Common Courtesy Series-Answer the Call for Success

September 8, 2010

It appears that the common courtesy of a response has fallen by the wayside and blatantly ignoring a business associate (at any level) has become acceptable.  Is it not understood that anyone and everyone is or could be a customer to you and/or your business??  Everyone claims to be busy, but if you are not returning phone calls and emails, just how busy are you any way?  Responding to and dealing with people is what we are all supposed to be doing everyday…so if you aren’t responding to one, how many others are being ignored as well.  How much company revenue is sitting untouched because of the failure to respond?  I’m sure the Board and/or CEO (CFO for that matter) would love to know how much more money could have lined their pockets if each call or email was answered. 

Working a very time-sensitive deal that would ultimately put the brand of a client in the face of hundreds of thousands of potential customers with the residual of close to a million by the end of the term---customers that have proven over 90% brand loyalty to other companies that have ventured into this arena—several calls and emails went unanswered.  Really?  Calls and emails regarding an opportunity where brand loyalty that has proven to garner billions of dollars in revenue each year—that’s right, billions—go unanswered?  Not to mention, this type of opportunity is exactly what clients want to be brought to them…something non-traditional, out-of-the-box, yet, popular enough to attract and maintain millions of loyalists, that will move the needle…ignored?  Is it due to ignorance?  Is it due to arrogance?  Either way, simply not returning a call or answering an email is not a smart business decision…you never know who will be the next big thing…you never know what opportunity you have let slip by could have made you the next big thing!?  But, that aside, it is just common courtesy…and frankly, professional.  I can’t speak for everyone, even though this blog is an attempt to speak to everyone…all I can say is that I truly don’t want to do business with a company that fosters this behavior…I can only imagine that this is acceptable throughout the ranks and my time and resources are not considered valuable.