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work & asian mentality
Jul. 29th, 2008 06:17 amLet's talk about work a little bit. My business, that is.
In my line of work, I deal mostly with weddings.
So the clients are those who are going to wed.
Now, although most of my clients are good people, there are some annoying clients (such is life, isn't it?).
But thank God, during our 5 years of running the business (and more than 50 clients a year), there were only less than 10 problematic clients that needed special care / attention.
What I hate the most, though, is the type of clients who are "chickens". I don't know what they're afraid of, but they don't act professionally. Let me elaborate: as a client, you're welcome to say that you don't want our service (for any reason, but mostly due to the our pretty high price). Just say so! But since they are chickens, they just choose to disappear in the air (not picking up the call, not replying to sms or email, etc). I and my partner are not the type who run after clients & push them, because we know it's annoying! We're the type who choose to wait silently. But sometimes, there are certain occasions where we need to follow up or confirm the deal. And guess what.... ta-da! They can't be reached.
Honestly, I don't really care about them not using our service. We're pretty well-known to the point of people actually seeking for us. We don't put advertisements anywhere, we don't join any exhibitions, but people always manage to find & call us. So we're not in a situation where we desperately need clients. And we're not afraid of rejections, mind you.
It's just that I really hate this kind of mentality. Indonesian or Asian mentality, you might say. Westerners are very straightforward & professional. And although in the first place I'm a pretty straightforward person, my US education background has made me even more straightforward. Worry not, though, my straightforwardness has been toned down quite a lot since I went back to Jakarta for good 6 years ago. But still I get annoyed whenever Indonesians choose to chicken out & flee. Really.... what are you afraid of!? O_O
In my line of work, I deal mostly with weddings.
So the clients are those who are going to wed.
Now, although most of my clients are good people, there are some annoying clients (such is life, isn't it?).
But thank God, during our 5 years of running the business (and more than 50 clients a year), there were only less than 10 problematic clients that needed special care / attention.
What I hate the most, though, is the type of clients who are "chickens". I don't know what they're afraid of, but they don't act professionally. Let me elaborate: as a client, you're welcome to say that you don't want our service (for any reason, but mostly due to the our pretty high price). Just say so! But since they are chickens, they just choose to disappear in the air (not picking up the call, not replying to sms or email, etc). I and my partner are not the type who run after clients & push them, because we know it's annoying! We're the type who choose to wait silently. But sometimes, there are certain occasions where we need to follow up or confirm the deal. And guess what.... ta-da! They can't be reached.
Honestly, I don't really care about them not using our service. We're pretty well-known to the point of people actually seeking for us. We don't put advertisements anywhere, we don't join any exhibitions, but people always manage to find & call us. So we're not in a situation where we desperately need clients. And we're not afraid of rejections, mind you.
It's just that I really hate this kind of mentality. Indonesian or Asian mentality, you might say. Westerners are very straightforward & professional. And although in the first place I'm a pretty straightforward person, my US education background has made me even more straightforward. Worry not, though, my straightforwardness has been toned down quite a lot since I went back to Jakarta for good 6 years ago. But still I get annoyed whenever Indonesians choose to chicken out & flee. Really.... what are you afraid of!? O_O
