One Bad Employee Can Ruin Everything

[Diane Kennedy]

This past week I was approached about a possible joint venture by one of the members of my forum. It was interesting and from what I could see it could be good for my company, but REALLY good for the other company. But, I needed to do some due diligence.

That's when it got a little crazy. Apparently I needed to talk to Fred Jones (name changed) and the connection was made between Mr. Jones's assistant and my assistant. Somehow, Mr. Jones's assistant got hold of my email address (I think it might have been as simple as Carolyn copying me on an email), but nonetheless, the assistant got it. We'll call her Suzie.

Suzie now feels comfortable to explain how busy Mr. Jones (always with "Mr") is and what did I want anyway...the type of not-to-subtle brush-off. And what really got to me was that she immediately assumed first name basis with me, but continued to use the more formal "Mr" with her boss.

Last night it was the final straw, when she condescendingly told me that Mr. Jones was just too busy and I would have to work around his schedule, if it was going to work at all....Diane.

The timing couldn't have been worse for me to get that email. Hey! They contacted ME for this deal. As far as I can see, it helps THEM more than it helps ME. Why am I getting the brush-off?

The innocent answer is that they just have an untrained and rude employee. The not-so-innocent answer is that they want me to quit asking questions they don't want to get. I'm leaning toward the untrained & rude employee because she doesn't seem smart enough to be subtle.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Sounds like Suzy is a victim of telemarketers and lying salespeople. My people would field sales calls ALL DAY from these people ... each would lie and say anything to get to the boss (The Decision-Maker) from "he knows me" or "he's expecting me" ... when the calls got through and interrupted me with some useless sales pitch, the gatekeepers were told to be more stern.

It almost sounds like Suzy is confusing you with dime-a-day salespeople versus REAL legit business. Perhaps the boss hasn't told her that your call is to be expected and that your an associate (Read: PEER) and not some loonie off the street trying to sell him the deal of the day.

 

[Russ H]

MJ-

One of the key qualities of a GREAT executive assistant is that they NEVER need to be told who is important when someone calls-- b/c their boss (the exec) has already given them a list of who is a VIP.

If someone is not on that list (like, when I called the President of MTV, or the Producer of the last 3 Star Wars movies at their offices), the asst's have a very fast system to determine if you are for real or not.

Once they have dealt with you ONCE, they NEVER forget.

And they ALWAYS keep appropriate levels of respect.

Diane, I'm not sure if this asst is clueless or just lacks good etiquette (either is possible), or if her boss has instructed her to treat other business contacts this way.

Either way, it tells you the level of sophistication that you're dealing with.

I'm not sure if this unprofessional behavior will be a hindrance to the business end of your joint venture. That's your call.

-Russ H.