Communication Skills / Business Etiquette

Davidglen77

Registered
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
1,879
Likes
1,848
What do people think of communication skills and business etiquette in general here? Coming from New York City and a the business environment of a large multi-national corporation, my concept is quite different of what I find here:

For example:
1) Voicemail, people here usually never change the standard message to a personal one, so if you call Juan or Jose or Diego you don´t know if you dialed correctly because they don't announce themselves. In my (former) world in business you changed your voicemail daily and let people know if you were out for the day, on vacation, who to call as an alternative, etc.

2) Answering the phone, here even when you call companies, people just answer the phone "Hola" don't say their name, department or even "gracias por llamar X empresa, en que le puedo ayudar" like they do in the USA, where they say things like "thank you for calling Kentucky Fried Chicken, where our Chicken is Finger lickin' good, may I take your order please?"

3) Callbacks, here if you call a business and the person you are looking for is out to lunch, they tell you to call back later, in the USA they ask for your number and the person returns YOUR call.

4) Orders, if you order something, and it's out of stock, nobody calls you to inform you, they just don't send you the item. When you call back a few days later to ask about your shipment that never arrived, then they tell you it's out of stock. In the USA if somethings out of stock, you usually get an immediate phone call to let the customer know, get offered an apology and an alternative item.

The times I have complained about these things, people say "oh those are just cultural differences" and my response is, no they are just poor business skills / habits. There are people who do these crappy things in the USA too, however it's the exception and not the rule. Here it seems to the the rule and not the exception.
 
ah sigh...I used to be one of those super effcient change my voicemail at every opportunity people...it's definitely more professional working to such codes but it does border on annally retentive...I'm resigned to being less professional but happier here now that I'm no longer slave to all my routines. I guess somewhere there is a happier medium of business etiquette and a life..somewhere in Scandinavia I expect....
 
Regarding the voicemail, if it's a personal line, as a consideration to others, just change your message to say your name and leave a message no need to change it daily. If it's a business line, unless people need to know your where abouts also a name, and pleasant thanks for calling is sufficient. Anal is if you change it multiple times a day for every move you make, otherwise you are just being considerate to those who call you. Just my opinion.......
 
It's interesting that they always say that it is a "cultural difference" but it is clearly a case of unprofessionism and lack of courtesy.
 
cruizes said:
It's interesting that they always say that it is a "cultural difference" but it is clearly a case of unprofessionism and lack of courtesy.

Who defines what's professional? Corporate America? In Brazil and most Latin countries it is the same, they say something like "aló", "oi", etc. For me this is clearly cultural. The only thing out of the three critics, which is unpolite for Argentine standards is not telling you immediately the product is out of stock. This is surely disgraceful.
 
I don´t know who you guys dealt with professionally here, but not all those points are true, at least 1,2 and 4 aren´t. On a side note, getting the company slogan from somebody over the phone or in person before or after tatalking to them, is the worst! Makes these people look like idiots or robots, I find that repulsive in many different ways. Name is fine, but the slogan??? give me a break!
 
I don't see anyone linking a particular country directly to professionalism. A professional is defined as a person who is expert at his or her work or activity. The definition itself speaks for what behaviors are displayed in the exectution of their work / activity. Like I said there are people who display professionalism, etiquette, and courtesy in Argentina, however they are not common traits. And I have done business with people in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia and they were very much like I was used to in the USA, here it's worse (or different) depending on your standards and point of view. Just my opinion.......
 
I also find it disconcerting when you call up a business and you have to clarify with them that you've actually reached who you're calling and not a residence. I don't need a first name or a spiel, but answering, "Hola, [insert business name]" would be useful!


The lack of customer service here always amazes me. I was shopping for a pair of glasses frames a few months ago. I found one that I liked, and got the model number, but didn't buy them immediately and when I went back they were gone. The girl who had been helping me told me that she'd call around and that I should call her in a couple days to find out if she could get them somewhere else. I called her and left messages twice, to no avail. I called the company and left a message, and sent an email to the company (this is a large frame supplier) with the item number and asking if they could track it down for me, and never received any reply. To me, this is just bad business practice.

To me the whole thing ties into the other issue of why so many people (foreigners in particular) are leery of having full time employees. I get severance, but it you have a worthless employee it should beeasy to just get rid of them for doing a bad job. Instead, you have to pay them a small fortune to leave. It's really ludicrous.
 
MizzMarr said:
I also find it disconcerting when you call up a business and you have to clarify with them that you've actually reached who you're calling and not a residence. I don't need a first name or a spiel, but answering, "Hola, [insert business name]" would be useful!


The lack of customer service here always amazes me. I was shopping for a pair of glasses frames a few months ago. I found one that I liked, and got the model number, but didn't buy them immediately and when I went back they were gone. The girl who had been helping me told me that she'd call around and that I should call her in a couple days to find out if she could get them somewhere else. I called her and left messages twice, to no avail. I called the company and left a message, and sent an email to the company (this is a large frame supplier) with the item number and asking if they could track it down for me, and never received any reply. To me, this is just bad business practice.

To me the whole thing ties into the other issue of why so many people (foreigners in particular) are leery of having full time employees. I get severance, but it you have a worthless employee it should beeasy to just get rid of them for doing a bad job. Instead, you have to pay them a small fortune to leave. It's really ludicrous.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience, but I am not surprised, taking pride in your work and being diligent here doesn't mean a thing, I mean if you're going to get paid anyway and if they dare to let you go you get a handsome payout, why should they make the effort. What a system!
 
Back
Top