Scratching My Head At Year's End

Here’s a puzzler for you.

For five years I’ve thanked my clients with end of year gifts custom-made by a small local firm. My clients LOVE the gifts, and over time I became chummy with the CEO.

This past summer I introduced her to my daughter. The CEO, short on staff, hired my daughter as an extra hand. And things worked well for a short time.

However, both being strong women, they eventually bumped heads and parted ways.

Oddly, the CEO ghosted me after they stopped working together. Rather than talking with me about how this shouldn’t impact OUR business dealings, she merely walked away.

This puzzled me, given that I’d had nothing to do with their relationship. The silence also reinforced in my mind my daughter’s perspective that the CEO was difficult to work with.

In my world, you try to grow your business and don’t walk away from clients unless YOUR affiliation with them is troubled.

Yet six months later I’ve heard nothing and was forced to make alternate arrangements for the holidays. And I find myself wondering why a CEO would willingly walk away from a long-term business association that generated both revenue and significant referrals…without even trying to bridge the gap.

Admittedly, hiring someone’s relative is potentially fraught with risk. Not all introductions will work out well, and there’s always a possibility that this type of situation can happen to anyone.

But not even trying to salvage the business connection?

Today I’ve lost interest in working with this company. My regular referrals have stopped, and you’ll no longer see recommendations for them in this column. I expect it’ll make a dent in their bottom line.

And my daughter’s moved on, focusing on her operatic career and her new side hustle baking fancy cakes.

The labor market’s also eased somewhat, making it more conducive for employers to be choosier about new hires.

Yet operating from the premise that it’s not what you know, but who you know, it seems safe to conclude that opportunities will always arise to hire the child of a friend or client. And given this experience, whether you’re referring, hiring, or job-hunting, be advised that there are potentially long-term results out there that you weren’t necessarily counting on at the outset.

With that said, I wish you a coming year of profitable marketing.

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Happy new year from everyone at www.marketbuilding.com.

B2B Marketing, b2c marketing, corporate messaging, customer relations, employee relations, professional relations, strategic planning, vendor relationsRob WeinbergMBT Consultingask mister marketing, ask mr. marketing, carlsbad rotary, carlsbad marketing consultant, carlsbad Rotary, carlsbad, carlsbad chamber of commerce, UT Community Press Newspapers, rancho bernardo, rancho bernardo news, rancho bernardo sunrise rotary, rancho bernardo marketing consultant, poway marketing consultant, poway chieftain, poway chamber of commerce, coast news, the coast news, mr. marketing, Marketing strategy, marketing, marketing strategy, marketbuilding, marketbuilding team, mister marketing, marketing plan, marketing communications, marketing consultant, marketing advice, san diego marketing consultant, vendor relations, Customer relations, customer relations, customer relationships, bad customer relations, client relations, client appreciation, firing a client, good customer relations, customer referrals, employee relationsComment