run smoothly when all systems are inthe right place, and all standards are continuously being kept high. with day to day operationssometimes taking over, it can be challenging to constantly keep an eye on maintaining thesestandards – and improving it.

A specialised and tailor made training, especially for your restaurant or team, can really helpin regaining focus, finding new motivation in your team and continuing to strive for the higheststandards of a very well oiled, smoothly running restaurant.

Why maintaining systems and standards is very important in the Hospitality Industry

Creating your brand

Having the right systems in place and maintaining high standards is a direct reflection andcreation of your brand, and how people will experience and remember your hotel. Your brandbecomes a shortcut in their memory so it is vital that this is a clear and positive one, with asolid message and theme. Your guests and potential clients should know by hearing yourrestaurant name exactly what to expect, what type of experience they would be in for, and whatyour reputation is, without having to do any background research. Having this backgroundinformation in their head can entice guests to choose your restaurant over another restaurantthey might not know anything about. Imagine your brand being that friendly face that everyoneknows, trusts, and recognises.

Your strong brand will also affect potential repeat bookings, as the guests experience willalready be influenced by their perception and previous experience of your brand; and they knowthat they will get a certain level of service and experience when booking with you.

Especially as a boutique restaurantor a fine dining restaurant, having a strong brand will reallymake you stand out from the competition.

Loyalty

Ideally you would want guest loyalty. It will not only generate repeat business, it will make peopletalk in a positive way about you to family, friends, colleagues and online, and it will motivateother people to book. Keep in mind that when we talk about the ‘brand’ it is the systems andstandards that create this. Creating loyalty comes from providing excellent guest experiences,but also on people finding value for money, as well as your online presence and content.Therefore it is vital to know and understand your guests and target audience, so you can focusyour brand on them and make it relevant.

How you are losing guests

Although this can be confronting, knowing why you lose guests is key to understanding whatsystems and standards need to be improved. The most common reasons are cheaper pricingelsewhere, unfriendly staff or mistakes that are being made during the booking or guestexperiences.

How training hospitality staff helps to maintain and improve systems and standards

Firstly, you might not realise you need training if you feel things are going well. And sometimestraining is not about fixing mistakes, it is simply about making things even better than theycurrently are. That is the first thing our trainer(s) will try to uncover: where are the points you canimprove on and grow even further.

Our detailed training consultation phase is known to provide a lot of new insights restaurants –even before training has even started. Sometimes it is simply needed for an outside professionalto step in, observe and look at things with a fresh view. Our trainers have worked in many similarsetups and will be able to motivate you or your team to aim even higher and uncover newpossibilities.

When looking at systems, training is needed simply to check and troubleshoot. It is vital to havea regular team training to make sure everyone is still working with the right processes, followingthe right structures and clear on tasks, working together and taking responsibilities. Our trainerscan provide new insights, practise and create stronger team bonds, as well as making sure thesystems that are in place are actually working for everyone.

When looking at standards, skills training can be an extremely important thing to provide yourstaff with. By putting your housekeeping team through more specified housekeeping training,their skills will be elevated. Think of your service team working even better and being able toprovide even more streamlined service – or your front of house team knowing exactly, after atraining, the exact types of etiquette for different cultures, or management training for the HRteam – how to hire and fire people, how to create schedules and routines for the whole team.There is a long list of modules we can teach and all skill teaching can be tailor made exactly tothe level where your staff is at.

How Image Building and Etiquette Mapping can help you create a Brand That Attracts :

We want to get the best out of your restaurant and your teams, so we only have the bestprofessionals in the industry as our trainers. All of our trainers have worked in many differenthotel and hospitality and service settings. This makes them understand the sector extremelywell and apply all their knowledge, backgrounds and skills accumulated over the years in all oftheir training.

At Image Building and Etiquette Mapping we want to make sure we provide the exact righttraining for you and understand that every hotel and business, and even different teams withinthe same hotel can be completely different – and might need different approaches and stylesof training. We take our time to get to know you, your business or hotel. We will find out exactlywhat the things are you are trying to improve, fix or evolve, and create suitable training solutionsaccordingly. We have a long list of specified modules we can teach and all these can be mixed and matched to create your specific training package solely focused on your business and yoursituation.

At Image Building and Etiquette Mapping care for you and your brand, and can make theexperience as personalised and as easy for you as you like. We can arrange meetings,shadowing days and surveillance bookings for us to establish and advice on what type oftraining is needed, and create a tailor made proposal from there. We often organise returnvisits too, to make sure all training and changes are implemented correctly, and update staff onmissed skills where needs be. All this so you do not have to worry at all, and from initial enquiryto final day you can rest assured we are keeping your team up to date on skills, attitude andwork ethic.

Hospitality

In the hospitality industry, providing great services to customers is a must. However, having astrategic location close to popular tourist attractions and investing in well-furnished rooms andwell thought out amenities, from a gym to high-speed WiFi, are not enough to guarantee thatyou will succeed in the industry. You need that one huge factor that will convince guests to keepcoming back if they ever need future accommodations and that is customer satisfaction. This iswhy you need to train your staff so they will provide excellent customer service, now and in thefuture.

What happens if customers are not happy?

If you’re a hotel owner with a vision of making your hospitality brand grow, then you should focuson ensuring customer satisfaction among each of your guests. Otherwise, you risk ruining yourbrand with negative reviews coming from your unhappy customers. Considering how fast suchreviews spread online, especially on popular travel sites, it is quite easy to shred your reputationto pieces and discourage potential guests from staying at your hotel. Without repeat business,you might not reach the level of profitability that you need to keep it going.

Moreover, it is easier and less costly to convince customers to book your hotel again than toattract new ones, especially with the stiff competition you’re probably getting from hotels inyour area. But if your guests remember how warm, accommodating, and polite your hotel staffis, they will likely keep booking your hotel in the future.

