Sometimes, someone will say or do something in your business that really gets your back up. It might be a snarky comment, or a bad review, a nasty email or someone asking a really inappropriate question. I get them all the time, I think we all do when we’ve been in business a while.
What I used to do was reply, immediately. I would be angry or indignant, or offended or gobsmacked at the thing and it showed in my reply. 🤦♀️
Most of the time it didn’t help the situation and often made it worse. So this is what I learned to do:
- Count to 100. Counting to 10 is not enough. Leaving it a couple of hours is even better.
- Step outside of the emotion. This is why time helps. It can also help to ask someone else, who is impartial, to look at it and see how they take it. Often, we are blinded by emotion and read more into it, than maybe we should. And we take it personally because it’s our business.
- Understand that any kind of nasty, snarky ‘thing’ is about THEM, the person who wrote it. It’s not usually about you, unless you really messed up. People react from where they are – their current situation, expectations, pressure or anxiety – that’s what makes them react in that way. Oh, and some are just rude. It happens.
- If you did mess up, then own it, apologise, try to fix it and if they won’t have it then you know you have done everything you can. It was a mistake. Don’t let it ruin your life or your business.
Love, Claire xx
PS: Being in business can be a lonely place, especially when you’re dealing with grumps. My Dream Business Academy is a place where everyone ‘gets’ what it’s like and you’re never alone.