Real Stories : Are You A Business Ostrich! : Comments

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

Iwrite — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:45:28 GMT

Nice one. I try not to be an Business Ostrich but every now and then, I slip up. Thanks for the reminder that I need to do better.

I think if we would extend ourselves more, we would get more business. This is a great read.

Thanks,
Iwrite

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

John_6x6 — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:59:52 GMT

A great reminder that customer service doesn't end only with getting what you need. What goes around, comes around, right? Very good points here. Nice work.

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

swtbreeze — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:23:42 GMT

You are so right on the head. No unto others as you want them do unto you. I believe in that memo hard to the core. The customers is (are) the one that keep us in business. Without the customers we have no business to look forth.

Thanks, for the head up

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

jodiego7 — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:03:44 GMT

This is all very true, especially the "do unto others" bit. I work for a very "different" kind on employer and I just don't see how business can continue with the way the customer is treated. When nad if I ever open up shop for myself, the most important person in that business will not be me. It will be the customer!

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

aleigh33460 — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:25:19 GMT

I'm so glad I took the time to look over bank of america small business online link that took me to the welcome page and I found your story, I'm going through the steps to start my own home based business and I find your story very true and most helpful.

Thanks,
Aleigh33460

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

HOTYAMZZ — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:47:54 GMT

I read your story and I am ashamed to say, "I was an ostrich!". Just knowing and accepting this will make me a better business person. I am going back through e-mails and phone messages today, amd I know that there are 10 potential clients that are still requesting meetings with me that I will confirm this week. Sometimes it takes looking at yourself in the 3rd person to realy realize how you can look down on potential business because of your own inner self-serving views. From the time I read this to my completion of this comment has taken about 4 hours on a Sunday afternoo. In that time frame I responded to 23 old e-mails, some over 90 days,I am proud and blessed to say 12 have responded positively with request to meet. Gee whiz, thanks for people like you making some us look at ourselves and remember where we started and came from!

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

twosons35 — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:17:35 GMT

Whoa! This is naturally true. I have been a business ostrich before but I can only vow to go from this point forward. This was a self-examiner discussion and these are the one's that build integrity which I am CONSTANTLY striving to work on. Keep up the post! Thanks.

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

ku_san_ku — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:58:52 GMT

I started a new home improvement company, and am always looking for qualified subs. I meet someone who is so excited to talk about their services, and we exchange cards. Then a home owner requests the particular service and I call the sub, and he says, "Sure, I'll go do a proposal." Take five minutes giving this person all the contact information, call and let the home owner know someone is coming, and then find out the sub never showed. So I try to call him and see what happened and noone answers. I leave a messsage and never hear anything back. I know from my stand point not to ever do people like that. But not only will I not contact that person again, I would never recommend them either. It's just all around bad business. What an excellent article, and I can think of several people to forward it to, right now. It's all about communication.

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

Howard — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:22:22 GMT

Admittedly, I've been a "business ostrich." What a great reminder for all of us.

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

Bluesuit — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:22:50 GMT

A good reminder, but how do you manage your time to follow-up with everyone? If anyone has additional tips to share that would be helpful.

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

Iwrite — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:58:53 GMT

I set up time each day for call backs and emails. I schedule and hour where I make calls and respond to emails. Sometimes, I need more time, sometimes I need less but by having the time on the schedule it helps me to do those things. The hard part is not getting sucked into this forum reading posts and responding. I had to scale back the amount of time and energy I was devoting to this.

That's what I do.

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

caffeinated — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:09:52 GMT

A Business Ostrich?? I love that term! I have to admit, I do this to potential vendors who want my business. Having read this, I'll start implementing your first two rules. Thanks bizsaver!

RE: Are You A Business Ostrich!

blitzlocal — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:06:42 GMT

Great article-- it's amazing how rarely folks follow up from an initial meeting.
Here's a tip-- when you get home from a busy day of networking, make sure that you
reply to folks you meet that very same day. Don't wait until tomorrow--
you'll not get to it, plus not remember what you had discussed.

Strike while the iron is hot.

Dennis
BlitzLocal.com
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