To "Dear" or Not to "Dear"
Is it proper etiquette to use "Dear" in a business email? No, not "Dear" as in "dear can you take the trash out..." more as "Dear Mr Bonehead."
What I have noticed...
Our US customers uses "hi", "hello" etc. While our intl customers uses "dear". Perhaps US is just less formal?
What I've adopted is to mirror what the other party is using.
Furthermore, for our intl customers, if I can only figure out if their last name is first? Last name is last? Or maybe they're Persian, so the last name is in the middle... Then I'd be set.
Oh and if the other party is a Mr or Ms