USA Etiquette

Business Etiquette and Protocol

Business Dress
What is considered appropriate business attire varies by geographic region, day of the week and industry.
In general, people in the East dress more formally, while people in the West are known for being a bit more casual.
Executives usually dress formally regardless of which part of the country they are in.
Casual Friday is common in many companies. High technology companies often wear casual clothes every day.
For an initial meeting, dressing conservatively is always in good taste. Women can wear business suits, dresses or pantsuits. Men should wear a business suit unless you know the firm to be quite casual.

Greetings
The hand shake is the common greeting.
Handshakes are firm, brief and confident.
Maintain eye contact during the greeting.
In most situations, you can begin calling people by their first names.
Most people will insist that you call them by their nickname, if they have one.
In formal circumstances, you may want to use titles and surnames as a courtesy until you are invited to move to a first name basis, which will happen quickly.
Business cards are exchanged without formal ritual.
It is quite common for the recipient to put your card in their wallet, which may then go in the back pocket of their trousers. This is not an insult.

Americans are direct. They value logic and linear thinking and expect people to speak clearly and in a straightforward manner. To them if you don’t “tell it how it is” you simply waste time, and time is money. If you are from a culture that is more subtle in communication style, try not to be insulted by the directness. Try to get to your point more quickly and don’t be afraid to be more direct and honest than you are used to. Americans will use the telephone to conduct business that would require a face-to-face meeting in most other countries. They do not insist upon seeing or getting to know the people with whom they do business.
Communication Styles