I saw a colleague recently, who was to put it mildly, upset and annoyed in equal measure. She explained that she had been engaged by a new client and had set aside a morning of paid work for them earlier that week. Despite the fact that the date had been agreed weeks ago and was in both of their diaries, on the morning in question she received an email (not a call) asking if they could postpone their meeting because he had to deal with a client emergency. My colleague was a little bit miffed, as she had turned down other work in order to meet with this client, but as she all too clearly understood that these things happen, she agreed and asked him to come back to her soon with another date. He agreed and that could have been the end of the story.

Managing social relationships

However, there is a part two. Later that morning she saw an update on Facebook from him and was surprised to learn that he was at the airport waiting to catch a flight abroad for a long weekend away! To say she was angry would be an understatement, but there is a lesson for us all to learn here and it’s quite simple. Firstly, always be honest and secondly remember who you are connected with/to on social media channels.

This is not a one off incident. I have had something similar happen to me both on a business and a personal front and I found myself disappointed with both my friend and my client. And for those of you who know me, you won’t be surprised to know that my duplicitous client is no longer my client and it won’t take a genius to know who it was who made the decision to part company! And as for my friend, well they have had a reprieve but they know that I’m still monitoring things.

Honesty, integrity and common sense

To conclude, consistent and regular targeted communications are key for marketing your business and for staying in touch with clients, prospects, business referrers, colleagues, friends and family. But you need to remember to treat all of those people that you communicate with as you would like to be treated yourself. Honesty, integrity and common sense are critical for managing relationships whether they are in person, on the telephone, by direct mail or online. It is up to you to oversee these relationships carefully and know that you are firstly being true to them and secondly you are being true to yourself.

For help in ensuring that you are successfully managing important business relationships and marketing yourself, your services and your business correctly using the right message, frequency and channels, contact Vicky at Fuel on 07766 566690 or email vicky@fuelmarketing.co.uk