Cambridge Business Association
How to Say It: Doing Business in Latin America
Book

How to Say It: Doing Business in Latin America

A Pocket Guide to the Culture, Customs, and Etiquette

Kevin Michael Diran
Prentice Hall Press, 2009
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Recommendation

Conducting business in Latin America requires a solid understanding of local social customs. Be forewarned that outsiders may consider some business traditions inefficient. For example, long lunch breaks and frequent discussions of family matters are common elements of a typical workday. Resisting such traditions is impractical from a professional point of view. International commerce consultant Kevin Michael Diran warns that businesspeople from outside Latin America will struggle there unless they adapt to the cultural climate. His book provides a guide to acceptable business behavior throughout the region and includes detailed descriptions of the customs and common courtesies in 17 countries. getAbstract recommends this primer to readers who are interested in commercial opportunities in Latin America and want to learn more about how companies prosper there.

Summary

Getting Started in Latin America

In Latin America, who you know may be as important as what you know. If you are planning to do business in the region, you should start by building a local social network. Executives in Latin America prefer face-to-face business meetings rather than long-distance communications. However, arranging a productive appointment with a business prospect may take some time. This task demands much more than just making a telephone call or sending an email.

You will need a personal introduction or a professional reference to meet with a viable prospect. Latin Americans prefer conducting business with members of their personal and professional circles rather than with outsiders, so start by identifying affinities you share with your prospect. Getting to know a friend or colleague of your prospect creates an affinity that can help you secure an introduction. Professional, fraternal, academic and religious organizations are affinity circles worth joining as well. Even sharing the same first name as your prospect will improve your chances of closing a deal in Latin America.

Initial contact with a prospective customer or vendor typically will...

About the Author

Kevin Michael Diran is a conference speaker, consultant and writer on international commerce. Diran lived and taught in Latin America for eight years. He earned his doctorate from Columbia University and a licentiate in philosophy from Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

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