Precedence defines the order of priority, including the order in which people introduce themselves, speak, greet, and take a seat at a table or in a car. It defines who is the first to shake hands, hand over a business card, or enter a room.

The most common mistake is to confuse business etiquette with social etiquette. In contrast to social etiquette, in business, age and gender matter less than position and position held. The person of higher rank, therefore, has priority and special privileges. In social relationships, it is women and older people who are more privileged.

Ignorance of this fundamental difference means that we still encounter mistakes such as: expecting a woman to extend her hand first (this is only justified if her rank is higher), kissing a woman’s hand, letting a woman pass, pushing a woman’s chair away, greeting older people first and then those of higher rank. In business, we should forget about conventions and remember the basic rules of precedence.

Examples of behavior:

• The lower-ranking person is the first to greet the higher-ranking person, which means saying ‘good morning’ first but not initiating a handshake. This is the prerogative of the person in a higher position.

• When approaching a group, we always greet first the person with the highest rank, who is the first to extend his or her hand in greeting. We then greet the others.
• If there is an exchange of business cards, it is best if the senior person is the first to give his or her card to the person of lower rank.

• When introducing two people to each other, remember that we always introduce the person in the lower position to the person in the higher one first. In business, the customer is always given priority. If we introduce our manager to one of our clients, remember that the client will always take precedence and we introduce our manager to the client first.

• When saying goodbye, we follow the opposite principle to that used when greeting. The person of higher rank says goodbye first.