by Dan Bobinski

At a recent business breakfast I learned something about a potential vendor that made me decide not to do business with that person—The person’s bad manners.

Here’s what happened:

The menu was large and had a good variety to choose from, but nothing seemed to “fit” for this person. In a disgusted voice, the person ordered off menu.

When the dish arrived, the person took on a Prima Donna attitude and the dish was pushed back toward the server. Then came the comment, “can you take that back and have them fix that? That’s not what I ordered.”

The behavior was condescending and snobbish. I cringed in embarrassment. Other statements and actions from this person had me wondering, but now the cat was out of the bag. I realized that if I were enter into a business relationship with this person, I would eventually get the same treatment.

An old maxim was playing in my head:

A person who is nice to you
but not nice to the server
is not a nice person.

From a big picture point of view, seeing that person’s bad manners was a good thing. So, when that person came to my office later that day I broke the bad news that I’d decided to go with another vendor. 

Whether that person’s rudeness was intentional or unintentional (due to being tired or having a bad day) didn’t matter.  I just knew I didn’t want to put myself in a position where I’d be on the receiving end of it.

The bottom line is this: If you observe someone’s bad manners emerge in any situation, chances are good those bad manners will eventually get turned on you.  If you don’t want that, one of the choices you have is avoid doing business with that person.

PS.  If you’d like to see a good list of appropriate manners for today’s western world, this site is a good start.
 

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Filed in Work, Business, Customer Service, Corporate Culture, Interviewing