Business Etiquette This book teaches individuals how to represent their

B
USINESS
 E
TIQUETTE
, 2
ND
 E
DITION
T
YPESET
BY
S
TACEY
A. F
ARKAS
Cover design by Design Concept
Printed in the U.S.A. by Book-mart Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sabath, Ann Marie.
Business etiquette : 101 ways to conduct business with charm and savvy / by
Ann Marie Sabath.—2
nd
ed.
p. cm.
Bookz
ISBN 1-56414-614-6 (paper)
1. Business etiquette. I. Title.
HF5389 .S228 2002
395.5’2—dc21
2002017535

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My acknowledgments go to...
That man of vision, my publisher, Ron Fry.
My parents, Mary and Camille Sabath, whose actions
taught me both the work ethic and the importance of
hospitality.
My Aunt Nell who showed me that “What you do is im-
portant, however, the way you do it is even more important.”
My children, Scott and Amber, who have been my “test
cases” for grooming the “McManners” Generation.
My dearest Thomas Byron who continues to be my
sounding board regarding what is “appropriate.”
My colleague, Suzy, whose attention to detail exempli-
fies the way all organizations should conduct business.
Elin Woodger, who helped with text development and
editing.
My literary agent, Brandon Toropov, who made this
book a reality.
Our client companies who have requested us to rein-
force to their teams the importance of doing business with
charm and savvy.
My 
Cincinnati Downtowner
newspaper readers who
have submitted questions about their own business cour-
tesy dilemmas.
Our many business etiquette hotline callers who allow us
to assist them in overcoming their “moments of hesitation.”
Our certification graduates who assist our organization
in preparing present and future business leaders to live by
“The Golden Rule.”
Acknowledgments

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Contents
Introduction
Why You Need This Book ................................ 11
Chapter 1
Opening Moves: Making Initial ........................ 21
Encounters Work
Chapter 2
Business Dress 101: Handling Attire ................ 33
Problems in the Workplace
Chapter 3
Correspondence: Putting It Down in ............... 45
Black and White
Chapter 4
Sound Advice: Making the Right ...................... 65
Phone Impression
Chapter 5
Cubicle Protocol and Time Management: ........ 91
Functioning Well in the Office
Chapter 6
Meetings: Getting It All Together .................. 107
Chapter 7
VIPs: Dealing With Key Decision-Makers ...... 117

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Chapter 8
Unfamiliar Settings: Handling ........................ 125
Social Situations
Chapter 9
Off the Beaten Path: Coping .......................... 135
With Challenges
Chapter 10
Common Questions ....................................... 149
Appendix
International Etiquette ................................... 159
Bibliography ...................................................... 177
Index ................................................................. 181
About the Author .............................................. 187
TE
AM
FL
Y
Team-Fly
®

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11
Introduction
Introduction
Why You Need
This Book
Š
11 
Š
hen this book first came out in 1998, electronic
and wireless communication technology was, in
most settings, an occasional business tool at
best. Today, it’s the way we do business.
In 1998, cell phones were still called “mobile phones,”
and they were usually found in vehicles; today, they are
personal accessories that leave us feeling unprepared when
we forget them or misplace them. In 1998, e-mail was some-
thing you checked once in a while, or perhaps two or three
times a day if you were really compulsive. Nowadays, people
spend the entire workday sending and receiving e-mail, ei-
ther at work or via a “smart” phone, and e-mail has all but
replaced “snail mail” as the primary means of written com-
munication. In 1998, voice-mail systems were attached to
office and home phone lines rather than to cell phones;
W

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12
Business Etiquette
they served as a backup means of communication. These
days, voice mail seems to be the main vehicle by which we
hear our customers, clients, and (for the ever-larger groups
of people who work at home), even our coworkers.
There have been other changes, as well. For instance:
Š
Because face-to-face contact seems, for many
workers, to have become rarer and rarer, there’s
a higher rate of what I call “minglephobia”—an
apprehension of interacting with business con-
tacts in informal social settings.
Š
Today, some business people travel abroad
about as often as they fly from coast to coast.
As a result, questions of sensitivity to interna-
tional customs and cultures have taken on
greater importance than ever.
Š
The “business casual” style of office attire—
which many organizations offered as a perk to
employees—has, in many offices, morphed
into “business sloppy.” As this book goes to
press, there is a renewed emphasis on a new
style of business attire—“business ready”—
that may be the new standard for 21
st
-century
business dress policies.
Let’s face it—proper behavior in business settings can
be a scary topic. Being unsure of what move should come
next in a work-related situation is often quite unnerving.
When we’re scared, we don’t think very well. That can make
successful interaction with professional contacts seem al-
most impossible.
Like most of us, you’ve no doubt asked yourself plenty
of questions about conduct in the workplace, questions that
don’t seem to have easy answers:

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13
Introduction
Š
“What, exactly, am I supposed to wear on
dress-down day?”
Š
“How do I handle people who come across
too strong during meetings?”
Š
“What’s the best way to compose an e-mail
message to my most important prospective
client?”
Š
“When I’m conducting business in another
country, what should I say—or avoid
saying—to my host?”
These are the kinds of questions that can keep people
up at night. I know, because I work every day with profes-
sionals who’ve lost sleep over matters of business behavior—
people who are eager, as you are, to learn how to conduct
business with charm and savvy. Through my business, At
Ease, Inc., I provide business protocol services and train-
ing through live seminars, videos, print media, and a tele-
phone hotline service. I’ve trained thousands of individuals
and have worked with such organizations as Fidelity Invest-
ments, Procter & Gamble, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young,
United Brands, the Huffy Corporation, Showtime Network,
Inc., Saks Fifth Avenue, SmithKline Beecham, BP America,
Paychex, MCI Telecommunications, the Marriott Interna-
tional, and Deloitte & Touche. I’ve also worked with count-
less small businesses in addressing the same etiquette and
protocol questions that trouble representatives of the big-
ger companies.
How did I get started in my business? After graduating
from college and doing some experimenting in the work
world, I began to watch what people were doing to get ahead
in their organizations. I realized that the ones who knew

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14
Business Etiquette
how to make the best impression and how to make others
feel comfortable in social situations were the ones who of-
ten got a leg up on the competition. So about 15 years ago,
I started taking some notes and eventually started a new
company. My aim was to help companies get the “sand”
out of their employees’ social “gears” and, as a result, to
increase their bottom lines.
Guess what? It worked!
Who is this book for?
Who is this book for?
Who is this book for?
Who is this book for?
Who is this book for?