One Red Hot Country Mama!

See this video, where Katie Couric speaks out against sexism. Originally found on Buzz Machine.

I recently had a major issue with a vendor yelling at me over the phone and forcing me to do things that I didn’t want to do. That’s right, I was buying something from HER, yet she was yelling, forcing, acting unprofessionally. Worst of all the situation cut into things like my sleep, my weekend and generally my piece of mind. It was the worst work conflict in about 5 years or so… and it wasn’t a colleague, customer or boss – it was a vendor!

So – we are in the age of the internet with democratization of information, when anyone can say anything, anywhere right? Shouldn’t I expose this woman for what she is? Warning all other marketers not to deal with her? But no. Like all industries everywhere, mine is small. More uniquely, the roles are constantly reversing, where one year someone is your vendor, another year they are your boss, the next year they are your customer. That is just how it goes.

I always dreamed that capitalism would create this lean system where people like this woman would not survive. It is a competitive world out there – and one way to be competitive is to have great customer service or at least to reach competitive parity vendors would have to treat people with basic respect. I imagined that people like this would not be able to cope with the incredibly low level of professionalism she displayed. But unfortunately, it is not really capitalism with a perfectly free flow of information. It is just a little society. Like a small town. Like a family. Like a family that is dysfunctional at times!