LAZY OR DISRESPECTFUL?

It’s time to step up on my soapbox and rant a little about a topic that keeps rearing its ugly head lately. Maybe you’ve tripped over it too?

Business etiquette. I know, I know, you’re probably groaning and thinking - Really?? Yes really.

Here are a few examples of what I mean:

Do you answer an email or call from a prospect or client or vendor in a timely way? Or put it off and ignore it for whatever reason?

Do they respond to you or do they ignore you?

Ever contact a prospect after a lengthy valuable consultation only to have them vanish into the ether?

Why is it that people avoid direct communication and timely response just because it’s email or phone? When they ask you for information and you deliver it, why do they avoid closing the loop?

Have we lost our manners or just gotten lazy?

In this electronic age, it truly seems that we’ve lost some of the common courtesy that everyone expects in a face-to-face situation.

If you are with someone and they ask you a question, do you ignore them? No, you answer them.

If someone personally asks you a question and you answer it, do they then ignore you? No, they answer you or at least say ‘thank you’.

As thoughtful business owners and respectful people, we and our clients and our prospects and our vendors need to revisit the manners we learned at our mother’s knee, or from our schoolteachers or grandmothers.

This is about reputation and mutual respect. Don’t screw with it, it’s too valuable.

Treat others as you like to be treated. Period.