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Every Employee is the Key to Your Company’s Reputation and Success
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Doing Business in Turkey
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While getting to know the American counterpart, Turkish
businesspeople usually like to conduct business lunches and
dinners. Bear in mind that the host always pays. If the Turkish
businessperson makes the invitation, it is considered rude for
you to try and pay. Very importantly, Muslims do not eat pork as
it is forbidden in Islam. Consequently, do not try and order any
pork-based dish as this gesture will be highly offensive.
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Not listening to the customer but instead the employee
is thinking of their next statement back to the dissatisfied customer
Not making eye contact with the customer
Demonstrating body language that says, “I’m in a hurry
and you are taking up my time”
Not greeting the customer when they arrive
Greeting the customer in an unfriendly or disinterested
type of greeting
When the customer asks a question, the associate or
employee shrugs their shoulders and/or grunts a reply
When the customer is talking to the employee, the employee simply walks away without stating what they are
doing or where they are going
At our business, we have grown to become the largest real
estate school in the nation because of our quality, first rate
reputation. Here are the daily practices within our company that are universally considered desirable and complimentary:
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Compliments are consistent to the point of bringing in
new business daily
Every customer gets a friendly greeting when they call
or walk in the door
E-mails are reviewed so they demonstrate a happy and
helpful employee
When the customer is speaking to us, we acknowledge
the customer with eye contact and a helpful and positive look on our face
We don’t interrupt the customer when they are talking
or asking a question
If we need to walk away to access the computer, materials, or product, we tell the customer what we are doing
We always stay calm and have a positive attitude
We end every contact and conversation with “Is there
anything else I can do for you?” and “Thank you for your
business”.
There are a few aspects of Turkish address which can make an
impression upon your Turkish counterpart. If you are on friendly
terms, you may address him by his first name followed by “bey”.
If it is a Turkish woman, the form of address will be the first name
followed by “hanim”. If your Turkish counterpart is a doctor or
a professor then these forms of address should be employed followed by the first name. These are little things but they will be
most impressive if you can demonstrate that you know them.
Although it may not be discussed frequently in the news, Turkey’s status as a place to do business and invest is only rising. It is
an excellent place to expand your business ventures but in order
to do so you must be culturally aware and maintain an open mind.
SBT
As a graduate of the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Houston, Ludmila (Mila)
Rusakova Golovine, Founder, CEO, and President of MasterWord Services, Inc., started her company
with a vision of seamlessly connecting people across any language, any time, and any culture. She
can be reached by email at [email protected], by phone at 281-589-0810, or visit her
website at www.masterword.com.
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Fueling Your Desire to Win
“Each individual person is the true key to success!” SBT
Pro and Olympic athletes aren’t the only ones who use these
techniques. If you’re married, you’ve probably done many of
these things. When you first fell in love, you constantly thought
about your love; you had pictures of him or her around you all
the time. You wanted to know everything about them. You
wrote letters to them. You constantly talked about them to your
friends. In fact, they were probably sick of hearing you talk about
him or her! You were obsessed! And what happened? You probably ended up getting married.
A child that wants a puppy does the same thing. They talk
about puppies. They read about puppies. They think about
puppies. They collect pictures of puppies. And eventually, the
parents break down and buy the puppy. Do the same with your
dream. Get obsessed! Become a fanatic! Obsessed fanatics
make dreams come true. If I could do it, you can do it! SBT
Rita Santamaria is the owner/founder of Champions School of Real Estate and the Champions
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