Sales etiquette

The dreaded invitation: “Let’s have coffee…”

By Arden / August 3, 2016 /

“Let’s meet for coffee.”  Sound familiar? If you’re a business owner you may hear this phrase often. Yet, it’s not always a welcome invitation.

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Are business cards going away?

By Arden / April 2, 2016 /

Remember that business card app that would let you touch your phone to another person’s phone and your contact information would be exchanged? I remember a friend telling me about one called Bump and thinking, wow, what a great idea; except it no longer exists. In fact, of four apps that were tooted in a…

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Why I’m not going to help you grow your business

By Arden / April 13, 2015 /

This past week I got three requests for help. Asking for help is never impolite if it’s for the right reason. I’m quick to help people when I can. But when the request comes from someone who either I’ve never met or who I’ve met once, and they want my help growing their business for…

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The new rules for today’s tools

By Arden / September 19, 2014 /

As a girl, one of my favorite excursions was going to my grandma’s cabin on Whidbey Island. It was somewhat rustic and had just enough amenities to make it comfortable but still somewhat of an adventure.

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How not to confuse people with your meeting invitations

By Arden / April 29, 2014 /

Have you ever received a meeting invite from someone and thought what the heck is this? The invitation doesn’t make clear who is calling the meeting or what the purpose of the meeting is. The person sending the meeting invite probably wrote it so that it made sense to him not thinking what it would…

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Dear Ms. Clise

By Arden / October 1, 2013 /

When people I haven’t met first email me they often address me as Ms. Clise. It always takes this casual Seattle gal by surprise. I understand why people are addressing me in a formal way; they assume it is the proper thing to do with someone who teaches etiquette.

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Stop! In the name of sales

By Arden / September 19, 2012 /

The Puget Sound Business Journal asked me to give a presentation on tradeshow sales and etiquette recently, since their Expo is coming up in October. I was excited to do it and asked my colleague Matt Heinz, with Heinz Marketing, to co-present with me and talk about the marketing and sales aspect of tradeshows.

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Coffee date dilemmas

By Arden / September 5, 2012 /

The topic of coffee dates has come up several times in the past few weeks. I’ve been asked about the etiquette of things like who pays, if you should wait to order until your colleague arrives, should you wait in the parking lot if you see the person getting out of their car, etc. So,…

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The hugging dilemma

By Arden / August 14, 2012 /

When I teach handshakes in my client trainings or presentations I’m often asked about hugging. Because the West Coast tends to be more informal, there is a lot of hugging going on, especially between women. But, there are a good many people who don’t like to be hugged. 

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Tradeshow and booth etiquette best practices

By Arden / May 29, 2012 /

This is a guest post by Matt Heinz, founder and principal of Heinz Marketing, LLC. You can learn a lot about what to do, and what not to do, at a tradeshow booth just by walking around and observing behavior at just about any event. Below are some of the observations and etiquette best (and…

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