The expat population and influence is a growing phenomenon in Shanghai. Neighbourhoods that just a few years ago were full of locals now boast westerners on the occasional street corner, and foreign restaurants and bars seem to pop up every five minutes. So how can you as a local get in touch with westerners and build valuable business contacts? Many westerners go to social networking events to meet new people and make new contacts, not only for business, but also to make new friends. There are dozens of these events happening every month, organized by networking professionals, chambers of commerce and community groups. Obviously, being able to speak the language is a foot in the door at these events, but what else do you need to know to make a good impression?
Shaking Hands
How you shake hands can say a lot about you. Therefore, whether making a new aquaintance, saying goodbye to an old friend or signing a lucrative business contract, a good handshake is essential. A loose handshake can make you look weak and (if you're a man) effeminate. On the other hand, too strong a handshake can make you look overly hostile. If you want a good handshake, just remember the following advice:
When shaking hands, you should:
- Have a firm grip: You don't want to feel too weak but you don't want to crush the other person's hand either.
- Grasp the whole hand, not just the fingers.
- Make and keep eye contact: Looking someone in the eye makes them feel you trust them, and they'll trust you in return.
- Ensure your hands are dry: Nobody wants to walk away with sweaty hands after shaking hands with you.
The process:
- Ensure your hands are clean and dry
- Make eye contact
- Move towards the person you want to shake hands with
- Make greeting
- Extend hand
- Grasp their hand fully and firmly, ensuring your thumb webs are touching
- Introduce yourself (if meeting for the first time.) Usually just saying your name will be enough
- Pump their hand two to three times, then relax grip
- Let go of their hand and start conversation
When to shake hands
- Greeting someone for the first time
- Meeting someone you know outside of a usual situation (i.e. outside work or home)
- Greeting someone who enters your office or home
- Finishing a transaction
- Leaving a social or business event
- If unsure about when to shake hands, shake hands anyway
When not to shake hands
- When someone else has their hands full. In that case, just give a nod
- When someone else is much higher ranked than you and you have nothing important to say to them. To rush forward and shake their hand would appear pushy in this case.
Business Card Etiquette
Though business cards are not so commonly used in the west, expats in China are very conscious about how people hand out and use their cards. The emphasis is on quality of contacts, not quantity of cards. For that reason, just meeting someone to give them your card is considered very bad form. When meeting someone, you should try to make small talk and get chatting, only offering your card if the other person asks what you do, asks for your card or upon finishing the conversation. Just pushing your card on someone and then moving onto the next person makes it look like you care about cards over people.
Bear in mind where you are when handing out cards. At a networking mixer is fine, but be more careful and considerate when outside a networking environment.
Making Conversation
Conversation can always be a bit of a minefield in cross-cultural communication. One thing that many foreigners dislike is bringing up something incredibly obvious about their country. I'm a Brit, and people mentioned David Beckham every time I mention where I'm from. We've heard it all before, and the last thing we want is to hear it again! Also avoid anything too personal on a first meeting, like whether we prefer Chinese girls or western girls, and steer clear of any sexism or racism. We really don't want to hear about how terrible Japan is, or how you may not like black people.
Generally, you can't go too far wrong with the usual questions:
- Where are you from?
- How long have you been in Shanghai/China?
- What brought you to China?
- What do you do?
- How did you get into that line of business?
- Do you come to this kind of event often?
Also, if holidays are coming up or have just been and gone, discussing these is a good tactic. Bear in mind though, that the best conversation is a natural one: don't stick religiously to a script. Most importantly of all, don't try to sell your product or service there and then. People network to meet new people, not to be pitched to.
Where and When to Network
The most popular chamber events are the American Chamber and British Chamber mixers, which generally have a couple of hundred people attending. Other notable events include Nextstep Tuesdays, Oriented and the Fortune Cookies Club.
After the Event
So, it's the end of the night and you've got a stack of business cards a mile high. Now the trick is to get people to remember who you are. Over the next couple of days, individually email the people you met, saying briefly it was nice to have met them at the event and you hope to see more of them in the future. If you want to do business with them, then arrange to do coffee sometime, and keep the tone light and casual. Try not to wait too long before emailing, otherwise people may forget who you are. Another good idea is to use an online networking service like Xing or LinkedIn. These allow you to publish your own profile detailing who you are, your contact details and your business, and lets you see other people's profiles too. Unlike business cards, these can be kept up to date very easily, meaning you won't have to worry about losing touch if someone changes company.
If you have trouble putting names to faces or remembering where you met someone, write notes on their card and file them away for safekeeping, even if you don't think they're a useful contact right away. Sometimes the most useful contacts are the ones you least expect.
Hopefully by now you're in the mood to get out, meet people and make useful contacts. So, ready your business cards, get to a mixer and start meeting people. Happy networking!
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