Personal friendships, the desire to please, and the Hondurans’ respect for individual dignity and honor affect many of the business practices in Honduras.
Businesspeople are looking for long-term relationships built on mutual trust and reliability. Spend time building a relationship and plan for several visits and a slower pace of negotiations. Do not start discussing business until you personal relationship has a firm foundation.
Never pull rank, publicly criticize or do anything else that may cause someone to lose face. Hondurans are also very status conscious, so include someone from higher-level management directly in your negotiations.
To avoid a miscommunication because of a Honduran’s strong desire to please, phrase your questions carefully. For example, if you ask if the store is open at 8 am, you will likely get a positive response. Not because it is true, but because they will think this is the answer you want to hear. Instead, ask questions that involve more detail than a yes or a no, such as “What time does the store open?”. This same concept applies to business agreements. Be sure to put everything in writing, as you may get a verbal “yes” out of politeness.
