In a world where business is often conducted online or via another non-personal means, there is something to be said about the impact made when meeting face-to-face with a (potential) client. If you have this opportunity, be prepared to demonstrate the authenticity and integrity with which business will be conducted. Here are some tips to help you get ready.

  • Have all your paperwork in the order that you want to present it.
  • Make sure you look respectable and your shoes are clean. Personal preference: if you have shaved that morning you look better than the 3-day no-shave.
  • Make sure you don’t have chewing gum in your mouth, nor food particles between your teeth.
  • Tell yourself “This is the tallest I can be”. Then knock on the door, walk in with confidence, and say hello to reception – you don’t know how the receptionist is related to the boss. If reception asks if you would like a coffee, best to say, “no thank you; but thank you for offering”. In some cultures it would come across as refusal of their hospitality; however, in North America it is quite all right. It is just interpreted as you are caffeinated out for the moment.
  • Have your paperwork in the left hand, and keep your right one free for a handshake.
  • Make eye contact. Let the client decide where you should sit. When you see that the client is starting to ‘pack up’, do the same. Say “thank you for your time” and don’t forget to say good bye to reception.
  • If you have agreed on a date and time when you will get back to the client, make sure you are early. If you have agreed on a date and time when the client will get back to you and s/he has not, wait another day and then call. Don’t make an enemy. Ask gently: “Have you had a chance to look at my proposal?” This gets you a lot further than giving the client a guilt trip and putting them on the defensive. After all, you have already invested time and energy to get the business.

Upcoming Workshops

Tiny Tots
Age 5 to 7
Workshops run from 1 pm to 2:15 pm
Sunday, October 27
Sunday, November 17
Saturday, January 18, 2020
100 Dowling Avenue, Toronto
$30; $50 for two

Kidiquette
Age 8 to 12
Workshops run from 10 a.m. to 12 noon
Sunday, October 27
Sunday, November 17
Saturday, January 18, 2020
100 Dowling Avenue, Toronto
$40; $70 for two

Teen Etiquette
Age 13 to 17
Workshops run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 26
Saturday, November 16
Saturday, January 25, 2020
100 Dowling Avenue, Toronto
Includes three course lunch
and an 8-page workbook
$140; $250 for two
Refresher $70

Adult Etiquette
Workshops run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
100 Dowling Avenue, Toronto
Includes three course lunch and quiz
and an 11-page workbook
$295, $450 for two persons
Refresher $125

Meals & Manners
For groups with minimum of 10 persons
Please call for appointment
Includes three course lunch or dinner and quiz

What People Are Saying

Thank you for continuing to send me your newsletters. Even though I don’t comment on them, I do still find them helpful and insightful.
I am also happy to report that, in a lot of cases, they reflect my thoughts/actions already!
– Joanne

Thanks you, Adeodata, so much for these travel tips and a way to reconnect with you.
– Marilyn

Again another good and timely Newsletter. I like item 3 about the medications. I know of a lady who travelled to Jamaica and her husband got sick and they had to stay over the allotted time. Neither of them had taken enough medications so had to purchase there. The cost was astronomical. They had to depend on us at our Church to supply them with funds to cover the cost. I learnt my lesson from that episode and always, always carry more than my allotted amount. I don’t carry them in the original bottle – takes up too much space. What I do is ask the Pharmacist for a print out of it and carry it with me in case of anything.
– Dawn

Re: Make sure you have your passport: Yup. I was in an airport 8 years ago in Portugal and someone at the counter had forgotten it…
– Tsufit

Koszonom, hogy ujra gondoltal ram is a mindig nagyon jol jovo tanacsokkal. Igazan megszivlelendoek!
– Marika, Strudelicious