- August 21, 2018 -
She was an icon.
A legend.
She was the Queen of Soul.
She was Aretha Franklin.
Last week on the 41st anniversary of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll's death, Aretha Franklin died.
And on the 70th anniversary of Babe Ruth, the King of Swing's passing.
All royalty in their own right.
Do you know the story behind her biggest hit R-E-S-P-E-C-T?
Otis Redding actually wrote and recorded it first...or at least his version.
But it was Franklin who flipped it on it's head and added the now famous cliche "Sock it to me, sock it to me."
In short, Aretha had TCB.
And that got me thinking.
How many times do you give in when you should stand firm?
...drop your price out of fear of losing a sale.
...skip the contract because it'll save everybody time.
...give creative control back to the customer because it's easier than arguing with them.
...let a customer pay in cash because you know, Uncle Sam is doin' just fine. Screw the government.
Darn it if it doesn't come back to bite you nine times out of ten.
A few months ago, I went through a week or two where it seemed every deal went sideways in my wholesale property investment biz.
One issue after another: delays, last minute term change requests, title snafus, credit check curveballs, final walk-through discoveries.
The last straw was when a customer actually changed a signed contract himself and tried to pass it off as valid.
Most times, I took the "hit" and didn't get properly compensated.
When I stopped long enough to figure out what the hell was going on, the answer hit me right between the eyes.
"Art, you bonehead...most of this is your doing."
I was "again" running too hard, too fast and took short cuts.
I didn't follow the proper procedures.
My intentions were good - but I wasn't respecting the process.
Trying to be Mr. Nice Guy.
But in the end, the experience wasn't pleasant for my customers.
And it definitely wasn't pleasant for me and my staff.
Sticking to your terms.
Sticking to what you know works (remember you are the expert.)
Sticking to what your gut tells you is right...
Shows R-E-S-P-E-C-T for yourself as the business owner...your team who relies on you to pay their salaries...and your customer who is looking to you to lead the way.
As soon as I course-corrected and "took care of business," the ripples started to smooth out.
The hospice nurses in the office next to mine know that when Art pops in to say, "Hey, ladies...do you have a minute to take my blood pressure?" something's going on.
Interesting how when you color inside the lines, the old blood pressure seems to drop a few points.
Have good one! Talk tomorrow,
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