It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 13 years since my Dad died – he’s still such a big presence in my life.
I think of him often and remember things he taught me that I use personally and professionally every day. I will admit that a few of those were grudging lessons. Being young and naive, I thought I knew how the world worked better than his generation and, on some levels I was right.
But on most I was wrong.
So, in honour of Father’s Day, here are some social media and business lessons I learned from my Dad:
Always say hello first. I wrote about this in a comment last year on the Clairemont blog. When I was a kid, my Dad would say hello to everyone he saw and often stop to chat. He did that because he felt it was crazy when two people approached each other and played that silly game of seeing who makes the first acknowledgement. It didn’t matter to him whether they responded or not. By always greeting people, he was taking away a stigma and often got a good conversation to boot. Lesson: don’t be afraid to reach out first on social networks and in real life. You’ll never know who you might meet.
Connect with your community. My Dad was a private guy and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have liked social media and especially Facebook. But he understood community and how to connect with people. In his fabric store, he welcomed everyone and made them feel special. He didn’t see his customers as dollar signs, they were like friends. (And since he wasn’t very good with names, that’s what he called them, too.) He always listened to them, asked questions and tried to help. Lesson: Find your community wherever they are and make them feel at home.
The customer is always right. This is something I used to argue with my Dad about all the time. Because I took it literally and figured there’s no way it can always be true. (One time, my hot-headedness about this caused me to freak out when a lady tried to return a button with no receipt – a definite overreaction, but that’s another story.) I think what my Dad was trying to say is: when a customer’s unhappy, you should listen to what’s wrong, empathize and figure out how to fix the situation. Lesson: when it comes to customers, focus on the how to make it right. That way, they leave happy and you can bet they’ll come back. I get that now.
Love what you do. I used to wonder how my Dad could do it – work in retail, six days a week plus two nights till 9 p.m. Didn’t he want a break?What I didn’t realize was work was like his break. That’s what happens when you love doing what you do. And he worked till he was nearly 80. He said it kept him current. And he was always happy in his store, an old school community manager looking out for his community. Lesson: follow your passion and work seems like play.
Of course, my Dad wasn’t perfect – who is? But I always remember him as a loving and caring father, an intuitive businessman, a guy who worked hard and always had a twinkle in his eye. But most of all I think of him as my Dad.
Happy father’s day!
