Yesterday, a friend posed an interesting question…..
If you are deceived or betrayed by someone who is out to take your business, and they are falsifying information about you or your character, what do you do with that?
Now on the one hand, if your business practices are solid and ethical and you know that you stand firmly in the right, then you ultimately have nothing to worry about; But a clever man can string together pieces of untruth and with some creative spin and a great sales pitch, it is possible that he could have even the most loyal of your clients, questioning the validity of the accusation. We all know that at times, perception can very much be reality, so a well sold lie could create enough perception to suggest that you have done or said something that, you in fact have not.
So what’s a man (or woman) to do with that information? Of course, I think that it is safe to say, that our first instinct is to pay the offending party a personal visit and get right to the woodshed ass-whipping that is undoubtably called for….. but if we are truly good studies of proper business etiquette, then we most certainly have to keep our belts on for the time being.
You could always take a deep breath and gather yourself accepting that, for the short-term, you have been bested by a worthy advisary and the truth will indeed come out sooner than later. This is a sound theory; the big problem is however, the potential “stolen” client, may be quite valuable and even one day of things being askew could cost you dearly.
I guess it really comes down to what that particular business is worth and to what lengths is an individual willing to go, to protect it. Different personalities will suggest different ideas regarding the levels that one might go to, but at the end of the day, you can really only do what your business character dictates; Meaning, if you are the fiery type that forced your way into the business and rule it accordingly with an iron fist, then nobody is going to be surprised when you drag your enemies into the street and beat them to death with their own shoes…… Likewise, if you have built your business on strong character, patience and poise, then you simply just have to keep your calm and let the B.S. come out in the wash.
From what I gather, my friend who was faced with this situation, made the best decision that he could; He chose the latter and he didn’t lose a thing. (maybe a few sleepless nights of course)
Given the same situation, I can say honestly that I am not certain how I would have dealt with the problem. It is one thing to sit in front of this computer and think rationally about responses to business crisis, but it’s a completely different animal when you are actually in that scenario….. Passion has a way of silencing rationale….. Being that I am very passionate about most everything that I do, especially my business, I am not so certain that I wouldn’t have broken off a switch and went callin’.
R.B.