(I changed the name of the post after Stormser had that quote on Instagram and I thought it was appropriate. Thanks, girl!)
I just met with a media group who put all previous "marketeers" to shame. It was like a breath of fresh air: One guy. No gimmicks. Not a "Yes" man. No BS. Just succinct, direct, sincere business. (Harps playing.) He had a firm, business-like handshake. Maintained direct eye contact with the person speaking. Kept it real the whole time. Totally commanded confidence. Love it!
I would love to post the name of the company, but he is very intelligent and probably scours the net for reviews and he would immediately recognize the Desert Girl alter ego. (If you do happen to be that smart that you are reading this right now, I will promote the heck out of your company just from that one meeting! You go, boyyyyy.)
I am really impressed. (And, as we all know, I'm usually a negative sourpuss, so this kind of compliment is rare.)
Yesterday, I had a different sort of meeting. "Yes we construct aluminum stands. Yes we do social media. Yes we do...." (Ok, do I have to tell you the nationality of the car mechanic/brain surgeon/rocket scientist/marketing guru?) Sigh.
He brought along his lovely assistant, Pink Lips. That's all I saw when she walked in. There were like 2 miles of parallel pink lips. Somebody made a whole lot of money selling collagen that day. Pink Lips sized me up and decided she didn't like me. Is it my blondeness? Whatever it was, she didn't like. (BTW - me=customer, you=seller.) She talked OVER me and immediately started arguing. Then she brought up the fact that she's from Tunisia and speaks French (oh no she di' int!): Yes, she whipped out her French; Dropped dat Frenchbomb. OMG. "Oui, je suis de Tunis. Je parle Francais... yada yada blah blah bil Francais...." (Who CARES? Are you there for a date or for a meeting? WTF.) I didn't like Pink Lips very much. Maybe she didn't like it either when I asked her questions about their client list and how they would handle our account. You know.... the kind of "driving" questions that you actually need answers to during a meeting (Bring answers. Not pink lips.). Am I being bitchy again? Hmmmm. (Check this out, little girls.)
Je suis Desert Girl. Je suis de Virginia. Parle le pigeon Latin....
Both that company's e-mails and their (get this) website are full of grammar and spelling mistakes. Why would we want to play with them? Why, I ask you? Why?
Oh sorry. Did my negative sourpuss side come out again?
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. A wonderful day in the neighborhood. Won't you be my neighbor?
.... I've had too much sugar. Somebody give me my Ritalin.
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Reminds me of the time I was interviewing a 'pink lips' in my previous position. She sat in my office flipping her hair and checking her makeup in a compact mirror as I was taking notes between interview questions. I eventually had to get up and close the office door because she couldn't stop eye flirting with the guy across the hall. Needless to say, she didn't get the job.
What is ridiculous is that these girls (and I do NOT mean "women") think that this type of behavior is appropriate/acceptable in the workplace! I can't blame many - because they have never had female role models/mentors in business. They've probably been treated like little princesses their entire lives solely based on their looks.
I wrote an article about this. I'm going to have to dig it up and post it.
Firstly, did you view their website before the meeting? When dealing with these companies in Kuwait, do they consistently have misspellings in their websites? Just wondering? I would assume that if you want to promote a proffesional image, you would utilize the spell check feature on your computer, but this is Kuwait (TIK). You are more polite than I, I would have dismissed her from the meeting and told her male collegue about her unprofessional demeaner and that I won't deal with her. Then I would have thanked him for his time today, taken his business card and I would have ripped it up and thrown in the garbage can after he left. Lesson learned. You can either deal with the overwhelming BS in Kuwait or handle it so they learn from their mistakes in business. I understand it is tough, but my time is precious and time is money.I guess in Kuwait it maybe a different playing field, since there is not much business going on because of the lack of implementation on key projects in the development plan.
Anonymous 9:30 -
I'm a whole lot more tolerant than I used to be 17 years ago.... but as you can see, I'm still not completely limp yet. :)
Unfortunately, our business owner brought these people in and ultimately, it is his decision (and I have to suck it up and smile and play nice). I stuck my neck out and gave him my usual, "in your face" kind of direct/honest feedback. (I'm not a "yes" girl.) If he takes it or not is up to him.
That particular company X has a HUGE contract with a HUGE oil company to create their online newsletter. I have seen samples - I remain unimpressed. I believe since the oil company is in a position to employ staff writers and editors, they probably do that and then provide this company with the content. Perhaps company X just does the design work, I don't know.
Kuwait vexes me in that NO ONE uses spell check. Not on menus - not on billboards, not in print media, not anywhere. And no one seems to care. Even when they realize their mistakes, they don't take any steps towards correcting it. Incorrect signage, for example, is often just left as-is for years and people just think it is "funny".
For a country that makes such a huge deal about "face" and embarrassment, I would think that someone/anyone would care that people are not laughing WITH them, they are laughing AT them - especially on official signage or signage that a government official has to approve before a company can erect (and from what I understand, all business signage must be approved before it is hung).
American Girl - I had previously posted the article and I added a link in this post.
Oh man, when I first started working at one of the banks, I went to a meeting and when I entered her office I felt like the color pink threw up in there and left. I love pink but it was just over the top, everything was pink fluffy and so claires!I couldn't take her seriously even though she was in charge of the department.
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