1. It’s Colombia, not Columbia. 😂
2. In Brazil we speak Portuguese: not Spanish neither “Brazilian”. It’s Portuguese. (By the way, Brasilia is the Capital City of Brasil, not Buenos Aires). 🧐
3. We Hug, We Kiss each other, we shake hands and, most part of the time, we do all together (Hug, Kiss and Shake Hands). 👊
4. Cold Email, Cold Call, Cold LinkedIn Messages, Cold Coffee, anything Cold, (unless this is a drink, beer, açaí, or an ice cream), is not welcome. 😖
5. Smile, this is very welcome. 😊
6. We use WhatsApp, please be aware of it. 😉
7. Please get ready for: caipirinha, feijoada, pastel, tacos (the real ones), pisco, empanadas, churrasco, "cervejinha" (it's like beer, but cold.. :)), ceviche, tequila, malbec, etc...
8. The concept of time (precision) is different and way more relaxed/flexible. A 3pm meeting may or may not start at 3pm and that’s usually ok.
9. Be ready to drink a lot of cafezinhos/cafecitos (while you wait in lobbies for meetings to start as well as during meetings 😉)
10. When starting a meeting, a stranger in the land, frustrated with all the ‘waiting around’ may want to ‘get straight to the point’ or ‘cut to the chase’ or ‘get to the bottom line’. Don’t! Most meetings in Latin America start with some small talk first. Don't rush it.
Source: Ricardo Minari, Vice President of Business Development at Ateme.