Good service, shitty service, I seem to have a focus on service. I guess it’s because I can’t figure why, for the life of me, you’d give bad service while hoping to grow or maintain a business. Hence the confusion.
Let me illustrate. I contacted a business consultant, needing advice as I progressed in my creative projects. The person seemed like a good fit and I believe in supporting local entrepreneurs. We e-mailed back and forth to set up a time and place to meet. I agreed to a date and location but asked for an earlier time (a couple of hours earlier). I didn’t hear back for five days. Five, folks. As in 1-2-3-4-5. Really? That’s how you run a business?
Was I mad? No. Annoyed? No. If you’ve read Get what you want, you know I don’t bother with impediments. But I was confused. Did I follow through with the meeting? Obviously not. Onto another consultant, who has a ‘lunch meeting’ type format. They never answered my e-mail. Those are just a few. There was the riding school I had to call several times before speaking to someone, only to be asked to call back in the afternoon because they were all at a brunch.
Is it me? I’m pretty flexible, I arrive prepared, I don’t haggle over fees. Is this a new approach to create the impression of busyness? Maybe the illusion of scarcity? As in ‘I’m so in demand but maybe I can fit you in’. Why are you playing hard to get? I’m offering you money!
Oddly, I reached out to two local editors, both successful, one now retired, one working for a media conglomerate, in an area of publishing unrelated to my work. Long shots. The last two people I expected to even acknowledge an e-mail or phone call. But they did. Will anything come of it? Who knows. It doesn’t matter. The point is the people I least expected to hear from, who had nothing to gain, promptly responded. Those whose services I was offering to pay for were no-shows. Now I’m really confused.
Photo by Joseph Chan on Unsplash