Proper greetings are key to good business in Decatur, Georgia. Learning to greet someone professionally helps you set a business interaction off on a positive note. In many cases, you’ll be greeting someone you are meeting for the first time, so a professional greeting can help you make an excellent impression. If you’ve run into someone again after you’ve already met them, a proper greeting can showcase your professionalism.
Follow these important steps for a greeting that establishes you as a professional:
- If possible, stand to greet the person. When the person you are meeting comes into the room, whether a man or woman, stand to greet him or her. This shows your interest in meeting the person.
- Smile! No greeting would be complete without a warm, genuine smile. Make eye contact with the person and show off your pearly whites!
- Shake on it. Always offer your right hand in greeting, with your palm facing left. Your handshake should be firm, but not too hard. If you feel comfortable, cupping your left hand around the handshake helps establish a feeling of good will.
- Offer a warm greeting and exchange names. For example, you might say, “Good afternoon. I’m John Smith.” If the person is not introduced to you by someone else, ask his or her name. You could say, “I didn’t catch your name.” To further show your interest, you can repeat his or her name: “I am pleased to meet you, John Doe.”
- Never feel too shy to ask for a repeat. If you don’t understand the person’s name when you first meet, always ask him or her to repeat his or her name. Simply say, “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” This is especially important since remembering the name of a professional contact is key to a lasting good impression.
- End on a positive note. After you have met someone, shake his or her hand again and offer a kind closing, such as, “It has been nice meeting you, John.”
How to handle future meetings
It’s possible you’ll run into a business professional again, after your initial meeting. Simply follow the steps you did with the initial meeting: stand, smile, make eye contact and shake hands. Always do your best to remember names! As stated by Dale Carnegie in the book How to Win Friends and Influence People, “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” You can imagine the good impression you can make on a person by remembering his or her name!
Greet a person you’ve met before by offering a warm hello and his or her name. In the event you have forgotten a name, say, “I apologize, but I have forgotten your name.”
Practice makes perfect!
You can master the art of a professional greeting through practice. Each time you meet someone new, practice the above technique. If you need to, ask a friend or family member to practice a meet-and-greet with you. You’ll have your greeting technique perfected in no time!
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