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When it comes to etiquette, many people may think of politeness, courtesy, and other likes. Chinese think that etiquette is the common behavior standards that all members should obey, whose purpose is to keep the normal living order of the society. Business etiquette is fundamentally concerned with building relationship which is founded upon courtesy and politeness between business people.

From different angles, business etiquette refers to different characteristics, which include regularity, credibility, time opportunity and culture reflecting.

First, regularity

From its accommodating scope, business etiquette refers to the norms which regulate the people who are involved in different business activities of product flowing process, which differs from other etiquettes.

Second, credibility

From the content of business etiquette, as long as people working for business activities, the interests of both parts are involved necessarily, instead of a single parts interests. Therefore, honesty and integrity is crucial in business activities. Honesty in business etiquette refers to participating business activities sincerely as to reach agreement instead of exaggerating without actions. Credibility means once you have promised, you should keep your promise. Once signed a contract, you must perform the appointment. If something unexpected happens and you cant accomplish it on time, you should try your best to make up for it.

Third, time opportunity

The occasion of commercial affairs is very strong. When the golden time is over, the precious chance is lost. Sometimes, in business activities, if what you have done is just right, the problem will be readily solved. Sometimes, if the business person is too insistent on his own opinions, the deal can rarely be closed.

Fourth, culture reflecting

From the nature of business etiquette, although business activities are a kind of economic activities, they reflect different culture in a large part. The persons engaging in the business activities should be civilized, elegant and polite so as to establish good image among others.

Abiding by norms of business etiquette will make the interpersonal communication much easier and condense the emotions so that the mutual trust, mutual respect and cooperative relationship could be established accordingly.

Maximising value when selling a business can often mean selling to a customer or competitor and with the current market conditions as they are the return of the trade buyer has made this situation even more likely. Competitors are often the ones who are prepared to pay the best price, but this raises a number of tricky issues and careful management of the sale process is critical to achieving the right result.

Research, research, research
The value of research cannot be underestimated s, with the initial research playing a major role in the sale process and final outcome. The first step when selling a business is to prepare a list of likely buyers. Potential candidates need to be identified by in-depth research of the market the business for sale is currently operating in. This includes speaking to the major players, using the contact networks of the advisors and shareholders and utilising the international networks of corporate finance specialists to determine whether the likely purchaser will come form overseas. The next step is to agree a shortlist of parties to approach.

It is important to understand the strategies of the potential buyers, in particular their M&A plans. Some of this information will already be in the public domain but pre-screening buyers is an important step. The pre-screening process will involve speaking to, or meeting with, potential buyers to reach an understanding of their specific plans. This may even extend to asking questions relating to the area of the business that is for sale though not disclosing who the client is at this early stage

Understanding the key selling points of the business for sale and matching these to the strategies of the potential buyers is critical. There are key questions that need to be addressed at this time. Who is the business worth most to and what are the potential synergies available to the buyer – both sales driven and cost driven? Is there a gap in the potential buyer’s strategy, in terms of their product lines, market segment or geographic coverage that could be improved by acquiring the business that is potentially for sale. Which competitors would find the clients business attractive to buy, perhaps because it would rather own it than compete with it?

Lastly, it is important to understand the key individuals who drive the potential buyers business. Are they longstanding players? Perhaps they have a track record of buying and building businesses. Will they be able to gain support within their organisation to get a deal done?

What we often find is that the ultimate buyer is one of the first names on our list of potential buyers because it tends to be a competitor or a customer who ultimately sees most value in acquiring a business.

When Catalyst worked closely with a heating and plumbing equipment supplier the buyer was its major competitor.

The deal was quite a delicate one because we had to let the other side look at the details of the business but we could not reveal everything in the first instance. It had to be handled extremely sensitively.

The business was finally sold to its major competitor the outcome being a successful result for the vendors of the business who achieved an excellent price. The fit of the business with its major competitor made perfect sense but it was important to ensure that an advisor we understood the sensitivities of the deal without losing the buyer.

Tactics
In a transaction such as this you cant rush in and declare your hand too quickly when you are selling to a competitor and the same applies when selling to a customer. The first step is to prepare a tightly worded confidentiality letter which protects the client from potential buyers using information they learn from their discussions with you. This would include preventing them from using such information to target staff and customers, for example.

it is also imperative to hold back sensitive information until the last minute. Customer information is one such area, as it is vital to head off any attempts by the acquior to approach the customers of the business that is for sale until late on in the sale process. It is also at this stage that it will be important to make sure that there is a synergy between the two businesses. It should be clear that the two cultures are going to be a good fit and that all of the key individuals will be happy in their new roles.

When a business is looking to market a service or product, they commonly give out business cards. But when ordering such business cards, it’s rarely given much thought as to how much options such as lamination can really benefit a business. As it turns out, there is much to gain from this untapped aspect in business cards.

The process of lamination gives business cards a coating of plastic that can shield the business card from harm or dirt. This benefits the one who buys them, usually the business, as their business cards will last longer before needing replacements. This reinforced plastic can withstand tears, stains, and a wide variety of other substances that normal business cards would be rendered useless by.

The potential customer also benefits from the lamination of a business card, in the sense that they will always have an easy source of contact information thanks to the extended longevity in life of the business card. If a business card lasts longer, customers can appreciate a long term usage of it- which also in turn helps out businesses by reducing reprint costs.

Lamination also gives business cards a sleek design and feel to them- meaning they stand out from the rest. If a possible client is going through business cards, it is likely that the most visually appealing cards will be the first viewed. The slick exterior of a laminated business card can help cards stand out in such a way that gives them edge over competitors who stick to convention formats of business cards.

While laminated cards can have a wide plethora of benefits, there is the disadvantage of not being able to write on them with just any writing utensil. Pencils and pens will do little for customers who want to write on the plastic, and one must usually resort to markers. Other types of lamination, which costs more, can alleviate this frustration by using special coating material that can be written on.

As far as pricing goes, it should be expected that business cards with lamination will almost always cost more than those that don’t. This is because it takes extra work and materials to give the coating its ability to shield all of the obscene from the business card inside. But as previously mentioned, the benefits can often be too great to ignore- as the longevity and repeat business that laminated business cards give is too beneficial to discount.