The hospitality industry uses a diverse workforce, which includes a variety of positions that mayor may not have a strong educational component. A valet, cleaning personnel and restaurantservers have different requirement than check-in clerks, concierge providers and managers. Yet,the entire workforce is a reflection of a hotel's hospitality culture, which is why everyone needsto be trained from top to bottom on certain specific values and standards.

The Company Culture

Every hospitality company has its own special way of doing things. You might remember aspecific hotel because of the chocolates that a courteous maid deliberately left on your pillow.A cruise line might always make towel monkeys that sit on the bed to greet you. A tropical hotelmight do a lei greeting the moment you arrive.

These are all components of a corporate culture that's designed to enhance the guests'experience. Training at each location helps ensure that everybody will have a consistentexperience.

Training is also important to have consistency among staff in in the larger chains. From the waythe pillows are fluffed to how the lobby is designed for convenience or relaxation, chains need toreflect the same culture, albeit with some customization. So, if a person is staying at a Hilton inHonolulu, San Francisco, Seattle, Juneau, New York, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Denver or Dallas,there should be consistency as to how the hospitality staff acts and how they do things.

Developing and Training Talent

Many hospitality workers start in entry-level positions and work their way up into higher leveljobs. When a company takes the time to train people, it is easier to recognize the talent that canbe developed for higher management positions.

Training for the hospitality industry is diverse. Basic skills include communication and ways tointeract with the hotel guests. It also involves teamwork training and diversity training, becausethe staff is perceived as one unit by guests. Learning to work together with people fromdifferent backgrounds is essential since staff never know what the background of any specificguest will be. Yet the guest experience needs to be the same for everyone.

Problem Solving and Service

Great service that leads to amazing experiences is the goal of the hospitality industry. This issomething hospitality leaders need to develop in staff. Things go wrong; it's part of life. Forexample, if a guest has been given the wrong reservation and the problem is not resolved in afriendly and positive way, the guest will not have an enjoyable experience. The goal is to resolveproblems so the guest feels satisfied about the solution and that she wants to continue her stayso that ideally, she will want to return.

Safety and Security

If a danger presents itself in the hotel, guests look to staff to direct them. After all, the staffknows the lay of the land, whereas the guests are in unfamiliar territory. Staff should be trainedas to the basics of safety, with many having the ability to perform first aid and CPR if necessary.The hospitality industry must also prepare staff, and develop plans in the event of naturaldisasters and potential terrorist activity. This is so important, because if the staff doesn't knowwhat to do, chaos will emerge, because people panic while they are trying to determine the bestcourse of action.

Why it is important to participate in training?

A career in the hospitality industry can be something that you can pursue through life. It can bea rewarding career path as you can climb up the ranks, from being a busboy, for instance, tobeing the hotel manager. This is made possible with dedication, hard work, further educationand training, some of which the hotel owner may provide. But employees can also supplementthe hotel-sponsored training with voluntary training. If needed, you can always take out personal online loans for training. The cost of training will be worth it if it means opening up more careeropportunities for you in the future.

Online training is beneficial for hotel employees due to the following reasons:

People are more likely to engage in videos instead of reading documents or articles.

People who train online tend to learn five times more than other people who train through othermedia.

It is around 50% more cost effective for employers.

It can give employers a positive ROI (return on investment) in less than a year.

It is favored by over 40% of global Fortune 500 companies.

Why hotels should invest in training?

There are many reasons why hotel owners should focus on developing and training their ownhotel staff. These include the following:

Better cooperation as a single unit

Guests often see hotel staff as a single unit, hence the bad service that they get from onemember of the staff may taint the others. But if you train people to improve their teamwork anddeal with other people coming from different backgrounds in diversity training, it makes it easierfor them to operate smoothly to the satisfaction of your customers.

An improved pool of potential hotel managers

They would likely discover that there are a lot of potential talents waiting to be discovered andready to take on the hotel’s managerial positions after completing enough training. After training,it will be easier for you to identify talent that can be honed and developed into great managers.

Reduced employee turnover

Higher turnover meant higher cost in hiring and training new people. It also meant time lost ininterviewing new applications and productivity wasted as new people need time to get usedto their job. Well-trained people also tend to stick it out, thanks to increased job satisfaction,the satisfaction that stems from having co-workers who follow a written code of conduct, forinstance, and from knowing what is expected of them, given their position. Proper training helpsemployees do better in their jobs and when they know that they are performing well, they remainhappy, satisfied, long-term employees.

Better problem-solving skills

If things go wrong, it is important for the hotel staff to resolve the problem in a positive way to still ensure a satisfactory experience for the guests. If they are satisfied with the way the issuewas resolved, they tend to choose to continue staying at the hotel and wanting to return.

Improved feeling of safety and security

In case of an emergency, guests would rely on the hotel staff to keep them safe and taken careof. It is up to the staff, who are more familiar with the hotel and the area, to direct or assist theguests in need. This is why hotel staff should receive proper training in performing CPR andfirst aid. They should also be trained to execute plans in case of natural disasters or potentialattacks. If proper training is conducted, people in panic can be managed better, preventing theworst scenario from happening.

With great training comes happier, better performing, and more loyal staff – and happy hotelstaff means satisfied customers. So if you’re ready to train your employees, start developing anonline training program or a traditional program now!

Parting note!

The hospitality industry has one rule, and that is skilled and friendly staff is going to result inhappy customers. Train your hotel or resort employees with the right skills so they will serveyour guests with the enjoyable experience.

If you are in India hospitality industry, then take the help of professional training company- Image Building and Etiquette Mapping to devise a top-notch hospitality industry trainingprogram for your employees.