Bad moods are bad for business

Bad moods are bad for business

And so are bad people.

It’s not that people are bad per se, but they behave badly.

Or maybe they are bad; I don’t know. What I do know is that my coaching clients and workshop participants often tell me about bad clients.

Over the last week or so, several coaching clients have shared stories of troubling situations. They all revolve around clients that they probably shouldn’t be working with. Which brings us to an important question: Should I work with just anyone?

When it comes to spending time with a new client, I often share four criteria from one of my mentors, Fred Wilson: 

1. Do they need help?
2. Do they want help?
3. Are they willing to let me help them?
4. Are they ready to go now?

But the fifth one is, “Are they an a$$h*le?”

Okay, maybe I don’t say it that way. Seriously though, is this someone that I can work with? Most importantly, is this someone I can create an authentically trusting relationship with?

No kidding, that is an incredibly powerful question. In fact, it might be the first question to ask. In situations that my clients have with their clients, one thing is entirely clear: they don’t have an authentically trusting relationship. In some cases, it’s not even cordial hypocrisy; it is straight-up distrust - no pretense, just “I don’t trust you!”

Yikes. That’s a big problem.

Go ahead, try and work with people where there is little to no trust. It happens all the time, but it is bad business. 

You don’t have to wait to get there - you can nip it in the bud. The lure of the paycheck often blinds us to the warning signs. 

You can ignore them. In fact, you have before! Will you do it again? 

Think about some of the people you have worked with - the ones that make you cringe, or maybe they were just “harder.” What moods were they often in?

I suspect that they were often operating from ineffective moods. Think about it; how effective can you be with clients (or anyone, for that matter) when they are:

• - In a bad mood
• - Angry, bitter, resentful, nasty, or simply...unpleasant
• - And worse: distrustful

It’s almost impossible to succeed with people who are predominantly in the states we just described. Side note: before you get too cozy pointing at their bad moods, don’t forget about being responsible for yours.

So, when that bad-mood potential client comes at you, what are you going to do? You are likely to say, “But Steven, the commission check...,” and “I could really use that...”

Or whatever you say. It’s a rationalization. Look, work with whomever you want. Makes no difference to me.

But...

Don’t come to me with your “challenges” when you willingly engaged with someone who was going to make your life miserable. Sorry, I misspoke. They aren’t making your life miserable; they are being miserable, and you let them into your life. 

[NOTE to the Reader: If you are one of my clients who has come to me with a challenge, you are excused. For everyone, including my clients, you have now been explicitly forewarned that when you work with someone who doesn’t trust you (and vice versa), you have no excuse when it doesn’t work out.]

Professionals Worth Hiring™ know who they are, and they have high standards. One of them is not tolerating people who are...miserable. Said another way, they don’t tolerate people who are always in a bad mood.

Bad moods are bad for business.

Most importantly, when you are in a bad mood, it is bad for your business.