Anyone that has clients has run into this issue. It is where a client is easily swayed by fast talking salespeople and takes the advice of the last person he/she speaks to. In the internet age this usually takes the form of an SEO, or Marketing company trying to steal away clients by giving them false hopes.
I recently had a client of many years leave to have his site hosted and maintained by a marketing firm (why a marketing firm would be hosting websites is a topic for another blog…). Now we hosted his website and gave his company excellent support completing all support requests within the same day for years. He never waited even 24 hours for us to answer and complete requests. You can’t give better support than this. This is why RooSites is the top website management company in the US, Bar NONE.
But this client has the condition (and the title of this blog) that he listens to the last person he speaks to, no matter how poor the advice given. He is open to suggestion, and fast talkers sway him quite easily. So he is ripe to be taken advantage by unscrupulous vendors he meets at various networking events and spammers shooting arrows in the sky looking for the one sucker.
As an example, previously he had an SEO salesman sell him a bill of goods. The advice was so elementary and wouldn’t improve much. You know they type, they run a free report and tell you how they can fix it and make you #1 for everything under the sun. (charging you an arm and a leg and delivering NOTHING substantial) We had done a lot of good for this company, so I wouldn’t fight over some minor tweaks and it was easier just to make the changes (at least in this case they weren’t black hat tricks that would hurt his rankings).
Personally, I figure it is better to do right by people, as in the long run you has much better, longer term relationships with your clientele. We have a 98% retention rate, which says we are correct in this assumption.
Several months ago this client told me about this marketing firm who’s going to do some work for his company. Looking up their work, I didn’t see anything too impressive, and although he lives in a major market this company was not one of the better firms and had a lackluster portfolio at best. But, I figured that if he liked their work, perhaps they could help him as he was not very skilled at writing blogs and coming up with ideas for content.
But then he said that this company also needed to host his website in order to do marketing work. Now that this was an immediate red flag. (Danger Will Robinson!!) I explained to him that moving the hosting would be a mistake as if he wanted to leave them, they will hold his site hostage and charge him to transfer it to another company. I explained that there was nothing they needed to do from a content standpoint that they couldn’t do just by logging on my server. So there was no good reason to leave and since we charged him very little, there wasn’t a financial rationale.
But, as I said, he listens to the last person he speaks to, so he typically makes bad decisions rather than trusting those companies who were fair to him for many years.
Alas, there is a cure for this condition if you suffer from this affliction.
Next time some fast talking salesman approaches you and proposes a change to your website management:
Think about what they are asking and how it can impact your company if the relationship fails. What happens to my site?
Take a step back and ask yourself, is my current company doing a good job, and more importantly have they been trustworthy?
Look for a red flag as was sooo obvious in the above case, if you see one, walk away. NO RUN.
Taking these 3 simple steps will save you agita down the road and money!! Having a company you can trust with no hidden agenda is worth its weight in gold in today’s world.
Between my time in Corporate America and running my own businesses over the past 35 years I have had the opportunity to hire many interns and have some definite thoughts on the subject. It is my hope that these tips will help you be a better intern and get hired after graduation.
Make yourself available for an interview and NEVER cancel – I had an intern who cancelled on me an hour before their scheduled interview. Needless to say this person wasn’t hired! Barring an emergency, show up, be prompt and of course dress appropriately.
Always answer emails promptly – When I assign work I want to know that interns have received and understand what is being asked. I have had to call interns in the past to see if they received. You never want to hear “Sorry I didn’t check my email…”
When given an assignment, complete on time and communicate out that you are done – So you have done the work and done it well. Don’t forget to let others know, so they can check your work and hopefully praise your efforts. As strange as it seems I have had to ask interns on occasions if they had completed the task at hand. “Oh yeah, I finished that a long time ago…”
Check Your Work & Then Check It Again – One of the worst things you can do is turn in work full of typos and misused words. I had an intern last year write a blog post with 5 typos in a single sentence!! Also, as spell check doesn’t tell you that you have used the wrong version of “there”, you need to read and re-read everything. Believe it or not I have gotten resumes with misspelled words. This doesn’t leave a good impression.
Ask For More Work – Be eager, you are low person on the totem pole. People love to see interns who ask for more to do. This is a great way to get hired after graduation. Internships are many times a try out for future employment. Treat them as you would your dream job, not just a temporary position.
Be on time and alert – While this seems obvious, I have had interns show up late and even have had an intern fall asleep at their desk after coming in late after a weekend! At the time, I was working for one of the most successful companies in the world and my boss called me to say he walked by this person’s desk and she was asleep. When I asked her about it, she said, “I was just resting”.
Positive attitude only – No one likes working with someone that has a poor attitude. Remember, as I said above an internship is a lot like a tryout. For a company to hire you after graduation, they want to see how you interact with people and customers. So always show up with happy, positive outlook.
Own Up To Mistakes – You are an intern and are expected to make errors. When it happens, learn from it and move on. But always admit you made a mistake and don’t be afraid to ask for help. That is how we all learn, that is how we all get better.
Ask for feedback – Always ask your boss for feedback, especially at the end of your internships. A good boss will tell you the truth, and give you things to work on which will help you future internships and then on job interviews as well.
End on a strong note – My last batch of interns was a stellar group. This one particular intern did a good job for our company for most of his 6 months. But then towards the end he was already moving onto his next internship and started missing assignments. He would say I’ll get to it today. He would even tell me that he’s been busy with his next internship. This of course is nothing an employer wants to hear. Sadly he never did finish his last assignments and I had to reassign his work to other interns. The shame of it is I could’ve been a good reference. But now I couldn’t in good conscience as he finished so poorly. So always finish strong and work as hard on your last day as you did on the first day.
Bottom Line: Think of your internships like the NBA combines. You are trying out and showing your skills to possible future employers. So make the most of the opportunities, your future may depend on it.
