I had the day off and I was bored, so I set about writing a reply that was so chock full of information that my name just had to be mentioned in the article. The following day I was delighted to see that not only had I been quoted, but I warranted a couple of paragraphs in the story. I gleefully shared the link on Twitter, and we all had a week’s worth of amusement out of it, though I think for Abby it was more a case of bemusement.
We’ve kept in touch, which I don’t imagine she does with all her sources, and Abby kindly gave me feedback on the first column I wrote for the Ashburton Guardian. In fact, I woke up recently to a message from Abby that read: “Hello! I have an important question for you: is there some sort of insult in New Zealand involving calling someone an ‘egg’ or something like that? Believe it or not this is for an article.”
I was happy to inform her that calling someone an egg is a kinder version of calling them a dick, and pointed her towards the trailer for the movie Boy for full cultural immersion. An hour later the story was online, I was once again quoted in the Washington Post as the “Chief New Zealand Twitter Source” and Twitter once again convulsed with laughter.
It’s a win-win relationship: my friends and I get a good laugh and Abby’s stories get a few more clicks. I suspect there may also be a prize for the reporter that mentions New Zealand most times in a year.
And so, as with social media, that’s how I like to do business: win-win relationships. The crash in commodity prices has forced us all to take a hard look at our costs, and this has impacted on the people we do with business with. It’s easy to just look at the dollars and go with whichever supplier is cheapest, but there’s so much more to it than that.
That’s one reason I’ll never use FarmSource’s online ordering system, I want to go into the store and have a coffee and a yarn. I want to get to know the people there and have them understand my business and understand me. And it pays off in the form of superior service and access to deals, or getting that thing you really need delivered a day early. And I reciprocate with loyalty.
I’ve spent years developing a relationship with my grazier. We discuss prices and crops well in advance and come to a mutual agreement. Neither of us wants to be seen as trying to take advantage of the other, and so we work closely together to get the best possible outcome for both businesses.
In tough times like these, relationships that you’ve built up over the years really pay dividends. They allow you to speak honestly and make cuts where needed, and they should be strong enough to allow things to return to normal without missing a beat when the good times finally come back.
To me, that’s far more important and less stressful than chasing every last cent.
If I’m ever in Washington, I wouldn’t hesitate to drop Abby a line to see if she was available for coffee and a chat. I feel the same way towards people I do business with, and hope they feel the same way about me.
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