“Good manners are just a way of showing other people that we have respect for them” – Bill Kelly
There’s nothing more frustrating than contacting someone and being met with radio silence. So, do you agree that this has become a frequent occurrence in the online business world? Where has common courtesy gone? When did it become acceptable to ignore someone? Courtesy should be a continuous action, not something that we just turn on and off like a tap. After all civility costs nothing.
Of course I understand that we’re all busy and our time is precious, but let’s just take a moment to think about how it feels to be the person who is being ignored. Also, it isn’t all about trying to sell something to someone!
On many occasions I’m sure, like me, you’ve contacted people to tell them that there’s a problem with their website. Or perhaps you’ve offered advice or help that they’ve contacted you and asked for. Maybe you’ve reached out the hand of friendship and so on only to be met with… silence.
While I realize that we’re often dealing with a bombardment of unsolicited emails on a daily basis, that’s no excuse for ignoring our contacts and connections, is it?
Yes, there are a lot of charlatans out there and we have to protect ourselves from these people who have no intention of building business relationships and connections. Their modus operandi is to well and truly cheat all those they come into contact with. Sadly you may have encountered these people and lost time and/or money to them.
The online world has cultivated this culture and we’ve allowed it to happen.
Back in the day when we had to conduct our business face to face or even on the phone it was definitely harder to ignore people.
However, nowadays with the explosion of online business on a global scale, it seems that many people have no qualms about doing just that without giving their actions a second thought.
I’ve spent time reflecting on this and have decided to take some steps to ensure I’m not adopting this attitude of ignoring people. I would encourage others conducting their business online to do the same.
Simple steps I take to maintain civility online
- I check ALL my emails daily (and I receive a LOT). Yes, even the ones that land in my spam folder. Often, I’ve discovered an email from a genuine lead or potential client in there. So I make sure I quickly scan through each and every one.
- If I do receive an unsolicited email offering me help or advice on something that isn’t relevant to my business at the time I respond to the sender telling them this. If the company is genuine and has a good reputation I’ll consider offering to collaborate on a mutually beneficial project with them.
- I DO NOT respond to blanket emails, from people I don’t know, blatantly trying to sell me something. I only want to communicate with real people.
- When I sign up to someone’s list I do so because I’m genuinely interested. However, if I start to receive too many emails then I may not get the opportunity to read them all. On one occasion I received 12 in one day from the same person! In this situation I’ll remove myself from their list. I’d rather do that than not get around to reading and responding and ultimately ignoring.
- I’m not perfect and have been guilty of ignoring people in the past for too many reasons to mention! There, I said it. Having been the “ignored” person on many occasions too I know how it feels.
With this in mind I’m making a concentrated effort to ensure that no-one who contacts me in a sincere way ever has to feel like that. I’ll endeavour to honour this pledge to the best of my ability.
Remember, civility costs nothing! I believe if we treat one another with honesty and courtesy the world of online business will be a better, more productive, and prosperous place for us all.
To Your Success!
