Hi,

You might need to take into consideration, that the culture in Romandie is still very French and also to some extent different than that of the German and Italian parts of Switzerland.

Having lived in Holland and Denmark before, I grew up with the fact that we all shake hands, no matter the gender. However, French based culture is more, that between men you shake hands and women you do the 3-cheek-kissing-thing.

It is also more common here, to "size you up" before doing business with you, be it non-profit or not. One thing the Swiss French take from the Swiss Germans, is that they take business serious, and they want serious people how are committed to their work to work with them. If this involves meeting outside Western business hours, then so be it, business never stops, otherwise you don't get ahead.

This also goes for "getting to the matter" how fast you push your ideas, after you have a good feel for your clients needs, is basically up to you to judge. Some business people like that they boss you around, others prefer that you take their requirements and realize them for them. That, unfortunately, is something which either you have to learn the hard way or choose to be either one of the persona's yourself and let the client choose you.

/Peter