When do you draw the line?
I have had my mother who is 87 in hospital for the last two weeks and I have gone to Seymour to see her. Early Sunday morning I received a call from a new client, she had not done her tax returns for two years. Usually we would do the returns on the spot and that would be that. This did not happen in this instance and the episode was drawn out with emails, documents and phone calls going backward and forward. When I received the phone call I was a little annoyed but let it go.
This morning I took the time to think about the situation and decided tell this prospective client that we would not be doing business together.
Mutual respect, honesty, care, diligence, trust, truthfulness, attention to detail, pride in the work you do, and fun, to me, that is the basis of a good working relationship. Both parties working together for the mutual benefit of both. That is how we work, we do our best, you do your best and we will all learn and grow together. This is why our business is growing and we all get what we want out of the relationship.
When the ideals are broken, particularly Mutual Respect and fun, then we do not have a mutually rewarding situation, and the situation becomes a win- loose situation, that kind of thinking does not develop strong relationships, nor is it the glue that builds strong business.
So, to keep the integrity of my business ethic I chose to let a prospective client go. You see, a strong, long term relationship cannot be built on fear, mistrust, uncaring, that does not work, so decisions needed to be made. If your business wants to grow and be of benefit to many, think about:
- where your time is invested?
- who are your clients?
- what do your clients think they are getting when they come to you?
- what are you getting from your clients?
- what is the end result you want from what you are doing?
These are only a few questions, think on them and see if you would do anything differently?
Life is short, enjoy every moment, do not waste time it is the only gift you really have to give, give it to who or what is really important in your life.
