Intercultural Awareness and Cross Cultural Communication Skills are Key to Building Business Relationships


More than ever people are seeking a competitive advantage by demonstrating they understand and appreciate cross cultural differences when working, entertaining or negotiating with clients from different cultures.

Perhaps you are an American who does business in China. It’s a given that Chinese companies will treat you with respect and extend exceptional hospitality to American business people. However, forming a bond and a strong business relationship isnot a given. For example, doing business in China nearly always involves dining together...eating. Also, the larger the deal...the more time you’ll be expected to spend with your prospect sightseeing in museums and temples. Imagine how your hosts might respond when they see that you understand the dining customs and show appreciation for ancient Chinese history and art. Appreciating Chinese culture and history carries great cachet--and helps people to accept you, trust you...and work with you.

On the other hand, maybe you are an Asian business person working in the United States. Often dining etiquette is one of the more perplexing situations for visitors to the US. Also, not understanding the dress code is another common and disconcerting misstep. Being overdressed for a casual business occasion, or underdressed for a formal occasion can lead to people automatically discounting your credibility and not giving you time of day.

Betty also conducts workshops in Asia! For more information click here.

Cross Cultural Training by Class in Style is designed to help:

Americans doing business in China, Taiwan and/or Hong Kong
OR
Asians working in the United States

Training will:

•	give you confidence and enable you to do business with ease;
•	elevate your image and professional reputation;
•	and help you to build long-lasting business relationships

Why cross cultural training? Can’t I just figure it out? When you travel globally or do business with people from other cultures you will pick up a lot of the way things are done locally. However, you can’t get the whole picture without it being explained to you by an insider who understands both Asian and US culture. Without training, you are likely to misapply the understanding you have or misinterpret the beliefs behind some customs. After getting the inside story from a cultural translator, including practicing dining etiquette, you will be confident you’ll be able to focus on your prospects or clients and create good impressions with people.

All cross cultural training workshops, i.e. Americans/China or Asians/US, will cover the following business essentials:

•	building business relationships
•	verbal and non-verbal communication
•	social etiquette and protocol
•	culture, values, beliefs, ethics, customs and national character

For those doing business in China, training workshops will also include:

•	basic understanding of Chinese culture and customs
•	Chinese art and symbols
•	What to wear? What to do when greeting people, dining, and giving gifts?
•	food and drink-cultural differences and comparison
•	festivals and celebrations
•	other cultural differences and taboos