Business with India - [website] Published: 28th of Jan 2011 by: (c) Staff Training Staff Reporter
5 things to remember when doing business with our Indian counterparts
India, like South Africa, is an extremely diverse country consisting of various different languages, religions and castes. This makes it difficult to define Indian etiquette as it varies from region to region, and as such the list below should be treated as a guideline only.
1.Names are extremely important; an Indian name often speaks volumes about background. They denote caste, like in the case of the suffix “–jee” (sign of high caste) and “–kar” (sign of Maharashtan high caste).
2. It is considered correct to shake hands with an Indian when meeting, but to indicate your understanding of Indian etiquette you can also use the namaste. The namaste is the greeting Indians typically use, where the two palms are pressed together at chest level with a slight nod of the head.
3. Indians prefer doing business with people they have already formed relationships with. This means that you would need to display your trustworthiness and build a relationship with your prospective partner before expecting to make any deals.
4. Indians expect you to be punctual, but at the same time understand that family matters come before business; this is thus an acceptable excuse for last minute cancellations.
5. Meetings should be arranged well in advance, according to Indian etiquette, and dates near public holidays should be avoided completely.
It is fair to say that Indians are a very respectful nation, and would thus expect reciprocate respect when forming new relationships. Hierarchy is also a very important aspect of this culture and it extends into the workplace, where, for example, manual labour is done only by the ‘runner’ and all the corporate decisions are made at the highest level.
