What is the common sense of business etiquette in Vietnam?
Common sense of business etiquette in Vietnam
* * * dressed up in * *.
Vietnamese businessmen attach great importance to personal image. Men wear shirts to tie their waists on important occasions, and suits and ties should be worn on more solemn occasions. Vietnamese businessmen believe that ties not only represent the appearance of individuals, but also represent the image of the whole unit. When Vietnamese businessmen participate in negotiations, if the person with the highest position wears a yellow tie, the other party can see the hope of success in the negotiations. Vietnamese business women pay more attention to dress, and the most suitable one is the A-line skirt, which is longer than the knee and convenient for exercise. In the office, women can't wear jeans, T-shirts, short skirts, etc. And you can't wear heavy makeup. Men should wear leather shoes, women should wear high heels, and women's heels should be 3 to 5 cm. Men often wear black or brown leather shoes, and women's leather shoes are beige or black. When negotiating with Vietnamese businessmen, don't wear too bright clothes, and ladies don't wear flowery skirts. Examples prove that dress is one of the factors that determine the success or failure of business negotiations. The following case is the best proof.
Mr. Mai, general manager of a company in Guangxi, went to Vietnam to discuss business. Mr. Mai is wearing a T-shirt and sneakers, and the Chinese translator is also dressed casually. Representatives of Vietnamese companies are dressed formally. The Vietnamese side thinks that the clothes that Mr. Mai and the translator met for the first time are inappropriate, which shows that they are unprofessional, not dedicated and have no integrity to talk about business. Just then, a Korean company also sent representatives to negotiate with Vietnamese companies. Korean representatives are well dressed, cautious in words and deeds, and familiar with Vietnam's import and export procedures. The result of the negotiation is obvious, and the reason is self-evident. Chinese representatives lost the opportunity of cooperation because they didn't pay attention to their image.
* * * 2 * * Meeting etiquette
Due to the cultural differences between China and Vietnam, in order to establish good trade relations, Vietnamese idioms and greetings should be used when meeting Vietnamese or Vietnamese businessmen to achieve the best communication effect. When you first meet a Vietnamese businessman, you shouldn't pat him on the back or shoulder too kindly. China people's common polite expressions, such as "Please pay more attention" and "Please give more advice", need not be said to the Vietnamese, lest the Vietnamese think the other party is too polite or even hypocritical.
In 2008, Mr. Huang Zhonghai, Vietnamese Vice Minister of Industry and Commerce, came to Nanning to attend the China-ASEAN Expo. A company in Guangxi invited him to visit the company and discuss cooperation projects. Chinese host delivered a speech: "Dear Mr. Huang Zhonghai, Vice Minister of Industry and Commerce of Vietnam, member of the delegation, good afternoon!" The Chinese translator translated this sentence like this: "Kính th? A Phó B? Trng B？ c？ ng thng Vi？ Vietnam? ng Hoà ng Trung H？ I think you are strong? oàn！ Chào m？ I ngi! " At first glance, there are no serious grammatical errors in Vietnamese translation, but Vietnamese people feel awkward because the translated sentences do not conform to the idioms of Vietnamese opening remarks. In Vietnamese, only the sentence pattern of "chào+ personal pronoun" is used to express hello and goodbye, so when translating "good morning", "good afternoon" and "good evening", it is not necessary to say the time according to Chinese habits. In formal occasions such as international conferences and business negotiations, the opening remarks in Vietnamese should be "Dear+Name+Position+Other members of the delegation". So the opening sentence should be translated into: "Kính th? Answer? ng Hoà ng Trung H？ Me, Th? trng B？ c？ ng Thng Vi？ What do you think of Vietnam? oàn i bi？ u！”
* * * Three * * Greeting etiquette
Vietnamese people attach great importance to greeting etiquette in daily life. When students meet a teacher on the road, they must put their hands on both sides of their thighs, stand well and say hello "Em chào Th? y/ C！ * * * Hello, teacher! ***"。 Businessmen pay more attention to greeting etiquette, and they must say hello when they meet their superiors. Vietnamese people are not used to addressing "surname+position", such as "Manager Zhang", "Director Li" and "Director Wang". Vietnamese people are used to the address of "kinship+surname". Vietnamese prefer kinship terms, and they often use kinship terms in the workplace. This is related to the Vietnamese lifestyle and values for thousands of years. Vietnamese pay attention to traditional family values and have an orderly generation. For example, a Vietnamese manager named Chen Yulin is 50 years old and his subordinates call him "Chú L? M "* * * Uncle Lin * *. "Chú" means "uncle" in Chinese, but it doesn't mean kinship here. It only means that Manager Chen is younger than his subordinate's father, so he is called uncle. Vietnamese don't need to address each other when greeting. If subordinates and leaders are about the same age, you can say "Chào anh!" Hello, big brother! ***，“Chào ch？ ! "* * * Hello, elder sister! ***。 In recent years, the popular address is "S" to address leaders. P "* * * Chinese means" leader "and" boss ". When communicating with Vietnamese businessmen, if China businessmen can notice the differences in address habits between Vietnamese and China people and respect each other's habits, it will help the businessmen of the two countries to communicate better and gain the emotional recognition of Vietnamese businessmen more easily.
