What {Not} To Do in Business

I have a big project I'm working on (read: goal and/or obsession) which will require me to use the products and services of many people. These people stand to make some pretty coin from my purchases. As I move about the world, I am constantly sorting, sizing up and vetting the folks I meet because I might need them ~ or my clients or contacts might need them. As I've been interacting with a few of these people, they have either demonstrated "what not to do" in business or "exactly what to do." (To protect the innocent, I am going to be very general in this post. If you think I'm talking about you, I probably am.)

Rule #1: Be nice! (a.k.a. Never be rude. To anyone. Ever.) I have a seven-figure project coming up in the next few months and I will need to hire someone to help me. I met someone who looked great on paper, came with a recommendation, and seemed perfect. When I called her to suggest we get together for lunch or coffee, she said she just didn't have the time. In fact, she insulted my ladies luncheon she was invited to participate in as a guest. What's 20% of $1 million? Just checking.

Rule #2: Be nice! (a.k.a. Never be rude. To anyone. Ever.) My husband and I visited an upscale store today. We were taking pictures of the items we intended to come back and purchase. They threw us out for taking pictures. What's the general retail mark-up these days? Anyone heard anything about a recession?

Rule #3: Be nice! (a.k.a. You guessed it: Never be rude. To anyone. Ever.) I have known someone for several years I thought for sure I would use when the time was right. This person, while normally congenial, was rude and dismissive of me. I won't be using them on this project, either ... as a matter of fact, the person I found as a replacement is fantastic and I'm already really enjoying our relationship. I've already made a referral that stands to make them tens of thousands of dollars in addition to what they'll make when I press the go button.

What to think about doing instead: The new person came by with chocolate covered strawberries just to introduce themselves to me and let me know they are of service. Oh my goodness! Fantastic! Not only can I not wait to close the deal, I can't wait to refer them more business!!

Or try this: We went to Bloomingdale's today. I'm studying French and the lady selling us our stuff is from Marseilles, France. So I spoke to her in my limited and broken French. She was wonderful and gracious and told me she is there every weekend if I want to come back and practice. Now I have two reasons to go back: lots of stuff to buy and French to practice.

The moral of the post is: Be nice! Even if you are in a bad mood, are having a bad day, the dog died, and the kids are failing math, be as gracious as you possibly can. You never know when being gracious is going to help you do well by doing good.

Exceptional Business Courtesy

I got a phone message last week: "Honoree, I think I have some good news for you. Please call me back." I did exactly that, about 10 minutes later (note: I'm never too busy for good news!). The caller was my merchant services rep, Dena. She had been reviewing my account and found a way for me to save between 20-25% on my monthly transaction and processing fees. This would amount to a savings anywhere between $100 and $1000 or more, depending on the month and the number and amount of charges I run through.

Its no accident I've been working with Dena for more than a decade. This is the third time in that time she has renegotiated my fees, without my having to ask. She then called me with the good news and the simple and easy 1-2-3 steps I needed to do to take advantage of the new savings.

When was the last time you reviewed your clients list and looked for ways to (a) save them money or (b) make them more money? How are you proactively serving your clients while simultaneously protecting your own livelihood?

Now is the time to set time aside to do just that. Block out an hour or two this week to identify the top 20% of your clients ~ and then do everything you can for them. You will be pleasantly surprised about what it does for you. This is a true win-win situation and those are the best kind.

Be Proactive or Pay the Price

I recently said good-bye to my mobile phone provider of a dozen years. Throughout the years I found myself an unsatisfied client more than once. During my most recent experience, the message from customer service was: "You're under contract. Nothing we can do. Sucks to be you." As soon as I could, I let the contract run out and switched to the iPhone and AT&T. (Don't write me about your bad experiences with AT&T, I'm sure they screw up, too. Having an iPhone outweighs bad customer service in my mind at this time.)

In your client's mind, once they say, "I think I'm going to change/quit working with you," they have already made up their mind. That you don't provide good value for the money they pay you. That you don't provide good (excellent) customer service. That you don't care. (Or they've run out of money. That's another issue entirely.)

If you currently have clients you like and want to keep, brainstorm more than 20 ways you can make them Raving Fans. They should be blissed out excited they have the opportunity to be working with you. They should be your marketing department telling everyone how fantastic you are and that if they aren't happy with their current provider of your type of service, they must immediately, if not sooner, switch to you. If they aren't, you've got room for improvement and theoretically a little time to get it done.