Manners That Sell: Adding the Polish That Builds Profits

Invaluable etiquette guidelines for today's business professionals. Now that technology is changing the way people do business, proper manners and etiquette have become more important than ever. In this comprehensive guide to mastering everything from professional relationships and correspondence to business attire and luncheons, the author demonstrates that interpersonal skills are as crucial to success as are innovative products and services. Covering topics including business handshakes, telephone courtesy, electronic etiquette, office manners, gift-giving in the office, and international business, the author offers hundreds of useful, practical suggestions for the veteran business professional and novice alike.

Lydia Ramsey is a seasoned business etiquette expert, professional speaker, and columnist. She is the president and founder of a Savannah-based business protocol firm offering keynotes, workshops, and seminars to corporations, nonprofit organizations, colleges, and universities. A former columnist for the Savannah Morning News, she serves as a scriptwriter in Voice of America's China department, where she writes scripts on Western business etiquette that are broadcast to China and Taiwan. Ramsey's expertise has been featured and quoted in publications across the country, including Investor's Business Daily, Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR. A partner in The Kindness Revolution(TM), a business-based initiative to promote kindness and courtesy and provide recognition to individuals who exemplify kindness, Ramsey is devoted to volunteerism in her community. She is the recipient of the 1995 June Sammons Award for Leadership given by the Georgia Association for Volunteer Administration, and she served as the vice president of Volunteer Resources for the United Way of the Coastal Empire during the late 1980s. She also worked as the director of Volunteer Services for Memorial Health University in Savannah, Georgia. During that period, she was elected president of the Georgia Society of Directors for Volunteer Service of the Georgia Hospital Association. Ramsey obtained a bachelor of arts degree in French from Agnes Scott College before going on to pursue graduate studies in French and education at the University of Pennsylvania. Active in both professional and civic organizations, Ramsey has served on the board of directors for the North Florida Chapter of the National Speakers Association, the Georgia Hospital Association, and the Association of Junior Leagues International. A former chairman for the Association for Volunteer Administrators International Conference on Volunteerism, she is a past president of the Junior League of Savannah and the Rotary Club of Skidaway Island. When she is not consulting, speaking, writing, and volunteering, Ramsey enjoys knitting, walking, and feeding and watching her backyard birds, a hobby she shares with her four nonviolent cats. She has two daughters and three grandchildren and lives in Savannah, Georgia.