Do you have trouble getting answers to email you send? Are there some people with whom you need to communicate on a regular basis who not only don’t answer your email, but also are seldom available to take your phone calls?

Before you chalk up the lack of communication to other people’s bad work habits or rudeness, take a close look at your own communication style. It’s possible that those who never seem to answer your emails or take your phone calls aren’t careless, forgetful, or rude. They may be just trying to avoid you.

Why?

If you don’t have an ongoing personal disagreement with someone and they aren’t trying to hide from you because they owe you work or money, the problem could be the way you communicate in email. You see, the effect of what you say in email often looks and “sounds” different to the recipient than it would if you were talking to them in person. If the email messages you send seem condescending, petty, picky, or needlessly complicated, you’ll find it increasingly difficult to get responses in a timely fashion.

Here are some of the most aggravating email faux pas to avoid.

Marking emails you send out with an exclamation point to indicate high importance for routine matters. Yes, you want people to read email you send, and yes you think the matter is important. But marking everything as high importance is going to have the opposite effect. Those who frequently receive email from you marked with an exclamation point will start ignoring it – and be mad at you for sending so many emails marked high importance.

Demanding immediate response when it’s not warranted. Just because something is important to you doesn’t mean that others should drop what they’re doing to answer your question or do what you want done. They have their priorities, too. Not only will they get mad at you, but if requests aren’t truly urgent, they’ll soon be ignored – just like the fabled boy who cried “Wolf!” too often. So, if the matter you’re discussing in email isn’t truly urgent (i.e., no one is going to suffer any harm or damage if whatever you want done isn’t handled the same day), then don’t ask for immediate action. And, if something really does need to be handled right away, explain why. (And remember to say “Please” and “Thank You”.)

Responding to someone else with a one-liner without including important details. “Call me,” or “We need to change the date” may work when you’re talking live with someone about a project. But if that’s all you put in an email, the recipient may need to dig through a stack of other email to find out why you wanted them to call you or what project or event needed a date change.

Including too much detail. Need a manufacturer to do a better job of packaging the inventory products they ship you? Unless you’re a Big Box Store, don’t send the manufacturer a long note telling them what kind of packaging tape to use, how many times to reinforce it, and what grade shipping cartons to use. Instead, politely remind them to package the products securely so they don’t get damaged in shipment. If you’ve had a telephone conversation to discuss the problem, mention it briefly (if this is the first shipment since the call), but don’t rehash the entire phone call. And don’t forget the “Please” and “Thank You.”

Similarly, if you send a team member an email request to pull together a report on the team progress or do some other task, tell them what you want done and when you need it by. Don’t include a lot of detail about why it’s important to do the task or how you expect them to pay attention to all the details and format the report the way they were taught. If it’s a task they know how to do, state the task and the deadline in a sentence or two. (And don’t forget to say “Please” and “Thanks.”)

Copying the boss — especially when the issue is minor. If you and a team member or anyone else you have to interact with have a minor difference of opinion, work it out between the two of you without copying the boss on your emails. If you see someone has made an insignificant mistake and want it corrected, contact the person privately with a friendly note. (For instance, “Hi Joe, I just saw a typo on the website. Thought you’d want to know about it so you can fix it.”) Don’t copy the boss. The boss doesn’t need to know that Joe Smith made a typo on the company website and you found it. The boss also doesn’t need to know that you asked Barbara to do three things yesterday, but she couldn’t get to them all, and still has one thing left to do. Remember, copying the boss makes you look like a tattletale. And no one loves a tattletale — or wants to return a tattletale’s email messages.

Changing the subject line when replying to an email. A lot of people use the subject line of emails to determine if and when to open and read the mail. If you and one or more other people are having an ongoing conversation about a project, and the subject doesn’t change, don’t change the subject line in the email. The people you want to read your response, may miss it, or may not be able to find it in the future to refer to it if you change the subject line.

Not changing the subject line for new topics of discussion. You and Dale have been discussing the best way to set up your podcast. All the messages have the same subject line. But while you’re reading Dale’s last response, you remember that you wanted to ask him to find a commercial artist who can design a flier for your next seminar. Don’t hit reply (to the podcast emails) to tell Dale to find the artist. Start a new email with a new subject line and send that to Dale so he can keep the issues separate in his email.

If you keep the tips above in mind, remember that email recipients aren’t necessarily thinking about the same things you are at the time they get your email, and remember to say “Please” and “Thank You” often, you’ll find more of your email will get prompt replies and more of the things you need done, will get done quickly.

What’s your opinion? Are there email habits that drive you up the wall? Post your thoughts on this blog entry.

(Janet Attard)

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The TeamWox collaboration Software is software that is designed to optimize the management of your business and the process of production in a company. By using this software, you are able to organize your company management effectively. It can also make all the management transparent. Additionally, it can make the quick decision making based on the best information. You are also able to store all the documents, tasks and discussions in the TeamWox Groupware.

There are a lot of benefits that you can take when you use that software in your business. Moreover, all information about your clients and all history about the cooperation with them are saved in the software. You will get an effective business management system by the help of the software.

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Several decades ago, when banks were not established yet, people feel so hard to make financial transaction. They can’t make transaction with people who live far from them. They can only make transaction with people near them. If they want to save their money, they can only save it in their home, usually they have a place to save their money but it can’t contain much money. But now, you don’t have to do that again because there are lots of banks in USA.

