Sometimes, frustratingly, you just cannot help some people. It doesn’t matter what service you provide or how knowledgeable you are, you just know that all your efforts are going to be in vain.
There are two main reasons why potential customers seek the advice and services of a professional, and that is;
A. To do things right.
B. To benefit from the experience and wisdom of said professional.
So why oh why do they insist on listening and then totally ignoring the advice. Why in the space of what can only be seconds do they transform themselves from requesting expert help/assistance to being an industry expert themselves?
Immoveable
Its the age old problem that if someone believes, really believes, that what they are doing is right, even though it’s wrong, you will never change their mind. I’ve seen this happen in several industries including solicitors, construction, computing, health and, of course, advertising. The fact that they feel it necessary to contact a professional should really tip them off to the fact that they are, subconsciously, accepting the fact that they don’t know enough themselves.
Frustrating
There is nothing more frustrating than initiating your service using your industry guidelines and basically, what’s best for the client, when suddenly, they hit you with an instruction that is going to have a disastrous effect on their business. Sometimes, you can make them understand, sometimes they do understand, sometimes you are just wasting your time. It does feel like they are pressing the self destruct button and committing their business to the history books.
Suicide Businesses
The sad thing is, there will always be suicide businesses and no matter how much time or money you spend doing the best for them, they will always thwart your attempts. The only thing you can do to minimise this is to recognise the signs early and avoid them.
Social Disasters
You often see the reverse of this on social media where people and businesses just will not, under any circumstances, consult a professional. Instead they find comfort and answers in their “friends” or followers posts. This is actually quite frightening when you read them. I have personally seen the following true questions asked on social media.
• How many paracetamol can I take before its dangerous, I have a really bad headache.
• What size wire should I use to wire up my neighbours generator at the bottom of his garden?
• I’ve got a knocking on the engine and blue smoke coming out the exhaust pipe, will it cost much to fix?
• Can anyone tell me how to put back a dislocated shoulder?
• I’ve just bought 250’000 backlinks to my website for £99. Is this good value?
• My four year old has come out in red lumpy spots. Do you think I should take her to the Doctors?
Its amazing I know, but the above has actually been posted on social media at one time or another. The frightening part is that everyone gave their opinion on these posts but not one suggested getting the help of a professional. I hate to think what the outcomes were.
So, two lots of examples from different ends of the scale. Quite simply, the moral of this story is if you need advice or help on an industry or service that you do not specialise in, get a professional.
