About a dozen years ago I spoke to a class at Bane-Clene® Institute about appearance, manners and other requirements I believe are necessary for a successful residential service business. I talked about not smoking on a customer's property, using deodorant, hair cut, shave, proper attire and especially good manners and polite behavior, which I think are so important.
One student fit the description of being exactly the opposite of what I was talking about in my class. He had long, dirty hair and smelled of body odor. Obviously, he didn't like my comments because he proceeded to malign me on internet bulletin boards for several years. He went into tirades about me and my company until he finally went out of business.
Over the years I've had seven, that I know of, who were offended by what I say and who publicly chastised me. Four didn't make it in the business very long, I outlived the fifth one and two are still at it. I'm sorry if I offend people, but my job is to tell students the truth about what it takes to succeed, not to pander to tender feelings.
©Bane-Clene® Corporation 2010 Reprinting or electronically publishing this article is strictly prohibited without permission from Bane-Clene Corp.
