Your mother always told you to be wary of strangers. Her advice doesn’t sound so overprotective now, does it?
Understand this – in each and every dealing you have with people, whether friendly dealings or business dealings, your reputation is on the line.
When Bob Younce commented on yesterday’s post about how he makes sure he remains directly involved in the working relationship of any subcontractor, it made sense. This is your brand. This is your reputation. You are only as strong as your work and your working relationships.
In no instance was that brought home more clearly to me than in the case of recommending someone for a gig. It was a writer whom I’d gotten to know over the past year, and one who’d come to me asking for help when business was dropping off.
Here’s where you have permission to kick me. While I didn’t have a lot of personal experience with the person, I went ahead gave a recommendation to one of my best regular clients. A few weeks later, the writer is blasting this client and its business by name on a blog. The first I realized there was a problem was when I read about it in cyberspace. Fortunately, the post in question was removed (thank you for that, at least), but I couldn’t help but feel used and hurt that a colleague would do that without considering how it might affect my career.
It’s rare that I hand out recommendations anyway. I’ve not always been in that position. But no one wants to face the prospect of a sour deal for someone else affecting them.
Bob’s notion of working as a facilitator of the relationship can help to alleviate any misunderstandings, especially if you have a great relationship with the client to begin with. In some cases, obviously, you’re not going to be able to be part of that picture, but in those times that you can, go ahead. Jump right in there and put a little time into protecting yourself.
Guard that professional reputation like a lion protecting cubs. It’s okay to be sympathetic, but be choosy about who you give recommendations or referrals to. Our reputation does indeed extend to the people we do business with, even if it’s a cyber acquaintance. Tread carefully.
And it’s a bit like casting a play or movie — you can know some really great writers, but it’s finding the right fit between writer and client. Both can be terrific as individuals, but not be right for each other, even if they’re in the same field. It’s tricky.
We tend to expect other people to act like we would. Because you would never do what this writer did, you wouldn’t expect anyone else to do it. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same ethics and standards.
Yikes. What a nightmare. Well thank goodness the colleague removed the post!
Like you said, it’s important to be choosy. If we give the wrong referral, it could come back to bite us!
Yes, I’m very glad the colleague had the consideration enough to remove that. It would’ve been quite embarrassing for the both of us had it remained.
All’s well that ends well. 🙂