Doing Business With Germans

What to Wear – Part Two March 7, 2009

In Part One you could see what your suit, shirt and shoes should be like to make them an appropriate, even perfect business attire when you are dealing with German business people. In this second part, you will understand that it goes further than that. Appropriate accessories are just as important.

Coat

If you wear a coat (and you would normally do so from September through April / May), make sure also here not to choose the wrong color – here, pretty much the same rules apply as with suits / costumes. Coats these days end above the knees. Too long coats belong to the 1990′s and would be considered out of date by fashion aware people. Parkas, winter jackets, anoraks or Barbour quilts belong to other parts of your life, be it an Antarctic expedition, a sailboat trip, or a fox hunt. They don’t belong to your serious business outfit.

Briefcase

No backpacks, please! I don’t know how they ever managed to make their way on the millions of business people’s backs. But they definitely are not part of the German business attire.

Business Bag

Even if you don’t have a need for carrying a notebook computer with you, you may consider having a briefcase with you. First, because it can add a very stylish note to your appearance and, secondly, you wouldn’t want to appear in an office with a college block and a computer underneath your arm. For practical reasons, though, such a briefcase will indeed hold a notebook computer or a DIN A4 file, the normal paper format in Germany, plus a lady’s lipstick and some pens.

If you make the proper choice, your briefcase can be a fashionable statement in itself. Here, you have a bit more freedom regarding its design than you will ever have with your suit or shoes. The color may be black or brown, for ladies also orange and red. Popular and stylish: MANDARINA DUCK for ladies, BOSS for gentlemen.

Business Cards

Yes, they’re an accessory to. Of sorts, at any rate. Of course, first and foremost, your business card is a source of information for your German counterparts. When you enter an office or a conference room, you would normally shake hands and then, before or shortly after you sit down, you hand over your business card. But there are some things to be obeyed here, too.

Now, clearly you don’t have to re-design your business card only for the German market when you are an employee of a large corporation whose corporate design does not allow any deviations in looks, segmentation, and style. But having made the right choice regarding design and haptics, you may leave a first good impression on your vis-à-vis. 

Sample Corporate Logo. (c) Logomad.com.

Don’t save on your design. Generally, you should not try and design your business cards yourself. Remember, this little piece of paper will most likely be the very first impression you leave on somebody you intend to do business with. If you don’t have to use your company’s corporate business cards, you may consider specialized print shops. You may also use them to help you create a professional corporate logo. You can also have the corporate logo created separately, of course (e.g. with THE LOGO COMPANY or LOGOMAD, both with internet order.) Also make sure to get good advice on which font to use. Only if you represent an arts related company (in which case you may have the best ideas on your corporate identity and design yourself anyway), you can consider using playful fonts. Else, make sure to stick with non-serif fonts, which are easily legible.

Choose good paper. The paper should be of high quality. You do not want your business card to look like a washrag after it has gone through some hands. So, it should be made of good carton (200 grams and up.) Embossed printing can add a fine touch to the haptic impression of your business card.

Be progressive. If you want to add a progressive touch to your business card, you should also consider having a QR code printed on the back of your business card, which should contain the business card’s informations plus a link to your corporate website. Please read the related article on this blog.

What your business card should say. Your corpoate logo may go on the left or right side. On the opposite side (or, alternatively, on the back of the card) should be all important informations about you. Sample:

Your First and Last Name (and initial in the middle, if you have one)

Your coproate title (e.g. Vice President)

Your corporate function (e.g. Head of Procurement)

Free Line

Your Company’s legal name

Company address (following your country’s postal sequence of informations)

Your direct phone number (internationalized, i.e. with a + and your country code)

Your direct fax number (also internationalized)

Your e-mail address

And, if applicable and really permanently used by you, another communication channel info (e.g. “SKYPE: your skype name“)

Your company’s web address

Although this is quite a bit of information for such a little piece of paper, they all need to be on there. Make sure that the print is not too small so that it is still well legible by the person you hand your card to.

In Asian countries, it is customary to hand out business or credit cards with both hands. This is not necessary in Germany. You may do it if you are used to this style, but nobody would expect you to. You can either place your business card on the table in front of the person who is sitting there or you can, as the situation may be, hand it out personally. In either case, you should look in your business partner’s eyes during this little ceremony.

So. Now you’re set. If you follow the suggestions above (and those of Part One), at least your appearance will leave a very good impression. And that’s an important start.

This article is part of the blog, Doing Business With Germans