My mentor Dan Kennedy had a saying that I’m trying really damned hard not to adopt as my own: They ALL go lame.
His argument is that all employees, vendors and clients will, eventually, given enough time, “go lame” by screwing up or screwing you to the point you need to “put them down” (he’s a horse guy).
I’m not ready to go there yet, but some days with some people it’s pretty damned hard not to hear his mantra ringing in my head. Last week a really good, long-term client who I thought I had a great working relationship with and personal friendship suddenly went medieval on me, grossly overreacting to an issue that really wasn’t a big deal and could have been addressed in a more neighborly way by simply asking me for a correction.
For over 10 years I’ve never ignored him and have been extremely responsive and receptive to everything he’s asked for, ALWAYS giving him what he’s requested and making things right no matter what. He also has a direct line to me should he feel we’ve come up short on something. I’ll add that he has commented on several occasions on how I’ve helped him and his family achieve a level of financial freedom and security that he would never have gotten to without us, so this really took me by surprise.
We fixed the issue, but his reaction and behavior really stuck in my craw and will be remembered. In my mind, he’s gone lame. He broke trust and reminded me that HE sees our relationship as a transactional VENDOR affiliation where I better come to heel on his command or he’ll burn the barn down. Okay. Got it.
I’m 100% certain you as an MSP have had a similar experience where you’ve gone above and beyond for a client on multiple occasions, even when the client was out of line, only to get a swift kick in the nuts at the first sign of something gone wrong or an honest mistake. Or an employee you’ve been generous with or gave a LOT of leeway to suddenly quits to leave you high and dry. Or worse, burns you on the way out. Maybe all of this happens on a frequent basis. It wouldn’t surprise me given the lack of gratitude for what MSPs do.
Here’s what you need to know about this. Even though it ain’t right, some people you’ve done right by for years, overlooking mistakes, giving them the benefit of the doubt, going above and beyond for, generously supporting, will bite your hand as you are feeding them, adding insult to injury by taking a giant crap on your head in the most vile and public way possible. Their mantra: What have you done for me LATELY?
Lousy things happen to good people. People close to you will screw you without buying you a drink first. Economically, money moves to people for reasons that have nothing to do with integrity or morality – otherwise, drug cartels, sex traffickers and other criminal scum would have to find honest work.
Another “client” who enrolled and started using the services called us 3 months in, demanding we let him out of his membership and refund all the money paid – NOT because we didn’t fulfill or because the program didn’t work, but because he lost 3 big customers and was struggling to make payroll. But that’s not the bad part – what’s unjust is that he threatened to post negative reviews everywhere he could if we didn’t comply. Folks, that’s extortion, plain and simple. But that doesn’t mean he can’t go online and post one-star reviews giving his opinion about us, leaving out the details of HIS inability to pay his bills due to the sad state of his business. I wish this was a rare occasion, but it happens. A LOT. And not only to me but to all the vendors in this space. Shame on you if this is your unprofessional and grossly unethical manner of negotiation or how you ask a vendor for a favor. As Johnny Carson famously wished, “May the fleas of a thousand camels invade your shorts and your arms be too short to scratch.”
Bottom line, you gotta do the best you can about all of this. You can’t avoid it entirely, but you can cut someone off the minute you sense they’re going lame – or have a high potential to – and limit your exposure.
You’ve worked hard to do right by your clients, even when others didn’t show the same respect or loyalty. Now it’s time you were recognized. The MSP Titans of the Industry Awards honors MSPs who go above and beyond — those who lead with integrity, deliver outstanding results and stand out from the crowd.
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