Case in point, my company was approached a while back from a future business owner that needed a website and some social media help for their new business. Just like any service provider, I asked the business owner a few questions to get an idea what they are looking for, so I can create an adequate proposal and price it according to their budget. About one minute into the discussion, the owner got very inpatient and started yelling at the phone complaining, I was asking two many questions and screamed "what does it cost for a website, just give me a cost, I have no time!". I stayed calm and collected, and patiently stated that in order for me to provide a cost I need to gather information about your business. The business owner acted if he was hiding something and got very agitated with me, so I gave him an option and a ballpark cost to think about and then asked he can call back when he was ready. After he hung up, I was thinking to myself, was this client worth the aggravation?
The business owner called the next day and wanted to know when his website can be ready, since his business was opening in three weeks and he wanted a website up and running. Keep in mind, I had no content to go by, so I guess I had to make something up to get this website activated. I mentioned this to him and again, he got all defensive and started screaming in the phone that I didn't understand how important he is and that I was too nosy asking him all these questions about his business. Again, the conversation ended. At this point, I did not want to take any calls and hoped to never hear from this person again.
Months and months went by and this new business never opened. It finally opened last month, eight months after I had the last conversation. From what I heard through some channels was that this business owner treated everyone he came across like dirt and was not able to get his business going since he was so difficult to work with. Needless to say, there are a bunch of people that do not want to have anything to do with this person.
So what is the lesson here?
Had this new business owner demonstrated more patience and had been more collaborative, he would have gotten his business off the ground faster. He would have also started to build a sizable referral network and become known as the hot new business owner in town. The irony is that we are in the social media era and word travels fast and we are not trying to compete with each other trying to be tough kid on the block anymore. This business owner had the "Don't Mess With Me" approach with everyone he came across, which doesn't work in today's business climate.
I will leave this with some recommendations:
- Always treat your business colleagues with respect and dignity. Everyone you meet has a talent that you need or knows someone that has a talent you need.
- Don't ever think that you are better than the person you are talking to. You would turn this person off and they will talk about how difficult you are to others.
- Remember, you want people to recommend your product/service/business. If you are rude and obnoxious, guess what, you will not be recommended.
- All it takes is one bad post on Twitter, Yelp or Google about your business, and instantly you can be out of business.
- Be positive, all the time. Positive vibes get you through any challenge and difficult people.
- Think Karma. What goes around comes around.
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