Loyalty and respect in business gone?

I get what you sayin. I just think it ends up being idealistic.

Swith it around if a customer asked you to give them a discount because you were buddies, would you do it? Would you do it even if you made no money or even lost money at the end of the job? Probably not, becuase we are loyal to the dollar.

On the other hand real relationships we are giving of ourselves all the time

I came out off a corporate atmosphere, where people really just thought they were noble and their line of work was a gift. It was really a facade though. We are just preforming a service, if we werenā€™t available they would find someone else.

Maybe Iā€™m just jaded, i like to work i get satisfaction from work but its just work. Work gets me to where i want to be in my real life.

1 Like

Your fine. I honestly donā€™t usually use that word. My wife has an in home daycare and she calls her customers clients so It probably just came out. It wasnā€™t an intentional label. I was more focused trying to keep it clear that I was talking about the customer and not the realty company than I was the Word I was using. I think I was thinking of my customer as the Realtors client so it made me think of them that way. I rarely use that word myself.

1 Like

Keep in mind I didnā€™t say the relationship has nothing to do with money. Money is just not the only thing involved. Itā€™s a business relationship, which involves money, but itā€™s till a relationship and is still informally governed by certain values.

Remember I am not irritated that they hired a realty company. They probably needed to pass of the responsibility, which is understandable. What irritated me was that they did jot contact me directly, which to me is not the right way to handle the transition. In their position I would have at the very least sent out an email if a contractor called I would have expressed appreciation. Thatā€™s just common courtesy.

And to answer your question if a good customer came to me and expressed tough times and asked for a price break I would absolutely do my best to accommodate them.

There is an old African proverb that says, ā€œIf you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go togetherā€. In life relationships are more valuable than money. Relationships give us support during tough times. When you support others they tend to support you. You reap what you sow. Unfortunately not everyone seems to understand that now a days.

2 Likes

Thanks for the input Dave. Yes I thanked her for their business and for passing my information to the realty company.

Great stuff!

Relationships take effort whether they are personal or business.

ā€¦Yes they do and part of that effort is to not take offense when your personal criteria for relationship not met.

To not put forth the effort shows that you donā€™t value the relationship.
ā€¦ Nah, it only shows that no effort was put forth. The rest is just a story.

It feels one sided.
ā€¦It is one sided. Just be in relationship.

It just makes me question that customers donā€™t value the relationship as much as I do.
ā€¦ Thereā€™s a good chance they donā€™t, just keep yourself in relationship.

Shouldnā€™t that show of personal care deserve a response in return?
ā€¦ No. It would be nice but the point is to keep up that show of personal
care because it means something to you. Wanting an equal response is
just childish. ā€œLove is a one-way streetā€.

I get what youā€™re saying, and yes its a nice idea if everyone would operate that way but the cynical side of me says that its business for a reason.

The whole point is to get someone to give you some of their money for a service or product.

We take dirt off of glass. That is all. No one died because they didnā€™t get their windows done. Dont get me wrong i love it but when you really look at it it is an elaborate and honest and legitimate ploy to get someone elses money.

If we build it up to being more than that, thats fine but youā€™re gonna feel burned like you do right now.

Please dont take it like im bashing your take on it. I totally agree with you the world in general is disloyal and i hope for a time that its not. So really we think same. but for me, when it comes to work , you gotta just look at it as totally utilitarian. Keeps you from feeling burned.

Of course i have been accused of not having feelings soā€¦:wink:

Opinions are like belly buttons.

Iā€™m glad I donā€™t think that way. I value people. Even the ones who are just taking dirt off of stuff.

Iā€™m not sure how I missed your comments. Great thoughts. I agree. I still like her and the company. It was just disappointing. Either way I still have a shot at continuing the job and it might lead to more work with the realty company. Either way Iā€™m not sweating the job itself.

Just my 2 cents. What I wouldnā€™t do is become Jaded and risk treating other clients errr customers as if they might treat you like that.

It looks like many have been disagreeing with the arguement that the lady should have let you know out of respect and loyalty based on the relationship you built with her over many years. However, loyalty and respect aside, her actions were still inappropriate because they were unprofessional imo. And that is definitely business-related.

1 Like

I must respectfully disagree (well not with the noone died part lol). While dirty windows will likely never get anyone sick, Iā€™m sure we can all agree to a greater or lesser extent that cleanliness is a need. Sure, it doesnā€™t rank as high as food, clothing and shelter, but it is still extremely important. As far as windows are concerned, their prime purpose is to see out of them. If they donā€™t fulfill that, they may as well be walls. So, yes, windows need to be cleaned. Window cleaning isnā€™t truly a luxury as many claim. The job does have to get done. The luxury, perhaps, is having someone else do them.

