Real Stories
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Are You A Business Ostrich!
Posted on: Aug 6, 2008-
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Posted by:
bizsaver
Member since: Jul 11, 2008MBF Services North Hollywood, CA
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The Story
Over the last two or three years, I have witnessed a trend that may result in the biggest percentage of small business failures in history, and it is all due to the new electronic age.
The Golden Rule, Do onto others as you would have others do on to you, is just as important in business as it is in life. Ask yourself, Am I A _Business Ostrich_? You know who I am talking about, the person who goes to a business mixer or referral group meetings, gives out and receives lots of cards. You e-mail and call that person a day or two later and BAM! No response...E-mails are not replied to. Voice mail is not returned. What happened? You call or e-mail a business that you believe absolutely needs what you have to offer, you get voice mail, no response. You know the e-mail went through, but no reply. You and the potential respondent have both lost an opportunity. You meet someone who tells you they have the perfect business contact for you. Your businesses will work so well together in a fusion-marketing program. You call a week later and get voice mail. You e-mail the contact and guess what...no reply. Welcome to the new and very scary world of the Business Ostrich. How will business get done if none of us is willing to take a little time to return e-mails and phone calls? The most unlikely contact can turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to us, if only we take the time to follow-up.
Shortsighted self-interest where any of us believes we are too busy or too important to return calls or reply to emails is the first step in assuring your business failure. When one person seeks to satisfy their own interests, they are setting in motion a cause and effect that eventually will destroy their business. Think about the consequences of being an Ostrich. If every business owner, manager and buyer feels they just don't have the time or incentive to return calls or respond to e-mails, who is left to do business with?
If you are an Ostrich, stop it! Here are the rules:
1 - If you really don't want someone's business card and will not respond to calls and e-mails, don't give them your card. Tell them that you do not believe the two of you can do business. Save them and you unnecessary time from your obviously very busy schedule.
2 - If you do exchange cards and you get a call or e-mail, take a moment to respond even if it is only to say you are not interested or you are too busy at this time to go further and will contact them at a later date.
3 - If there might be something that you may be interested in discussing at a later date, ask that they send you information and you will keep it on file.
4 - Why make an enemy of a fellow business warrior when you do not have to. You never know when that might come back and bite you on the ass! If you do not have time to return calls and e-mails during regular business hours, do it at night or early in the morning, but do it!
A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from someone I met at a business mixer who is also a consultant. He asked me to come to a seminar his firm was giving on the following Saturday morning. His office is almost 20 miles away, and I am very conservative when it comes to using gas. I really didn't want to go, but we had exchanged cards and conversation and I felt obliged to attend. Am I glad I did...His firm introduced me to a new small business funding program that was perfect for several of my clients, and I now have the program in my permanent offerings. To date, I have made several thousands of dollars in fees and helped my people at the same time. That was a win, win situation that would not have happened if I was a _Business Ostrich_!
Business gets done when people communicate. Business stagnates when people become Ostriches. Are you hiding your head in the sand?
Advice for Others
Who is the most important person in your business life? The person in front of you at any given moment, and it does not matter if it is in person, on the phone or on an e-mail. What is the single most important question you can ask a customer or potential customer? What are the most important benefits we can offer you?
Iwrite says:
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
John_6x6 says:
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.
swtbreeze says:
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
jodiego7 says:
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!
aleigh33460 says:
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
HOTYAMZZ says:
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!
twosons35 says:
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.
ku_san_ku says:
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.
Howard says:
Admittedly, I've been a "business ostrich." What a great reminder for all of us.
Bluesuit says:
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.
Iwrite says:
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.
caffeinated says:
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!
blitzlocal says:
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
internet advertising for local business
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