Site Contents for Secrets of International Trade

The 4 P's of e-business protocol
1. Polite   2. Prompt   3. Precise   4. Persist

Communication by e-mail is no different than writing on your company letterhead. A certain degree of formality is required. A business communication is business, period.

The allure of e-mail lies in its speed as well as being cheaper than postal airmail or fax. E-mail, although lacking "real" physical stationery do present an outward manifestation of the sender innate character and attitude.

The 4 P's of e-business protocol
1. Polite   2. Prompt   3. Precise   4. Persist

Page 4/4 - International email scam

The choice of words should avoid expressions that may mean very little or something quite different to the recipient, like: drop in anytime or acronyms like: IMHO -  FWIW - BTW - PLS - OIC or KIV

The writer should be careful to use titles, first-name or use the title as shown in the recipient previous e-mail and in the same manner of protocol, like: Sir, Dear Sir, Dr., Mr. President, Madam, Sincerely, Faithfully, etc.

If misunderstanding arises, tact and patience usually achieve more than anger or sarcasm.

A harsh word spoken is easily forgotten or diminished in impact after a while, whereas written criticism lingers-on indefinitely.

2. Prompt
A common fault is failing to respond promptly. If someone inquire about the availability of a product or information that is not within the scope of the recipient, it should not be just "filed" away, every message deserves the curtsey of a response even if it is brief -- with the exception of *junk* mail.

Failure to respond is understandable because e-mail is being abused. Many sender find that they can e-mail any kind of messages to anyone that is hastily written, un-intentionally or otherwise -- lacking in proper business protocol, manners, in-precise, ambiguous with scant sender identification as well as "why" is he/she using a public e-mail addresses.

3. Precise
E-mail messages should be as precise as possible, this means being as exact and as complete as possible. The recipient, should not have to guess what the sender really meant, see below: a real life *true* case study of an ambiguous e-mail message:

Sellers, importers or exporters may not have the time to ask all sorts of qualifying questions and have many other potential buyers that needs their attention, therefore they have to prioritize their limited resources.

Example: Just walk in-to any up-town car showroom, in shorts and slippers, the sales personal won't be taking you very seriously as a potential buyer, isn't it?

Of course there are cases when the sales person continues to serve the potential customer and made a sale for a *Porch* or *Rolls* (happy endings that we usually get to see in the movies).

Unfortunately, in email business communications judgment cannot be made at all, the seller, buyer, importer, exporter can't visualize the potential of the buyer *except* based on the style of writing that will make it worth the seller *Time* to respond to your enquiry.

If you are consistently getting no respond to your e-business email enquires, the reason could simply be due to improper
e-business e-protocol, e-mail e-communication and e-netiquettes.

In today's world of E-everything...
The line between success and failure is *I have no time*

4. Persist
Most of the time, any form of communication, can go astray or were delivered late, including electronic mail.

Many users have no idea how e-mail function on the Internet and usually gives a disbelieving look, when the intended recipient said that they didn't receive it or it was delivered several days late.

Therefore, before jumping to conclusion, consider the possibility of *lost or late e-mail*.

Next Page 2/4 - Recipients willing to respond to your e-mail usually evaluate the quality of the sender communication skills, attitude and manners.

 

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