There is nothing that infuriates me more than when people – particularly in business – fail to respond to communications be it email, phone etc, and don’t follow through or at least report back on commitments they have made.

Now I should tread lightly when addressing this topic lest I am labeled as a hypocrite, and I do make allowance for people to slip up now and again – I know I do – but there is no excuse for repeated offense.

Let me put it to you this way, with a note that whether it is small business or otherwise, this principle rings true.

Communication

They say first impressions count, and I am not going to dispute that but I am also not going to dwell on the topic. If you cant get back to someone on their first contact with you or realize the importance of that then you really need to look in the mirror and ask what you are doing and why?

The communication I am going to talk about is the kind that follows in the relationship after initial contact.

If you are in the business of selling – which I suspect many of us are – when you make contact with someone it is usually because you want them to part with money for your product, service etc. Oft times people will promise to look over the product or service (what ever you may be offering in fact) and get back to you – which of course, more often than not, they fail to do. When you don’t hear from them… you start calling them to follow up. That is when you start hearing people talk about this sales guy who keeps ‘bugging’, ‘harassing’ or generally not leaving them alone. Life would be so much easier if one could just get an answer.

There is a side to communication that is more frustrating than the above example and that is when you are being sold something or actively out looking to consume; you find yourself in a position where the sales person does not communicate with you. I wonder how often we get frustrated with service we receive, but are guilty of the same when the roles are revised.

I have heard – many times – the saying, deal with something once. If you open an email – reply right there and then. If a problem is not able to be resolved right away then send a response that you will get back to them; put it in you calendar with alarms, sticky notes and every other means known to man so you don’t slip up – it’s just polite.

Lastly, empty your voice mail box – listen, respond and delete.

Commitments

This is a touchy subject, but an essential one.  When you are in a meeting you need to leave with some kind of commitment. The term I recall being used once is “Don’t forget to get paid”. Now I am a different type of business person – I don’t believe that cash is the only form of tender. I do believe that a meeting should produce something that is mutually beneficial if there is to be no other payment involved (note to self, perhaps some discussion should be had on social currency).

Either way, when in a meeting be careful what you commit to. We all want to promise the earth to clients, family etc and there is nothing wrong with that desire, but here is the warning: Do not promise what you cannot deliver.  If you promise you can meet something, meet it – do it as soon as possible.

There will be times when you cannot deliver as planned because there is an element of a third party that needs to be addressed. When this is the case, please let your recipient know that there is a delay and you are working to fix it. Never leave people in the dark.

Conclusion

In conclusion I wish to highlight that in some way all businesses are connected. I tend to find that the smaller the business, the greater the impact of poor performance is by other parties. We tend to be very self-orientated. I would like to encourage people not to slam other businesses, even when they are the reason you may not be able to follow through with something. The reality is, however, that for every one person who takes my advice, there will likely be ten others who don’t or, in a moment of frustration, forget.

Here is the point to ponder and let me use an example to explain it. If your business is import and distribution, your client is a retailer; they in turn have a client who is a consumer. There are several commitments being made here. You commit to your client that you will provide a product. Your client promises his customer that he will get the product from you by a certain time. While you may be at the mercy of a courier service, clearing agent, et cetera; don’t let your tardiness delay the process any further. Just as you have worked hard, pouring time and money into your business, so has your client. To the small business in particular, the impact of non delivery could be crippling. I don’t ever want to carry the weight of knowing that I may have taken the food off someone’s table, school and clothes from his children… because I cared more about my business than helping their business grow which could only come back to me with greater returns.