My April posting, Chapter 18, Good Manners in Business. Where Are They? . . . hit a nerve with quite a few people.
A subject that I thought was a sleeper, turns out to be quite important to people. I was surprised by the emails and phone calls I received.
Three in particular stand out.
My first encounter was with a prominent, award winning business woman. She rang with her own experiences of bad manners. Which ranged from helping others and never hearing a thank you for her efforts. To her emails, letters and phone calls that went unanswered. Even her local shopkeepers were rude to her. And it appears that in her life everyone is left wanting.
As I’m a curious soul, I visited her website to find out more about her business. And was confronted with a very dull and dreary site. Much like her, I said to myself. First impressions always make the biggest impact!
Fast forward to July. A very good business friend emails me a list of people she wants to contact and asks if I know any of them. Yes, I do! My award winning business woman is on the list. And I quickly look up her website so I can email my friend her contact details.
But this time, her website is anything but dull and dreary. She’s transformed her site into a wondrous, vibrant site, complete with the addition of a new product range and a new business partner.
Perhaps her new business partner is the oomph! behind the transition from dull to divine.
This is a rule I always live by. Not noticing and commenting on a job well done is also a form of bad manners.
So it was a natural reaction for me to go to her Contact Us page and send her an email waxing lyrical about her stylish new look.
8 weeks later and I’m still waiting for her ‘thank you for noticing’ reply. And I know she received the email because her online email form has ID monitoring and I had to decipher KRAZY letters before I could send the email.
So, is this a case of her not noticing that her lack of response to my email is just as much bad manners on her part, as the people who don’t respond to her emails?
You know what? I don’t think people think they display bad manners. But they do notice when bad manners are lacking in their interactions with other people. Strange, isn’t it?
Christopher White is one half of the charm and charisma behind TalaFarmStay B&B. We met over the telephone in October 2007 when he placed an order for The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover after reading about me on Rob Ingram's The Country Squire page in Australian Country Style Magazine.
And we’ve been in contact ever since.
He reads all my posts and emailed me to make his own observations about manners in business.
He emails me his best tips for starching and scenting the sheets and pillowcases for his B&B.
He tells me stories about his best guests and Albert, his Pug, who snores. He sends me photographs of their ritual Saturday night ‘Black Tie & Tails Dinner’ and of his beautiful farm on the north coast of NSW.
And we share stories about customer service, manners in business and about how it’s the little things you do for people that count.
And one thing Christopher always does is reply to every one of my emails and he always says thank you.
Go to his website, TalaFarmStay B&B, and you'll notice that it’s all about helping you enjoy yourself and making you feel at home. It’s no surprise that his guests keep coming back for more of his alluring TLC.
When I wrote my chapter on manners in business, I quoted from the website of Chris Rewell, the renowned image consultant. And included a link to her site.
I didn’t know Chris then. But I knew that her comments about manners were spot on.
To my surprise, I received an email from her thanking me for mentioning her. Her husband was doing research on her and came across my post in Google.
Ten days ago I did a check of all my links on Guerrilla From The Bush to make sure they still connected to the right place. And noticed that Chris has also revamped her website.
As she had an outstanding website to begin with, it is amazing to see her new look is even better. And as I did with the business woman in my first encounter, I left Chris an email to congratulate her on being able to deliver something even better than before.
It only took a few days for Chris to say thank you. This is one busy woman who travels everywhere. And it wasn’t a short, cursory email. It was filled with news and snippets of her busy life since April.
Chris is a very charming woman and a pleasure to keep in touch with.
And this is what good manners is all about.
When you display them, everyone notices how charming, courteous and charismatic you are. You radiate an aura of magnetism that attracts people to you. People can’t help themselves. They want to do things for you and with you.
When you hide them under a bushel, everyone thinks you're crass, selfish, self focussed and ego centric.
Out of my three encounters, which person do you prefer to do business with? Christopher White and Chris Rewell get my vote at every tick of the clock.
By the way, Chris Rewell now has a second website you should visit. It’s What Colour Am I, which is an innovative new book, written and designed by Chris. It takes you through an easy colour process and shows you your most flattering colours. It’s a clever, new approach to personal image.
