People now prefer to communicate online. Communicating through SMS, WeChat, or other online communication software is more convenient and daily than communicating by email. You can send text to the other party through mobile devices. Although it is not as formal as email, it is indeed a time-saving and labor-saving way to convey feelings and emotions, so it is more and more popular among business people. In cross-border e-commerce, although both parties may use different software and different languages, it still plays a greater role with the advantage of convenience. Although online communication is not as formal as email, necessary courtesy is still indispensable. The following are the specific precautions.
1. Even in online communication, the signature and title cannot be omitted. When sending a message, write the respectful title of the other party at the beginning, and the sender’s information should also be written at the end of the signature, so as to prevent the other party from forgetting the note and not knowing who sent the message.
2. The body of online communication does not have to be as formal as email or letter, but basic courtesy is indispensable. Basic greetings must be there, and disrespectful and too common words should not appear. Although online communication is more like daily communication, freedom of speech is understandable, but sensitive topics should still be avoided, and laws, regulations and moral principles should be observed. Therefore, sensitive topics such as politics, religion, and other people’s privacy should be avoided as much as possible, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble to yourself and others.
3. The biggest advantage of online communication is that you can communicate through mobile devices, which means that nowadays, almost everyone has a smartphone, and you can communicate conveniently and efficiently. Therefore, you must reply to other people’s messages in a timely manner to play the role of online communication. Even for notification messages, you should reply “Thank you!” to inform the other party that you have received the message and show your attention. This is especially important when we communicate with people from different countries and cultures. In some cultures, it is very important to show enough respect to the other party.
4. In addition to timely replies, the time of sending messages also needs to be carefully considered. When communicating with people in different regions, time differences are a factor that must be considered. The time choice for online communication is indeed more relaxed than the email time, but this does not mean that it is possible at any time. Compared with the business nature of emails, online communication has business-oriented content and daily content. The content of the conversation in these two aspects should be different in terms of time choice. The time selection of business content can refer to the time of the previous call, because even if the other party can receive the message immediately when sending it online, it will disturb others at an inconvenient time. Daily content is more relaxed, as long as it is not sent during other people’s rest time (such as at night).
5. Today’s technology is developing rapidly, and there are more and more software functions for online communication. Both parties can not only communicate in text, but also in voice messages, and multiple people can also create groups to facilitate discussion and communication. This is indeed very convenient, but there are also some new problems. For example, voice messages should be avoided as much as possible. Voice messages seem convenient, but in fact they are too daily, seem very casual, and disrespectful to others. In daily life, we often encounter situations where it is inconvenient to listen to voice, which will cause inconvenience to others.
6. When conducting cross-border e-commerce exchanges, it is normal for people from different countries to use different communication software. Business people should understand the habits of the other party in advance so that they can cooperate with each other to show our respect. This not only saves time, but also makes the other party feel very cordial and demonstrates the quality of business people.