Manners Gentlemen

Lately I’m getting sick of dealing with idiots who conduct business with showing any sort of courtesy or manners.

Showing respect and being polite is something everyone should do anyway, but in business this will generally benefit you. Not just the politeness and courtesy, but also professionalism, as in using correct grammar and spelling when emailing a potential customer and things like that.

We see evidence of this everywhere. For example, shops. When you’re being served in a shop by some annoying little bastard it puts you off going to that place, whereas you’re more than happy returning to a shop where customers are always treated well.

I always try to be polite and respectful in business as possible. I don’t lie to increase my profits or sales, and generally this goes down well with any customers I’ve had.

Here’s an example I experienced two days ago which demonstrated the importance of courtesy and professionalism.

I needed to get a book for some research project in school. The book was difficult enough to find, particularly from a seller based in Ireland or the UK, and I didn’t want to wait weeks for shipping from America. So I went onto Abebooks.co.uk and found a few British sellers. I mailed three of them this message :

” “[Sekritz book title here]” book.

I’m in Ireland and need this book asap. I’m willing to pay extra for faster delivery if necessary. I’d also like to know if you would accept paypal as payment rather than Credit Card? I could manage credit card if needed but it wouldn’t be preferable at all.

Cheers,

Mark. “

One of the sellers didn’t reply at all. Another seller sent this exact response, which was so damn irritating.

“pay normal and we will send out first today
fran”

All lower case letters (from a book seller for christ’s sake!) and no greeting. And pay “normal” ?! I understand what she meant but I think Paypal is a fairly”normal” method of payment, so I think it’d have been better to ask me to pay by credit card. The general shittyness of this response left me very reluctant to deal with this seller.

Soon enough I got a third reply, and this was much more what I expected. Here’s the reply :

“Hi Mark

Thank you for your enquiry. I have had the book taken out of storage this morning for weighing and it is nearly 2Kg which does add to the cost. Your options are as follows

ROYAL MAIL AIRMAIL - No guarantees at all! £17.85

COURIER NON GUARANTEED SERVICE - Usually 2-5 days but not guaranteed and not recommended as may not be faster than Airmail if you are unlucky £24.99

COURIER NEXT DAY GUARANTEED - This service is guaranteed for delivery by the end of the next working day £44.49

Only the final service is guaranteed in any way at all. The problem is that collection MUST be booked by 10.00 a.m. this morning for delivery by the end of tomorrow. If we miss that cut off time they will collect on Friday and deliver on Monday

Please telephone me urgently if you require this service booked today. My landline number is set out below and I am sure you know how to adjust it for calling to the mainland. We can sort out payment after we have it booked but Paypal is not a problem

Best wishes

Alex“

This was followed by all his contact details and website. I replied telling him my choice and asked him a few questions, and he promptly replied answering every single one. I told him to send the paypal bill and all that. He had the book ready for shipment before I’d even confirmed the payment. After we agreed our deal and everything had been done, I commented on his professionalism and thanked him for the great transaction, and told him I’d be checking him out first if I need to order any more books online. His response was prompt, polite and professional, (3 p’s?) and for that he got my business and potentially future business from me.

I’ve actually often seen seller’s on Digital Point lose customers simply from being rude in some way.

Treat customers well, and conduct yourself professionally and you give yourself a much better chance of being successful, and earning some cash. Look at any of the big guys in online marketing, and you’d struggle to find an example of them being rude (without good reason anyway!).

Being polite and helpful has earned me some good contacts who I’m always willing to help out and they’re always willing to do the same. Remember when my ebook was stolen? Read that post and see how those contacts of mine all came on to tear that thief to shreds with me. Would I have gotten that sort of help if I hadn’t established good ties? I think not mes amis.

So while I’m talking about being courteous and treating customers well, I’ll let you guys know how to get my new ebook at the discount price of $7, on this thread. Post on there or give me a shout if you wish to purchase.

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