Over-sharing has reached epdemic proportions

If you think the national obesity crisis is bad, then read on to find out how we are over flowing more than our jeans. Over-sharing personal information has reached epidemic proportions. This mouth-on-speaker phone phenomenon is destroying businesses faster than a speeding bullet. It's like a cancer that slowly spreads and eventually takes you out.

You are especially at risk if you render any type of ongoing personal service. Hair stylist, estheticians, personal trainers, massage therapist, front desk staff, financial planners, to name a few, are ranting and raving, complaining about their personal lives to their clients to a degree previously unknown. Not only are they bad mouthing their significant other and family members they are often guilty of annihilating the very business they are working in or for. They hold no secrets when it comes to even the most intimate health problem. This massive unburdening to clients is totally inappropriate and is often the reason why client don't come back.

Your clients are NOT your friends.
Personally, I have heard detailed stories about romantic  relationships with no intimate detail left out, domestic violence, extreme religious view points, drug or alcohol abuse issues, problems with teenagers, cheating spouses, financial and credit problems, and the list goes on. The "ick" factor increases when I know and have business or personal relationships with the person they are targeting.

Your clients will settle for less
Have you ever had a client leave and go to another provider who is not as good as you are? Over-sharing may be the reason. We will take a lesser service for a better experience. For example, I will take a good haircut over a great hair cut if it is served up without a cocktail of misery.

When I am paying for a service, I expect to have your full attention. End  of story. If you need to download, unload, or otherwise commiserate, please do so on your own time with an appropriate person. Note to self: this is not your client.

The Bartender Business Model
There is an easy example to keep in your mind, bartenders; The old school kind. People often go to their local bar to "drown their problems." The stereotypical bar keep listens, gives the occasional nod and pours them another drink.  In any movie or TV show have  you ever seen the bartender unload on the drinker? No. The bartender knows the job is to serve drinks. Can you image going to a bar, ordering up a beer, and having it served up with the comment, I am sorry this took so long, I just got off the phone with my boyfriend, well, former boyfriend, see he just broke-up with me. Can you believe he did it over the phone?! What a pig! Just the thought of this comment should make you cringe. And yet this, is the type of over-sharing that goes on all the time.

Bartenders know it's a one way street. Clients may choose to over-share, but bartenders know their place. Their place is to serve their patrons drinks. It is not to serve up their problems. They know it is not about them.

If you are not getting repeat business and referrals are few and far between, you may want to look at your interactions with clients. It may very well be something you said.

Do you think over-sharing is an issue?

Insidious Handmade Signs of Offense

You see them everywhere – hand made signs posted in small businesses. They reek of owner anger and frustration. The “DON’T LET DOOR SLAM!!!!” sign hastily written with a big black marker on a page ripped right out of a spiral notebook and pasted up with now yellowed scotch tape still holds the negative emotions of it’s author.

Brutal warnings: No credit cards taken, Cancellations without 24 hours notice will be charged, No cell phones in lobby, No tips on the credit card, are a few common examples.
The signs are typically born out of necessity from client behaviors that are deemed unacceptable. These sneaky handmade signs creep into your business slowly over time. After a few years in business, it is typical to have three to five of these small threats posted in obvious places around your space. You and your staff stop seeing them. They are only noticed when someone breaks one of your posted rules or asks directly about it.

These insidious handmade signs create a terrible first impression. They are beacons warning the potential new customer to BEWARE!

Handmade signs in restaurants often become soiled because of the environment. Like a dirty bathroom, they create a large amount of doubt in the cleanliness of the kitchen and the care of which the food is prepared and handled.

If unfriendly and unforgiving are messages you don’t want to send, you might want to look at your place of work with “new eyes.” Walk into and really look and notice what someone coming in for the first time sees. You might be shocked.

Can the messages on the insidious handmade signs be soften?
Don’t slam the door could be “Please close the door gently.”
No credit cards taken could be “Cash only, please. ATM on site.”

Are the messages necessary and relevant?
Once it is up, it is always up unless someone takes it down. Recently I was at a doctor’s office and they had an insidious handmade sign that said excuse the flood mess our offices are being remodeled. I immediately looked for signs of flooding, which I did not find, then I looked for signs of remodeling, which I did not find. Which left me, and no doubt others, puzzled.

The same office had signs up not to use cell phone which seemed really outdated as people carrying on conversations in public has almost vanished.  I did check my email on my phone, but felt like I was breaking the rules by doing so.

Can you fix the problem that the sign is addressing?
If you have a door that slams, can you put a slow closing mechanism on it that prevents that? If you don’t take tips on credit cards, how could you start taking tips on credit cards? Or could you install an ATM onsite?

If you find certain message are needed, then take a few moments to consider how they can be worded to sound friendlier. Don’t forget the magic words of please and thank you.  Take the time to type them out on your computer, format them nicely and print them out. To make a professional presentation spend a few dollars and get an acrylic stand or display for them. A wide variety of holders are available at large office supply stores.

What are your thoughts on the insidious handmade sign? Have they crept into your workplace?