Just as an aside, colour is one of the most important influences in your life. And when you’re wearing colours that suit you, you unconsciously impart an air of glamour about yourself.
When I was growing up in New York City, my mother was a couture dressmaker and she knew all about the impact of colour. She always dressed me in cool colours and my older sister in warm colours. And we both looked glorious when we promenaded the streets of New York City on Sunday afternoons with our mother and father.
So go visit Chris’ site about her new book What Colour Am I.
Please believe me when I tell you that if you want to be extraordinary, you simply have to go that extra mile. And as you can see, it doesn’t take much effort to travel so much further than your competitors.
Yes, I’m a Guerrilla From The Bush and have learned so much about what’s possible, I want to share it with you.
What’s your experience with manners? Both good and bad.
I’d love you to post your comments and let’s see if we can help each other.
Take care,
CAROL
Carol Jones
Director
Interface Pty Ltd
The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover, Roadworks Apron, Log Lugger, Travel Bug Shoe Bag, Mr Chin’s Laundry Bag and Sweet Shoo are all simple solutions for difficult problems. And every one is a joy to use.
We’ve developed markets for these 6 products without national or international retail distribution. To see what we’ve achieved, click on our website at http://www.interfaceaustralia.com/.
Read the story of how our business began on The Ironing Board Cover Lady. No sales hype. Just a down home story about how we started our business on the dining room table of our rural property, driving on ‘L’ Plates, without an instructor.
A comment about LinkedIn. If you’re not a member of LinkedIn, when you click View Full Profile, you’ll be asked to join. It’s free and the option is yours. There are benefits to joining. Once you’re a member, you can key in the name of any person you do business with. If they’ve taken the trouble to complete a Profile, you’ll be able to assess their background, their capabilities and the calibre of person they are. You might be, as I am, often pleasantly surprised. So go have a look.
8 comments:
I loved this post, and agree with you totally about manners. I think the interesting thing is that we are moving into the social media era, and because so much communication now is not face to face, good manners are actually becoming more, not less important.
Any business or business person without good manners will simply disappear as it's so easy now to find and move on to a competitor who does take the time and trouble to treat you well.
MIKE,
Thank you for making such a relevant comment. I think people forget how easy it is today to trash a business via social media. You've made that point so clear and I'm sure my readers will take notice.
Once again, thank you and I look forward to staying in touch with you.
Take care and best wishes,
CAROL
Thanks for this very thoughtful post Carol.
I am always amazed at the number of people in society who just don't seem to give a darn about others.
Too bad for them, as they are missing out on social networking and business opportunities that may be of benefit to them.
The real shame is that these individuals fail to recognize their own poor behavior, it's often just who they are.
Jimi,
Thank you so much for commenting.
I'm of the opinion that society has changed and we've become intolerant of rudeness, so we notice it more.
And I can tell by your comments that good manners mean a great deal to you. And you practice what you believe in.
It's a pleasure to meet you on such common ground and I look forward to staying in touch.
Take care,
CAROL
"Please believe me when I tell you that if you want to be extraordinary, you simply have to go that extra mile."
And the important thing is that is you ARE extraordinary you WILL go that extra mile, and not even realise it.
Hi Carol,
What a great post! SOOO true!
I'm always a little floored when people don't respond to comments or a direct contact. I know as blogs/sites grow it may be difficult- but I still think it's important to try to answer everyone.
Getting comments are like getting presents! (most of the time! :-) ).
And I love your point about the way a site looks...I'm such a geek about the visual stuff that if a site doesn't visually appeal to me I don't stay too long (or come back!).
Thanks again,
Kim Doyal
GRAHAM,
You are spot on. Many thanks for pointing this out. And thank you so much for taking the time to post your comment. It's much appreciated by me.
Take care,
CAROL
KIM,
Thank you!
Not replying to comments is like not responding to someone who applies for a job. Everyone wants to be acknowledged for taking the time to make the effort.
And best wishes as you make your challenging journey from wife to widow and hopefully to a much better place down the road.
Take care,
CAROL
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