Foreign exchange: the rules of global letter writing

Black Enterprise, Dec, 1995 by Elizabeth Janice

English is the universal language of business. But there's a wide communications gap between American executives and their foreign counterparts. According to a recent study by the public relations firm Manning, Selvage & Lee, 97% of American expatriates admit they go out of their way not to be misunderstood by their European hosts.

Before meeting face to face with foreign clients, you'll probably first exchange letters or faxes. Yet few businesspeople are taught the rules of international correspondence, says Mary A. De Vries, author of Internationally Yours: Writing and Communicating Successfully in Today's Global Marketplace (Houghton Mifflin, $21.95). To help you avoid costly and embarrassing mistakes, De Vries offers the following tips:

* Before you jot down a single word, research the other country's customs and business practices.

* Everything you write may be translated literally, so keep your letter clear and precise.

* Foreign businesspeople are often multilingual. Your overseas contacts will respect you more if you learn some of their language.

* Don't get too friendly, too fast. It's better to be more format than you'd be with colleagues at home.

* There's a great emphasis on business cards in other countries. To avoid confusion, don't use abbreviations. If you're dealing with people who use other alphabets, like the Japanese or Russians, print one side of your card in English, the other side in their language.

* The title Ms. is virtually unknown in most of the world. If you want to be addressed as Ms., remember to include it as part of your signature line.

* Beware of unintentional racial and ethnic biases.