We have all heard of the statement ‘Women are just too emotional.’ What does this actually mean when a woman is an entrepreneur and deemed emotional? I have watched numerous businesses on social media call out their customers who may have disagreed or challenged them in any way. They begin to post conversations, pictures, or receipts they have to make the customer look bad. How did women entrepreneurs get to this point?
Entrepreneurs enter each relationship with a customer hoping that it is long-term and they will sing your praises to everyone they meet. You exchange pleasantries and business cards with dozens of people. You finally get your first customer, and everything is running smoothly until you run into a hiccup with a product or service. You will not give into the customers’ demands because they were completely wrong but you want the customer to pay for what they have done so you proceed to post about it on your social media accounts to let everyone know what a horrible customer interaction you had. You see this as a sign of strength and you as an entrepreneur are speaking up for ladies who have kept quiet for so long. You feel victorious and vindicated that everyone knows.
This also gives new and old customers the notion that you are not the one to be messed with and if a customer tries you they can see their repercussions coming a mile away. When it is all said and done you try not to let a customers rattle your cage but it changes you and how you operate with customers. You no longer are as friendly as you once were and now you second guess your judgement when dealing with new customers. You begin to shy away from one of the most important aspects in your business your impeccable customer service.
You have lost your faith in your customers and deemed them all the same. At this point you have strayed away from all the concepts that once made you happy which was providing a quality service or a product that brought joy to your customer. Does this really mean that women entrepreneurs are emotional or just trying to protect their brand and product as a mother would for her child? But what about those people who have never done business with you do they share same sentiments as you do. My personal impression is: ‘I will never do business with this company for fear of getting on their bad side and telling the world about our dealings.’
You may have permanently tainted your brand and it may be hard to recover from. Every action in life does not deserve a reaction some issues need to be handled in private. The lesson here is don’t change who you are or what your business represents. There will always be individuals who will be disloyal and won’t play fair remember you are your brand and your brand represents you.
Nicole Jones is the Director of Business Development at 1 HR Expert.
