Soul Proprietor: Sometimes it’s not you...it IS them.

In the last few weeks, I’ve had two encounters that raised my eyebrow.

Both were from people who were complete strangers. But they were both operating from the same playbook: lack of respect for my policies and total selfishness.

Case number one contacted me out of the blue and wanted a free sample of my wares. (The question is always the same in these freebie requests: will he return.) When I politely pointed the woman to my payment page, she wrote a snippy note back: “I would have purchased a reading with you but because you would not show this one kindness to me, I am taking my business elsewhere.”

Um..yeah right.

Case number two booked a reading with me and paid. At the time of her appointment, I sat at the phone, ready with my cards. Minutes ticked by. I sent her an email reminding her of her appointment. No such luck. After fifteen minutes, I closed up shop. I have a wait list of people who would have gladly taken that spot. Instead, I sat there like an idiot, my time totally wasted.

Like any professional, I require a 24 hour notice to cancel or reschedule. That’s pretty common. Most doctors, hairdressers, and lawyers require this as well.

So when the woman contacted me almost 24 hours after her lapsed appointment, I politely reminded her of my policy and told her she could pay for another appointment and reschedule (note: when the appointment is scheduled, clients get a confirmation email with this policy clearly stated so there is zero confusion). Once again, a nasty email “Now that I see how you operate your business, I won’t be rescheduling. Because you couldn’t show me this one kindness when I was going through blah blah blah….”

This “one kindness”. Hmmm…

You get the picture.

They want something and it doesn’t matter if it means me working for nothing or sitting around waiting like a dumped prom date.

These are strangers. I’ve never worked with either one of them. I have no idea if they are nuts, full of shit, or what. And both of these people had one thing in common: a sense of entitlement.

Are those the kind of people I want to work with? NO.

And you shouldn’t have to either.

Although the statement may be: the customer is always right, I beg to differ. Sometimes it’s not you…it’s them.

You are NOT a business doormat.

You do NOT have to serve every person that comes through your door.

You do NOT have to suck it up, give til it hurts or give it all away in the name of being “nice”.

You do NOT have to put up with any bad behavior.

Unless you are running an S&M club, you are not in the business of being abused.

Hey, there will be times when you screw up and when you do, bend over backwards and fix it. Make it right and make your client happy. Treat your customers like gold and always work to create a positive experience every time they interact with you. Aim for 100% customer satisfaction.

But if someone is being rude, disrespectful of your time, or aggressively pushing you to bend your policies for them, just say no. Treat your self and your business with the same level of care, decency and respect that you’d give to another human being – or business.

Let these types “take their business elsewhere” and happily go about your business serving the clients who treat you as well as you treat them.

Blessings!

Theresa