Depending on where you are from and what you are used to, the way business is done in Romania might hold some surprises.
Naturally conservative, you may find that establishing working relationships takes longer than in other places and requires more upfront investment in terms of time and meeting.
Here are some useful tips about doing business in Romania:
Always start with a formal attitude and approach when first meeting businesspeople in Romania. You should try and project a confident, but reserved attitude.
Be patient when starting new business relationship, culturally people tend to be reserved and quiet. If you show good faith and prove trustworthy, you should be able to build up strong relationships over time.
Once you have built up a level of trust with a business colleague, partner or associate, you can start to act and speak more casually. The safest thing to do is pay attention to the way the individual is interacting with you and follow their lead.
Romanian business culture is quite strict about hierarchies. You should use a person’s correct title when addressing them, it’s a good idea to try and find out what this is in advance. If you don’t know someone’s title, for a man use domnule, a womandoamna, for example Domule [surname].
Honesty and directness – like in most places - is appreciated and valued by Romanians in business.
Make sure you hold eye contact with people when talking to them as there is a strong emphasis on this. looking away, down or averting your eyes during a conversation is likely to be interpreted as disinterest or disrespect.
For more technical information about doing business in Romania click here.
