Follow through.
What does that mean to you? To me, it means that you should have manners, be professional, courteous, and don’t leave things hanging out there to blow about in the wind. In short… don’t be rude. Don’t waste my time. Don’t disappoint my trust.
Every day, more and more, I find people doing the above. Customer service is almost an extinct beast. Client satisfaction? Big deal. Business relations? What is that?
I will be the first to admit in my crazy life of balancing a full-time day job, a full-time writing and publishing career, plus running a home and taking care of everything there, I might drop the ball once in a while. And then I feel horrible about it and usually go to the extreme to over-compensate and make up for it. At least, I do care about getting it right.
No matter what line of work you’re in, if you make a promise, say you are going to follow through on something and get back to someone, make certain you do it. Those people are taking you at your word. I am one of those people who still believe that when someone gives me their word, I will trust them to be good for it. (I know… crazy of me.) The upshot of all this today is I feel that I have been let down by people I deemed to be professionals in the world of publishing. After overlooking this more than a couple of times, I decided to write about it in my blog today. Because I think some of you might feel the same. It pertains to not just the publishing world but to most situations you can find yourself in today.
Authors are told from the beginning, either by other authors or from agents, editors, publishers, etc… do whatever you are told if you want to be successful. And I followed that to the extreme. But now, after several years and many disappointments on the part of some of those professionals, I have tempered that. I give my trust until they prove that I should not do so. Then I take it away. After all, trust is a two-way street. If you find yourself staying too long on that one-way street where you are the giver all the time, you might want to rethink some things. Only you can stand up and say enough is enough. You have every right to expect to receive the same treatment you extend to others. Speak up. State your concerns. Be professional in your delivery, not a whiner.
Life is too short and too hectic to keep silent in the wake of disappointment. Change can only come about when others realize that change is needed. And this ends my sermon today…LOL Have a great weekend ahead and enjoy a good book (one of mine… hint, hint).
Debra