This bank is spread in every region in USA. Every region has more than one bank with different institution. One banks to another has different service. Such as banks in Chicago have different services with bank in Los Angles or bank in Nevada. It depends on the bank and the region where the banks are placed.

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• Select your business name and set up a website and blog.

Without a website or blog, you can’t have a networked import/export business. Get yourself a platform that allows you to develop a presence online and grow your business beyond your wildest imagination. The goal is to balance the flow of communications, sell products online (or offline) and build your customer base to drive profits for your international business.

But first, remember to register your business name with a reputable web host because your domain name is what customers use to find you and your business. And it can’t hurt to consult with an international lawyer, banker and accountant for advice on establishing a virtual import/export business and keeping it in the best legal and financial position possible.

A couple of places to get started with a website are Network Solutions, Go Daddy, Intuit and Verio. All offer domain name registrations and affordable website hosting packages with easy-to-use site building capabilities.

To create a professional blog, which allows a continuous flow of engaging communications, try Blogger, Typepad or WordPress. These services allow you to create a blog in minutes with stunning designs, reliable hosting and on-demand tech support.

Now you are ready to share your business expertise and capabilities and sell to the world.

• Pick a product to import or export.

When it comes to importing and exporting, you cannot be all things to all customers. Decide on something and stick with it.

You have two viable reasons for choosing a product to import or export: you know it will sell or you like it. Hopefully, you can meet both criteria. That’s an ideal business model. Would you buy it if you saw it in another part of the world? Then you are on to something!

• Find the right market.

You’ve selected a product, now you must look for someplace to sell it! You will improve your odds of picking a winner if you cultivate a knack for tracking trends, or even spotting potential trends. Getting in on the ground floor and importing or exporting a product before it becomes a super-seller in a country could be the business breakthrough of a lifetime!

Do the homework and research the market beforehand to locate the best potential foreign market for your product or service. Two places to check are The World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” and globalEDGE’s “Market Potential Index.”

You might also check with local government officials to best determine sources for conducting market research. For example, in the United States, there are the Department of Commerce International Trade Administration’s Data and Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade, which governs the reporting of all import/export statistics. These resources are helpful for determining where in the world products and services are moving to and from, and why and how to get in on the action.

• Source a supplier.

Once you have a likely import or export product in mind, learn everything there is to know about it. If you were its creator, how would you improve it? Go to a manufacturer and suggest product improvements to turn a mediocre product into something slightly ahead of its time. Your suggestions might mean the difference between a Sony Walkman and an Apple iPod.

The easiest access to reputable suppliers might be Alibaba, Global Sources, and Thomas Register. There are others, but these three are considered the holy grail to finding high quality suppliers, manufacturers, exporters, importers, buyers, wholesalers and trade leads. (Laurel Delaney)

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1. Export management companies

An export management company (EMC) is one such intermediary. A good one will act in all respects as a global extension of your own sales-and-service presence — more or less what you are attempting to do on behalf of a manufacturer! EMCs offer a wide range of services, but most specialize in exporting a specific range of products to a well-defined customer base in a particular country or region. For example, an EMC might specialize in exporting personal computer business software to educational institutional customers in Asian-Pacific countries.

An EMC is highly market-driven, representing your product along with other companies’ non-competing products as part of their own import “product line” aimed at the customer base they have created. Generally, the EMC buys the product from a manufacturer and marks up the price to cover their profit. This is called a buy-resell arrangement. Other common compensation structures used by EMCs include both commission and buy-and-resell, start-up or project fee only, fee plus commission, or fee plus commission and buy-and-resell. An EMC will carry out all aspects of the export transaction:

* Identifying international markets for your product or service.
* Locating customers overseas.
* Arranging agent/distributorship relationships.
* Preparing, negotiating and handling all communication, documentation and shipping logistics.
* Exhibiting at international trade shows.
* Traveling overseas to meet with potential customers.
* Setting up appropriate distribution channels.

Finding a good EMC is not that difficult. A good Internet search can help you access a list. For each listed company, take note of how long they have been in business, the number of employees, the products in which they specialize and the countries to which they export. Start your own select list of companies that export products similar to your own. Then consult the following for more referrals to add to your list:

* A local trade association with an international focus. Attend a few meetings and talk some shop — somebody’s bound to know of an EMC, or even run their own.
* The international division of your bank. They’re likely to have an inside line on which companies are reputable and doing well.
* As always, you can rely on your local chamber of commerce or small business assistance center. They generally know who has been in the export trading business for awhile. At the very least, they can point you to a good online exporting directory.
* Freight forwarders and logistics experts also might provide you with the names of EMCs that use their service, but because you probably haven’t made a sale at this point, you probably don’t have a working relationship with a transportation company. Ask someone you know who uses a freight forwarder or reputable international transportation company regularly.
* Your first and possibly last resort is – again – to search the Internet for listings under “Export Trading Companies” or “Export Management Companies.”

2. Export trading companies

You might also use the services of an export trading company (ETC). ETCs are virtually identical to EMCs, but they tend to function on a more demand-driven basis, by which the demand of the market compels them to buy specific commodities. They usually have long-standing customers for whom they source products on a regular basis. For example, they might get a request from a customer to find a supplier of canned sweet peas who can provide twenty container loads a month for a given number of months. The ETC will then seek out a reputable manufacturer who can handle the demand at an economical price, and then arrange for the transport of the goods to the customer. You can track down a good ETC via the same channels recommended above for finding an EMC.

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