What To Do When People Are Angry With You.

This is my suggestion — Do nothing. Yes, that’s right.

It is amazing how when it comes to emotions, we always want to do something. The reverse happens when it comes to work. Life is indeed complex.

I recently had a brush with an unhappy prospect. You read it right. An unhappy prospect. He commented that he was “forced” to initiate business talks because people around him told him to.

The reason?

The people around him are active on social media, so am I.

As they see me actively working on my contents daily, pumping out business materials and genuine commercial advisory, they took note.

And they reached out, pulling their connections along.

Of course, this is a happy event. It means more business.

Technically speaking, more potential business.

But the conversation I had with the unhappy prospect was one that I am still trying to appreciate.

I probably will not in the near term.

He says that it was his biggest mistake connecting with me because all the post feed in his social media accounts have been bombarded by my contents. The more he sees it, the more he hates it.

It was a conversation that began on a negative footing.

It was a happy problem on my end, because prospects and businesses are coming to me because they know me.

Nonetheless, it is a problem that needs to be resolved before business is possible.

A synthesized conversation went on along these lines.

Me-with-a-smile: You know, I really just wanted to give my business more opportunities.

Him-with-a-frown: I know. You are just being annoying.

Me-still-smiling: Apologies for that. Do you by any chance read my contents?

Him-now-frowning-badly: Yes. As much as I hate you and your contents, they are really helpful.

Me-now-smiling-broadly: Oh, thank you so much! What can I do to make your feel better?

Him-now-frowning-REALLY-badly: No. There is nothing you can do. I just find you annoying.

I left the conversation at that.

It was one of those rare moments where we had to stay calm in the face of adversity. I was holding it in, like how I had to hold my dump while running around in search of a toilet cubicle.

It was also one of those moments where our brains are in overdrive.

“Just what can I do with this guy!?”

As it turns out, I was thinking too much.

I realised quickly that there is no way this guy is going to do business with me.

I had zero chance of success.

Then I had a moment of epiphany.

There was really nothing I can do to help him feel better. He was drowned in his emotions of negativity and my presence magnified that at least 10 times.

My mind flipped into exit mode.

I moved quickly to close the conversation and offered to pick the tab.

Well within my expectations was a rather curt response.

“You should. You don’t need to knock on doors and cold call people for sales. You hijack everybody’s social media posts showing them just how good you are. You advise people to do things. It is only right that you are footing the bill.”

I don’t usually ignore the opposite party in a business setting.

With this guy, I just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

If there is an Earthquake there and then, trust me.

I will immediately jump into the opening cracks.

However.

When I heard what he said while taking out my wallet — I realised that he hates where he is at.

The next thing I realised?

He thinks that I have it all on a silver platter.

I was screaming at the top of my lungs within my head.

“DUDE! I worked my ass off to get here. What makes you think that I had it easy!?”

Boy am I glad that my mouth felt lazy that day.

I just wanted to escape. It was a dread to be near that guy.

And he was dead right about it.

There is really, precisely, exactly, really nothing I can do about it.

I left in a hurry to visit another prospect.

This time, I was greeted with a smile.

“Hello! Nice to meet you. I read your Thought Leadership article today pertaining to Branding. Great stuff there! Tell me more!”

Talking about experiencing 4 seasons in a day.

I gave a big smile in return and shook his hands firmly.

“Of course!”.

And what I really meant was …

“Thank you so much.”

Thank you for salvaging my day.

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About the Author:

As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.

Because simplicity adds value.

Simplicity helps us gain clarity, and clarity helps us to grow.

And if we are not growing, then what’s the point of anything else?

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