No Grace Nor Gratitude
If you have a dog as part of your family, you know they will often show their gratitude with a sloppy, wet kiss. Their favorite toy, their favorite treat, their favorite human - they all can elicit gratitude from your favorite canine partner. The opposite can also be true.
Years ago, my first dog on my own was a Wheaten Terrier. He had many fear issues and could be very reactive. He also would let you know if he were happy or unhappy with your actions. Walking away from you when you were trying to engage him, pretending he never heard anything you were saying to him, and disregarding commands he knew. He could be frustrating at times. However, he was a dog. While we may be able to tolerate this behavior from animals in our lives, we certainly should not tolerate it from humans in our business dealings.
We work with many different types of small businesses. Realtors are a good example. They are usually independent contractors aligned with a national brand. They are often on an all commission pay model. If they do not make a sale, they do not earn any money. It can be both a rewarding business and a heartbreaking one. In more challenging business models like this, it is quite important to treat those owners with professionalism, decorum, and simple respect and courtesy.
A recent interaction found one realtor commenting to me that a potential buyer showed no grace nor gratitude. I agreed with her choice of descriptive words. When you show a house multiple times, you displace the seller and their household that same amount of times. You take up the time of the realtor who only sees compensation if a sale is made. Time showing is normally not a paid behavior in this industry. Therefore, if you act like my Wheaten above and pretend to ‘not hear’ the realtor’s request of closing the loop, providing input as to your final decision, and not respecting the process, your actions are simply not acceptable.
Small businesses owners come in many varieties. We all share passion and put in endless hours to try and succeed. When a potential client, customer, buyer, cannot show common courtesy back, this sets a bad tone and can have implications far beyond the one transaction. You may be considered a waste of precious time in that industry and the word may spread. A seller may not wish to work with you in the future as a result. In this world, you never know when burning a bridge, mistreating someone can come back to you. There really is no place for it.
Some industries are harder than others to work within as a professional. Do note that this may mean those choosing to make a living in them certainly deserve your respect, your common courtesy, and your kindness. Close the loop, say thank you, offer constructive insight as to your decision, and you will avoid being labeled as someone undesirable to work with or conduct business with in the future. We expect more from people, we deserve more from people.
Be well.
