The Value of Politeness
As a kid I used to read the adventures of “Politenessman” in the National Lampoon. While Politenessman may have had some of his priorities screwed up, he could always be counted on to deliver extreme politeness.
Makes me wish some of today’s business folks I run into had read the comic.
A recent encounter with an unnamed executive producer with an online talk radio network comes to mind. She had contacted me because someone had brought the Communication Steroids podcast to their attention and would we be interested in taking it to their online network audience?
Hmm. Intriguing. I love it when people reach out – it’s what we always encourage others to do, as we work to reach out as well.
So we chatted to learn more. I asked several questions that she wasn’t able to answer, so she bumped me up to her boss. I got the full explanation of how their company works with their broadcasting (or podcasting) talent.
My initial sense was that it wasn’t a good fit for our podcast. But Roger and I discussed it at length just to look at the proposal at all sides and make sure we were on the right track. If it was a worthwhile venture we didn’t want to let it slip away. But we also didn’t want to jump into something that was more than we were interesting in doing.
We agreed: it wasn’t a good fit for us for several reasons. So I wrote a short but polite note to the producer thanking her for her interest and for asking us to take a look at possibly getting involved with them.
Two weeks go by and I still haven’t heard back.
Not a peep. Makes me wonder if she even got the note. I assume she did because I just took her e-mail and clicked ‘reply’. If an e-mail is non-deliverable it’ll typically get returned with some sort of indication.
So if I assume she got the note (which I do), it means she didn’t bother to even acknowledge my e-mail. She couldn’t be bothered to be polite enough to jot a quick reply: “Okay, Tim. No problem. Thanks for taking a look. Best of luck.” Or whatever.
To me, NOT responding to a note in that situation is a breach of etiquette and protocol. Not a major breach, mind you, but still a noticeable break from simple business etiquette.
It leaves me with a lasting moderately negative impression of this woman and the online talk radio network she represents.
Are you communications leaving people with lasting negative impressions? Are you failing to be polite in all circumstances?
When the business world is so competitive, you can’t afford to approach it with lack of care or attention to detail. Every person that you encounter has the potential to be that *one* person that might open an extremely significant door.
Are you closing doors because of your inability to maintain proper business etiquette in all situations?
