“When a disaster strikes the opportunity to prepare has passed.”___ Dan McCormick

“We must learn something that no nation or group of nations yet mastered; the art of helping others to improve their lot even as differences between them grow.”

____ Gilbert Fowler White

Who said that was certainly not talking about doing business in foreign countries and across cultures and languages. Despite the tremendous advantages of the phone, internet, and a wired world of multi-media, none of these aids can replace the old fashioned yet proven face-to-face contact – especially when doing business overseas.

A recent survey of some leading businessmen in the UK indicated that they were overwhelmingly in favour of personal contact with overseas markets – despite the cost.
As often happens with new technology developments, the use of modern communications is not so much replacing the need for personal meetings, but supplementing, and even in some ways increasing this need. No matter how sophisticated audio/visual communications become, nothing will ever replace the “warm, friendly handshake.”

What people are really saying is that as human beings we cannot remove ourselves from establishing personal contact with people that we wish to do business with. We like to personally establish contact with our trade partners. We like to establish a personal rapport with them, to eventually meet their families, to take them out to a meal and to get to know and trust them.
Business has been done like this since time immemorial – and there is no reason to believe it will change.