Am I Being Unreasonable?

[Dana]

I haven't read through the replies after the first few but the situation has been sorted

 

[Natasha]

I agree Zorak, but again, no one forces anymore to do business with anyone else..

If this other person is unprofessional in how he deals with people it becomes his issue.. How we deal with our customers as business people reflects on us just as how we deal with people will tell people in many ways, "he's a great guy" or "he's a fucken jerk" and eventually drive business away no matter how good you are because there is always someone nipping at your customers door..

Francis, not sure if you read Zorak's post the same way I did... but I believe the "he" and "his" that Zorak was using referred to Dana, not the customer.

It doesn't matter.. I have discussed this with Dana many times.. You must hold your composure when you deal with customers of all types.

What we've got here is a failure to communicate.

 

[Dana]

Like I said. It's been sorted. I posted the work in Art & Fashion.

 

[Natasha]

Like I said. It's been sorted. I posted the work in Art & Fashion.

Umm...okay. I was typing my response at the same time as you. There was a delay b/c I was looking for an image to use instead. Chill out...it'll be okay.

 

[Dana]

Umm...okay. I was typing my response at the same time as you. There was a delay b/c I was looking for an image to use instead. Chill out...it'll be okay.

Umm... I wasn't talking solely to you... So whose being touchy?

 

[Natasha]

Umm... I wasn't talking solely to you... So whose being touchy?

1 post saying it's been handled...new post by me...new post reiterating 1st post saying it's been handled. Easy to see how it came off that way...but it's whatever, no biggie.

And I'm only touchy w/ select people. :ninja

 

[Dana]

1 post saying it's been handled...new post by me...new post reiterating 1st post saying it's been handled. Easy to see how it came off that way...but it's whatever, no biggie.

And I'm only touchy w/ select people. :ninja

:24: ouch?

 

[Dana]

If you provided reasonable expectations for your client you wouldn't have this problem. You have to let them know when they need to get something to you for you to complete it by their deadline. You don't know their deadline? Ask. It's a pretty simple concept. But don't get pissed when your clients have unreasonable expectations because you didn't communicate with them from with start about what was expected and when.

As far as the professionalism goes... you are sorely lacking. Your clients will expect you to treat them like a client, not a friend, not a peer using their lingo, but as a client. Personally I think you could benefit from a seminar/class to teach you how to manage clients and your interactions with them.

It's a give and take scenario Jen. He contacted me via phone of Friday, discussing future endeavors. He ASKED me verbally if I wanted him to email. I said yes. Anyone doing business would expect a prompt email. What do I get a Facebook event with "More info to come". REALLY? I emailed him after I received an email with nothing but a promo shot about needing information and I got it yesterday. I didn't post our entire conversation but neither of us had our professional moments.

 

[Natasha]

:24: ouch?

Bwahahahaha!!!

 

[acctnt shan]

It's a give and take scenario Jen. He contacted me via phone of Friday, discussing future endeavors. He ASKED me verbally if I wanted him to email. I said yes. Anyone doing business would expect a prompt email. What do I get a Facebook event with "More info to come". REALLY? I emailed him after I received an email with nothing but a promo shot about needing information and I got it yesterday. I didn't post our entire conversation but neither of us had our professional moments.

You're missing the point. With a business, professionalism isn't a give and take. You agree to "take" someone's money - you "give" them professionalism in return. Simple, really.

 

[Dana]

You're missing the point. With a business, professionalism isn't a give and take. You agree to "take" someone's money - you "give" them professionalism in return. Simple, really.

Not missing the point at all...

 

[rback33]

Not missing the point at all...

Clearly your are.... but what else is new...

 

[Joe the meek]

As far as the professionalism goes... you are sorely lacking. Your clients will expect you to treat them like a client, not a friend, not a peer using their lingo, but as a client. Personally I think you could benefit from a seminar/class to teach you how to manage clients and your interactions with them.

I'm afraid to say that when I got married, I had five of my customers attend my wedding, 3 of those who I hadn't seen in 4 years since I moved to NC.

The last time I saw of those from Pennsylvania was a couple of months ago when I went up to see a old customer who had a heart attack. Hadn't seen him in at least 6 years and told him I'd rather see him alive then dead at his funeral.

Customers and friendships CAN go hand in hand.

Hell, I can remember one guy who use to give me the keys to his house because I didn't own a TV when I was single. Watching my alma mater playing football on a Saturday and this guys daughter comes home from college, finding me, a strange guy, sitting in her Dad's living room in his lounge chair watching a football game.

That said, it's not my job to deal with a guy on a Saturday night at 11 pm to help him, but loyalty is a two way street. Tonight (Sunday) I just meet a buddy (who is a customer of mine) to give him some control systems for their secretary's house so he can take tomorrow off and work on it (he's a project manager for a large commercial company).

 

[HK]

Customers and friendships CAN go hand in hand.

I agree with this, but - maybe I'm completely off here but did you start those professional relationships treating them as casually as you do your friends, or did that friendship grow out of the initial professional environment?


I get on very well with a couple of guys who are suppliers for the company I work for. They've gone from being people I send polite emails to every now and then, to people who I joke around with and talk to far more informally. I wouldn't have dreamed of treating them as casually as I do now when I first started - I think it's important to establish a respectful relationship first, and then a friendship might evolve out of that. But you can't go in assuming you can treat everyone like a mate, I think that's the important thing to remember.

 

[Joe the meek]

I agree with this, but - maybe I'm completely off here but did you start those professional relationships treating them as casually as you do your friends, or did that friendship grow out of the initial professional environment?

Always started off strictly as a professional relationship and grew from there.

That said, my job is somewhat unique that I'm on the road a lot, and with some companies, I can spend hours upon hours with in person either at their business or on a job site . Didn't hurt that I am somewhat of a workaholic, and people who deal with me KNOW I do what I say I'm going to do, even if it means it's going to be done at 0300.

I do agree with the point some have made here about providing expectations for your customer, particularly when you're providing a service. If you're customer doesn't know what your expectations are upfront, you can be setting yourself up for failure pretty quickly IMO.