Where are your manners?
Feb/02/2008
I used to
teach corporate clients proper business etiquette.
Perhaps I should write another tips booklet on
*business civility. Why? Because I've noticed a lack
of good manners in two situations. It makes me feel
disrespected.
1. When I give a gift of a book or a services to someone who says they can't afford it, do I ever receive a thank you? Rarely. I guess they wanted something else instead. Where does this sense of entitlement come from? The thing about receiving abundance is to appreciate what you are given. I will more than likely stop giving gifts to anyone who can't be bothered to acknowledge the gift. How hard is it to send a reply with the words Thank You?
2. When I am busy - I work 18 hours a day, seven days a week - and someone asks what services I can offer them to help them, and they are too lazy to look at the services on my web site, I put together a custom set of options just for them. Often it takes up to an hour of my time to look up what is already in plain sight for them on the web site. Here's what's interesting: rarely do they acknowledge what I did for them, or what I offered. Either will I never hear anything from them, no acknowledgment, or they will ask for another "proposal" for a completely different service or they will ask the same question again weeks later because it was too much trouble to find the email I wrote them. This wastes my time and shows me they feel my time is not valuable. Yesterday I told one man I was not going to entertain any more of his requests because he hadn't bothered to reply to my previous proposals of services. His reply still didn't even acknowledge my request for a response whether yes or no; he turned the tables on me with a sentence designed to evoke my sympathy for him!
So... no more free gifts from me because the recipients of past gifts have no manners. And no more estimates. If a prospective client wants my services - you all do realize I retired from promoting individual experts on Dec. 31 after 30 years, right? - you can write ME a proposal of what you want and what you will pay me.
* I wrote a booklet on Bed & Breakfast Guest Etiquette. Available on this site.
1. When I give a gift of a book or a services to someone who says they can't afford it, do I ever receive a thank you? Rarely. I guess they wanted something else instead. Where does this sense of entitlement come from? The thing about receiving abundance is to appreciate what you are given. I will more than likely stop giving gifts to anyone who can't be bothered to acknowledge the gift. How hard is it to send a reply with the words Thank You?
2. When I am busy - I work 18 hours a day, seven days a week - and someone asks what services I can offer them to help them, and they are too lazy to look at the services on my web site, I put together a custom set of options just for them. Often it takes up to an hour of my time to look up what is already in plain sight for them on the web site. Here's what's interesting: rarely do they acknowledge what I did for them, or what I offered. Either will I never hear anything from them, no acknowledgment, or they will ask for another "proposal" for a completely different service or they will ask the same question again weeks later because it was too much trouble to find the email I wrote them. This wastes my time and shows me they feel my time is not valuable. Yesterday I told one man I was not going to entertain any more of his requests because he hadn't bothered to reply to my previous proposals of services. His reply still didn't even acknowledge my request for a response whether yes or no; he turned the tables on me with a sentence designed to evoke my sympathy for him!
So... no more free gifts from me because the recipients of past gifts have no manners. And no more estimates. If a prospective client wants my services - you all do realize I retired from promoting individual experts on Dec. 31 after 30 years, right? - you can write ME a proposal of what you want and what you will pay me.
* I wrote a booklet on Bed & Breakfast Guest Etiquette. Available on this site.
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