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ATrue Business Story: Excuses by Robin J Elliott

Written by: Robin Elliott

Article Overview: We should realize that we don’t need any particular customer or client. When you appear desperate, you simply hand them a stick to beat you with. When you excuse and ignore their lack of commitment and professionalism, you downgrade the value that you’re offering. Be very selective, set a high standard and don’t beg for business.

ATrue Business Story: Excuses by Robin J Elliott

“Robin,” he said firmly, “You only have yourself to blame. You ignored all the red flags.” My friend Errol was right; I had wasted three weeks pursuing a client who never intended to do business with me. Instead of telling me outright that he didn’t want to buy our services, this prospect made every excuse under the sun to avoid meetings and commitments. He showed up late, didn’t return calls and played the Gutless Game, as I call it. That’s the game played by people who don’t have the guts to say, “No.”

We should realize that we don’t need any particular customer or client. When you appear desperate, you simply hand them a stick to beat you with. When you excuse and ignore their lack of commitment and professionalism, you downgrade the value that you’re offering. Be very selective, set a high standard and don’t beg for business. You’re sorting and selecting which customers and vendors you choose to do business with. You’re in command. There’s only one of you and many of them.

There is usually no excuse for showing up late, not returning calls or not doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it. When you see that kind of behavior, you’re seeing the red flag. I once asked a “Serial Excusiologist” this question: “If I had a million Dollar Check waiting here for you, would you be late for the appointment?” You don’t have to accept abuse and insults. You don’t have to discount your products and services. You don’t have to accept excuses. People who show up late, if at all, on a regular basis are sending you a message: “I don’t want to do business with you.” Or perhaps you don’t want to do business with him.

The best line I ever heard was a friend who used to say to prospective clients, “I don’t know if this is the right thing for you, of if you qualify for the criteria we have set for accepting your business, but I’m willing to take a few minutes to talk with you about how we can solve your problem of….” The old “Take Away” close still works and scarcity still sells. And you can do more with less. Choose quality instead of quantity and your bottom line will smile at you.

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Top 19 Copywriting books - 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley. 2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner. 3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill. 4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin. 7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books. 9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association. 11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books. 12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books. 13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books. 16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books. 17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall. 18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop. 19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley. This should keep you busy for at least a year. Enjoy!
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: October 17 Triple Crown Leaders - Yep - and Robin referred him and is getting all the credit in the Referred Articles category!
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Re: Q4 Triple Crown Winners! - Hi Everyone, Thank you for your kind words, I have enjoyed being involved and well done to Jim and Robin for winning their categories. Thank you to Evan and GT for all your help and support to the membership here throughout the last year and best wishes to everyone for a successful 2012, regards, Mal.


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