5. Food and entertaining.

Food can communicate complex messages about status, nationality and identity. The fashion for eating out in restaurant was adopted by the upper classes during the French revolution. Most English words relating to eating out are adopted from the French (hotel, cafe, menu, chef, etc.) including restaurant, which was originally from the French verb meaning 'to restore'. Later, the migrations of the twentieth century proved fertile ground for mingling cuisines and knowledge of the vast variety on offer is viewed as a mark of modern cosmopolitan taste.

Codes of eating vary from culture to culture. In one culture it is polite to leave food on one's plate; in another it shows lack of respect. An American will be amused to see a British person struggling to balance peas on the back, rather than the curve of the fork. A European will retain the knife in one hand and the fork in the other throughout the meal. In contrast, an American will cut with the knife and fork and then lay the knife along the top of the plate and transfer the fork to their other hand to eat. The order in which food is served also differs from country to country. When eating out in Eastern countries a variety of dishes can be served at the same time rather than dividing the meal into courses. The dinners serve themselves by transferring small amounts of food from communal bowls onto their own plates. In Western restaurants the food is served in individual portions and the meal is generally divided into starter, main course and dessert.

Anthropologist Robin Fox believes that 'doing lunch' has little to do with business and everything to do with status. He says, “just to be having business lunches marks one down as a success in the world of business” This was taken rather too much to heart by five bankers fired by a London investment firm for trying to write off on expenses a dinner bill of over £60,000. The traditional concept of a business lunch or dinner has broadened to encompass other meals. First there were breakfast meetings, now the latest trend in the US is to have meetings over afternoon tea. Whatever the context, it is important to check what etiquette is expected and what behaviour is acceptable. If in doubt, follow the lead of the host and allow them to guide you through the meal. Turn off mobile phones and be polite and attentive. It may be a free lunch but remember that it is still business.

6. Sales

Things have come a, long way since the days when peddlers went from door to door selling wares from a pack. Now advertisements pop up as text messages. Goods can be ordered by marl order. We can compare prices, get Quotes, check if an item .is in stock and place an order without moving away from our computer screen. In some ways the methods of buying and selling have undergone a revolution arid in others little has changed since the early 1900 when keywords in sales were service and relationships. A modern sales force uses a mixture of tried and tested techniques and new technology to increase sales. The foundation of modern sales techniques was developed in the 1950s and includes gaining the client's interest, building desire by showing product features or giving samples, increasing conviction by comparing the product with competitors or using statistics to highlight benefits and, finally, closing the deal

One of the main strategies for building a solid customer base is through relationship selling. It costs more than five times as much to win a new customer as it does to maintain an existing client. So it makes sense to find ways to encourage customer loyalty. Most people react with suspicion to hard-sell, high-pressure techniques even if they are genuinely interested in the product. Instead, relationship selling; involves a low-pressure, soft-sell approach. The salesperson listens carefully to the needs of a client «nut works with them to find solutions tailored to their requirements. This involves maintaining regular contact and building trust by keeping promises and being accessible when a customer needs help. In addition to encouraging repeat orders, such an approach promotes good service. This encourages word-of-mouth referrals which can lead to additional sales. Where a real relationship exists between client and supplier, competitors find it more-difficult to entice customers away with promises of lower prices or special deals.

Modern technology complements this approach. A Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) uses software to track interactions between the customer and the departments within the company which are supplying goods. Marketing, Sales and Customer Services can collate and access information about customers in order to address their needs quickly and efficiently. Another modern sales technique is called high probability selling. This uses a detailed series of questions to focus efforts on clients who actively require the product or service that a company has to sell. This saves the clients’ time and the sales team does not need to prepare a detailed proposal that is unlikely to be accepted by the potential customer. Sales techniques need to be adapted in accordance with each customer profile. The most effective techniques use technology to modernise traditional customer-care methods. The clients are encouraged to feel that they are more than just a signature on an order form.