Oh goodness, this may come across as a whinge or even be a little controversial, but it is something I feel strongly about.  So much so that I actually had something else scheduled for this morning but I’ve risen early to write this piece.

Yesterday I received a private message through Facebook from a person I don’t know, it began with “hey are you running business in heels warrnambool?”

Let’s take a look at that – no Hello Bronwen, no introduction, no “a friend told me I should contact you” and no capital letters other than the first one that I know would have happened automatically!

Despite my initial reservations, I proceeded with the conversation because Business in Heels is in fact a business, and one that has not been performing as well as I would have hoped and I am still devoted to making it the best it can be (and this includes engaging in conversations with someone who at first glance did not actually respect the person they were contacting).

Throughout the 15 messages sent, I provided 11 individual pieces of advice (including one early on that suggested if they were to contact the people I recommended they should include a greeting and a short introduction which was really my way of telling this person they should have done the same with me!)

One of the answers I received was a lone “k”, I was asked for more specific information (which I gave) but which was freely available in the links I had taken the time to provide and the conversation ended with “ok”.

At no point did this person address me by name and they certainly didn’t thank me for taking time out of my public holiday to speak with them – have we really become this rude?

People say “it’s not personal. it’s just business”, but when you are running your own business, then business is as personal as it gets!

Please, no matter who you are speaking with, make an effort to be kind and courteous.  That is all.

Regards