How Much is Rudeness Costing Your Business?

Have you ever thought about how much rudeness may be affecting your bottom line? What is the cost to your company when the people who represent you lack proper manners?

Do you know how many clients are turned off by employees who would rather carry on a conversation with each other than with the client? Can you count the number of people who hang up and call someone else because the person who answered your phone put them on hold without asking permission?

How does the client rate your professionalism when the employee who welcomes him to your office looks as if she is dressed for a day at the beach? Are your employees treating each other with courtesy and respect? Do they work as a team and help each other out or do they act like cast members on Survivor?

Try taking this quick true/false quiz to test your own business etiquette expertise. Then run it by your employees to assess their rudeness quotient.

1. 1. Business etiquette is based on rank and hierarchy.
   2. If the information on your business card is incorrect, draw a line through it and write the correct information on the card.
   3. Business casual means dressing down one notch from business professional.
   4. In today’s relaxed business environment, it is not necessary to ask your clients’ permission before using their first names.
   5. Callers do not mind holding for information as much as holding for a person.
   6. Handwritten notes are out of place in the business world.
   7. A man should wait for a woman to put out her hand in business before offering his.
   8. When composing an e-mail message, complete the “To” line last.
   9. Small talk around the office is a waste of time.
   10. If you receive a call on your cell phone when you are with a client, it’s fine to check to see who’s calling, but don’t answer.

Answers:

1. 1. In business, you defer to the senior or highest ranking person, regardless of age or gender.
   2. Handing out business cards with information that is outdated is unprofessional. Have new cards printed immediately.
   3. Business casual is not an excuse to wear your favorite old clothes to the office. It’s business. Look professional.
   4. Don’t assume you can call clients by their first name. Use titles and last names until asked to do otherwise.
   5. Clients will wait patiently while you search for information on their behalf.
   6. Handwritten notes have become as rare as the typewriter. Stand out from your competition by sending your clients handwritten notes.
   7. In business it is off-putting when a man hesitates to extend his hand to a woman.
   8. If you wait until you have carefully proofed your message before you hit “send”, you will never be embarrassed or have to apologize for your email errors.
   9. Small talk in the office is a great way to build relationships among co-workers.
   10. It is just as rude to check your phone to see who called as it is to take a call in front of a client. Turn your phone off and check your messages later.

If you had trouble with any of these questions, your employees will, too. If you want your employees to be at ease in business situations, to represent you well and help build your business, give them the information they need. If you haven’t engaged in business etiquette skills training lately, do it now. Don’t let rudeness cost you business.

No one is born with good manners. People have to be taught, and from time to time, they need to be reminded of what they already know.

Lydia Ramsey is a Savannah-based business etiquette expert, keynote speaker, trainer and author. Contact her at 912-604-0080 or visit her website: LydiaRamsey.com to find out how her presentations and workshops can help you and your employees add the polish that builds profits.