Etiquette and Taboo in Vietnamese business gifts
* * * A * * Vietnamese gift-giving custom
Vietnamese businessmen believe that gifts can highlight the identity of the giver, and usually take "generosity without losing cultural connotation" as the criterion. Vietnamese businessmen usually send souvenirs with the company logo when they meet for the first time, which is intended to leave a first impression on each other. When you receive a gift from the Vietnamese, you can't open it immediately or directly evaluate it, otherwise it will be considered impolite. Influenced by western culture, Vietnamese businessmen pay attention to the packaging of gifts, which is moderate in size and convenient for each other to carry. Gifts should take into account the other person's age, constellation, zodiac, hobbies and so on. In order to achieve the best communication effect. Vietnamese scholar Dr. Ruan Shiyong mentioned in his book: "If the recipient is both happy and moved when receiving the gift, it is more important and effective than giving any expensive gift." For example, if the leader is a rooster and numerology belongs to wood, the gift giver can't give a gift that belongs to "fire" or snake, otherwise it will cause misunderstanding of the leader and think that the gift giver is cursing him. You can't give a red or purple shirt to a person who likes to wear cool clothes; You can't give cats to people who like dogs.
* * * 2 * * * Taboos of giving gifts in Vietnamese business circles.
Pay attention to the taboos of Vietnamese businessmen when giving gifts. Vietnamese businessmen like exquisite gifts, red wine is the first choice, and other foods are generally not given as gifts. Vietnamese people like singular numbers, such as "five", "seven" and "nine", and are especially favored by them. "Three" is considered as a bad number, because "three" is related to "March 8th". If the number of gifts given to a lady is "three", the other party will think that the giver said she was "38". China businessmen are forbidden to give gifts because they don't understand the meaning of Vietnamese numbers, which leads to the failure of business cooperation. In 2008, a company in Shandong and a group in Vietnam discussed the export of equipment. China Company wanted to introduce the traditional culture of China to Vietnamese friends, so it brought two gifts. One is a Chinese painting "Horse to Success", in which there are eight galloping horses, and the other is a tea set with six small teacups and a teapot. * * * The total number is seven * *. The representative of China thinks that eight fine horses symbolize good luck and success. In China culture, "eight" also means "getting rich" and "seven" means "seven lucky stars". Therefore, in the eyes of China people, the cultural connotations of "seven" and "eight" are beautiful, representing luck and wealth. Unfortunately, in the eyes of Vietnamese businessmen, "July 8" means "failure", while the Chinese Vietnamese pronunciation of "July 8" is "th? T bát ",and" làm? n th？ T bát "is homophonic * * * Chinese is" throwing water into the water "* * *. Therefore, Vietnamese companies are very unhappy and afraid of bad luck after receiving the gifts carefully selected by China Company. The results of the negotiations between the two companies can be imagined.
The seventh month of the lunar calendar is considered as the "Lonely Soul Month" by Vietnamese, so it was not allowed to send clothes or building models to Vietnamese at that time, because Vietnamese, especially businessmen, were worried that ghosts would rob them. In Vietnam, tailor shops or construction industries generally close in July of the lunar calendar. It can be seen that Vietnamese people's belief in traditional culture is deeply rooted, and even in a modern society with advanced technology, Vietnamese people will not easily abandon their inherent traditional cultural concepts.
You can't choose a coffin as a gift. This is a far cry from China's habit. In China, giving a coffin means "getting promoted and getting rich", but giving a coffin in Viet Nam is tantamount to cursing each other. You can't send marigold and plumeria to Vietnamese business friends. In Vietnam, these flowers are used as wreaths or worship Buddha.
Fourth, the dietary taboos of Vietnamese businessmen.
In order to better develop business cooperation, Vietnamese dietary taboos deserve to be understood by China businessmen. Vietnamese avoid eating dog meat, duck meat, squid, cuttlefish, prawns and crabs at the beginning of the lunar calendar. In Vietnam, educated families will not buy these foods at the beginning of the lunar month, let alone eat them. Vietnamese like to eat dog meat, but many Vietnamese believe in Buddhism. At the beginning of the lunar calendar, Vietnamese avoid eating dog meat because they don't want to kill animals. Vietnamese don't eat dog meat until after the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar. Vietnamese businessmen believe that if you want to prosper, you must accumulate virtue and never violate the taboo of eating dog meat before the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar. Some China businessmen came to Vietnam to discuss business, but they wanted to taste Vietnamese dog meat at the beginning of the Lunar New Year. Such a request embarrassed the Vietnamese host. If they don't order dog meat, they will be misunderstood by China guests, thinking that Vietnamese people are not enthusiastic, but if they really want to eat dog meat, they can't find a shop selling dog meat. In traditional Vietnamese culture, ducks, squid and cuttlefish all mean "black" and "unlucky", and businessmen are very jealous of these foods. Shrimp swimming backwards and crab swimming sideways are considered as creatures that can't move forward, so they are also taboo foods for businessmen.
In recent years, the trade between China and Viet Nam has been frequent. Business etiquette plays an important role in business activities. In order to carry out business activities more effectively, it is necessary for China businessmen to understand Vietnamese business culture and etiquette, especially business taboos, respect each other's cultural customs and treat cultural differences correctly, so as to achieve twice the result with half the effort in cross-cultural business communication.