Protocol Orchestrates High-Level Int'l Mtgs.
<B> Protocol Orchestrates High-Level Int'l Mtgs.</B>
By Lauren Bielski
In America, the art of dealmaking focuses squarely on the deal itself, with the interpersonal relationships among negotiators a secondary priority.
Elsewhere in the world, the reverse axiom applies and deals are often lost when U.S. execs bluff, bluster or otherwise blunder their way past customary practices in search of an instant go-ahead on an international project.
Protocol International is a seven-year-old firm that offers counseling services to corporate and government officers for meetings hosted abroad--or international groups arriving here. The Chicago-based company recently opened offices in New York City, Hampton and Middlesex in the United Kingdom, and Paris. It additionally offers an operations component for on-site management of a meeting, coordinating everything from security to entertainment for VIPs and executives.
"If a company in New York wants to do business with a company in Germany, everything in that visit must be extremely well orchestrated to demonstrate the proper respect for the German partner so both parties can focus on the business. We create a distraction-free environment," said Robert Frye, senior vice president and chief of protocol for Protocol.
Working as a continual outsource consulting and/or operations partner or on a per project basis, Protocol International can help get executives attuned to often radically different customs. "Being mindful of social mores abroad can be deal makers--and have real bottom line impact on projects," Frye said.
Fundamental services include travel and meeting arranging, and specialized instruction on items such as orders of precedence, practices regarding recognition of honored guests and the fine points of the proper receiving line.
"This firm is a great resource for any company that needs to understand how to go about doing business on a particular piece of geography," said Earl Foster, director of global travel management at Joseph Seagram and Sons in New York and a member of Protocol International's board of directors.
"If you are looking to set up a division or launch a new product line in a place like Russia, Protocol can teach you the lay of the land and tell you who you should be talking to--and who you should be talking to first." Foster said that, in his experience, international business executives demanded the "proof" of ethical intent as demonstrated by slower, more methodical strategizing than their U.S. counterparts.
Protocol International also advises on the correct meeting agenda for true international team-building, helping companies to develop the best pacing and content to reach desired objectives.
Frye, a former Lucent Technologies protocol officer, said the concept has started to catch on here in the last decade, with the advent of a more global economy. Companies like AT&T and Motorola have protocol offices to ensure that pre-meeting communications are effective, and the meeting format is "distraction free and appropriate" to international guests.