Have you ever been stood up for an appointment and left
sitting and waiting?
I am sure that we all have.
Just what is the etiquette here? How long should you wait
for someone to show up before you leave? Should you give them a phone call?
What should you do?
This happened to me this week. Understand that I always
enter my appointments in my manual daytimer and my online calendar, so as not
to make any mistakes.
I had an appointment scheduled with someone first thing
in the morning. I live an hour away from where we had scheduled to meet. So
naturally arose early to make sure I would be on time. I arrived right on
schedule and sat down to order my mint tea.
Half an hour later, I began to wonder what was happening
with my appointment? He still had not shown up, so I phoned him. He was at work
and seemed totally oblivious that we even had an appointment at all. I was
shocked to say the least! Then he had the audacity to say that I should drive
another half hour over to meet him.
First, he stood me up and second he has the nerve to
suggest that I drive over to meet him. Well you can only guess what happened
next.
Yup! He got written off.
For one thing, I already had another appointment
scheduled in the same location immediately after our first meeting, and then
was scheduled for the rest of the day until 9pm that evening.
Know what he had the audacity to say? "You should
meet people at your inconvenience and my convenience." I already had done
that! Duh!
I guess you can tell I am a little hot under the collar
over this, but if someone is in business and they want to make a great first
impression, here is what should happen according to the "Book of
Christine".
1. Schedule the appointment and mark it in your calendar.
2. Confirm the day before.
3. Show up 5 minutes early.
4. If you are not going to show up, at least have the
courtesy make a call to let the person you are to meet, know.
5. Wait 15 minutes and if the person you were to meet
does not show up or call you to let you know they have been delayed, get up and
walk away. Then leave any follow-up, up to them. If they do not call you, they
were not going to be a good customer anyway.
If we are adults and serious about our business, then we
should take responsibility for our own appointments and not wait for someone to
remind us. Isn't it refreshing when they call to confirm with us first!
Am I right, or Am I right?
What are your thoughts on this subject? I would love to
hear.
Christine Till
The
Marketing Mentress
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