Calling it a ploy gives it a very negative spin. Iā€™d wager that the majority of us work very hard to improve our knowledge, processes, and equipment in order to provide the best service we can to our customers. Sure, itā€™s not saving lives, but how many jobs are? Arenā€™t the majority of products and services, especially in developed countries, complete non-essentials? And yet itā€™s not a ploy that Sony sells us TVā€™s or Goldā€™s Gym sells us time to use their equipment.

I donā€™t think you have to build it up. Weā€™re providing a service that is useful and that people want. And over and over Iā€™ve already seen in my short career doing this, it makes people feel really good.

Obviously, everyone can view this business however they like. But Iā€™m choosing to see the value of what Iā€™m doing, put my all into the work and customer relationships, and take pride in it.

1 Like

Business is business. There are no rules that state one must use the services just because the previous ā€œcoordinatorā€, or whoever, did.
Do the best that you can to operate your business. If you take it personal that a customer decided to make a change, then that will eat at your positive outlook going forward. There is no harm to inquire as to the reason for the change; they may or may not be forthright with that information.
Next time, try not to give them an excuse to change. You may not know what the excuse was - just do your best to offer your best. They have the freedom to choose and so do you.

Client = person/organization using professional services
Customer = person/organization that buys goods/services
Douchbag = someone who has surpassed the levels of jerk and asshole

1 Like

I completely agree. I think thatā€™s why it irritated me the most. It is common business courtesy to communicate directly and on top of that their was a relationship there which made the lack of communication stand out to me.

1 Like

the title implies it was once resent and is now gone, i donā€™t think it has changed. firing people is one of the most difficult things people face. it causes unpleasant feelings for both people and the fire-er (??) may feel particularly bad if there was some kind of relationship and may therefore put it off until it goes away.

Just to clarify, as I had stated in my post, the issue was not with them hiring a realty company. It was about how they handled the change and didnā€™t communicate directly. They didnā€™t change window cleaners. They handed over all of their maintenance to another company so they didnā€™t have to manage the upkeep of the entire building which is more than window cleaning. I think thatā€™s great for them. Their change is not a reflection of how they felt about my service at all. If they felt indifferent about my service they wouldnā€™t have passed my information to the realty company. For me this is about the courtesy of communicating directly in an effort to show that you value the business relationship. Had she emailed me and told me of the change I would have been happy for her because she tends to be stressed out. The change doesnā€™t bother me at all. Itā€™s actually an opportunity to get in with a realty company as a preferred vendor. It just didnā€™t feel right, coming from such a good customer, not to get notified directly.

It seems some people are reading into my post so just to clarify. This isnā€™t something that Iā€™m going to loose sleep over. I just couldnā€™t help but feel hat given the shoe on the other foot I would have communicated directly. For me itā€™s a matter of valueing the people you do business with and communicating that value in small ways. I do my best to communicate to others that I value them no matter how small there contribution and so I tend to notice when others donā€™t.

Dont take my cynical take too seriously. Like i said in the original comment it is honest and legitimate. I take pride in what i do and enjoy it.

Work is not a ploy. But business itself is ploy to exist. It gets us what we need. Otherwise we would be working our farm to try and be self sustaining.

And yes it is a gross oversimplification.

And my view doesnā€™t change my core views of people. I think people, relationships and friendships are important and my business allows me to do volunteer work weekly and have time for people i care about . So itā€™s not about life or people being cheap i think its just a development of a think skin.

My Dad always said ā€œget used to disappointmentā€. May sound pessimistic but the reality of the statement is bad things will happen, you will get burned, and be let down, but itā€™s part of life now, so dont take it hard, move forward and be positive about the good things.

Do i think their is a loss of loyalty and respect?Absolutely. do i think @whatapane should have gotten a call? Yeah would have been nice. Do we get work for some really cool people that appreciate it? Definitely. Do i do my best to be courteous and take care of people when it may or.may not be reciprocated? Of course.

But that is idealistic and not the world we live in.
So it goes both ways and you take it as it comes. And when you have that view point when itā€™s bad it really is never THAT bad.

Itā€™s like when we have a client, we try to set expectations so that they dont expect too much and be dissapointed. Is it because we gave them inferior service? no its just that they got what they expected. So, We do it for them so the process is smooth and everyone leaves happy. You just have to set the right expectations for yourself and you wont feel disappointed.

It sounds like it will work out for @whatapane anyway. And if she passed your info on to the new guys handling it i dont really see the disloyalty.

So dont let it get you down thats all i mean by it.

1 Like