Warning: This post does not contain any details not suitable for my children to read someday!

A few weeks ago, I had my yearly check up with my OB/GYN. I was actually somewhat looking forward to seeing her. Weird huh? Well it’s not when you realize how amazing she is.

My OB/GYN is an angel.

My husband and I met her almost two years ago when I was pregnant with our first daughter.  My previous OB/GYN was horrible, cold and had zero bedside manners. Needless to say, going to a new doctor was a little scary given our previous experience.

“Dr. Angel” (not her real name) came highly recommended by an acquaintance who also happened to be a midwife. She knew I was unhappy with my previous doctor and recommended I see Dr. Angel. I remember she said that Dr. Angel was very nice, young and really good with patients.

I made that appointment ASAP and she far exceeded our expectations. We knew immediately after that first consultation that she was the doctor for us. She was beyond compassionate about our previous experience, thoughtful about my “advanced age” and very optimistic that we had good chance for healthy babies in our future.

While pregnant with our first daughter, I was nervous and apprehensive for every appointment. I was just waiting for bad news. However, after every appointment, my husband and I were relieved and excited about the pregnancy. That was all thanks to Dr. Angel. She did everything she could to calm our fears. She asked me how I was feeling, what questions I had, how work was, was I being pampered…and the list went on. Even though we waited an average of 45 minutes to see her, she was well worth the wait. And, it became evident why we waited that long because she took her time with EVERY patient.

We never felt rushed. We were never embarrassed to ask any questions.  Each time we went to the doctor, she was just as pleasant.  One time, we had to wait almost 2 hours because she had an emergency delivery.  That’s understandable given her profession!  When she came into the room, she apologized for making us wait.  What?  SHE APOLOGIZED TO US!

Are you getting a sense of how amazing she is?

As my due date approached, we had more frequent appointments.  All were the same.  I once saw her at the craft store, and she stopped to have a quick conversation with me and we laughed about all the things she had to buy for her kids’ school project.

My last appointment before my daughter was born was funny in some ways.  Dr. Angel walked into the room, happy as she always does, and apprehensively asked, “How are you doing?”  I said, I am done.  I want to have this baby already.  She said she knew that the minute she walked in the room.  She said I had a different look on my face, and my new mom glow was fading.  We made plans to be induced the following Monday if nothing happened over the weekend.

Then, some magical words.

I don’t remember the exact words because I couldn’t believe them, but here’s an idea of what she said:  “I have attended over 80% of my patients’ deliveries.  I try hard to be there for every one of them.  Even though I am not on call this weekend, make sure the hospital calls me if you go into labor.  I am seeing a few patient’s on Saturday morning, but can get away for the delivery.”

On Saturday, April 5, 2008, our first daughter was born at 10:51 a.m. and Dr. Angel delivered her.

About 6 months later, I went back to see Dr. Angel, because I was pregnant again.

She was excited for us.  She said when she saw our names on the patient list for the day, she knew why.  And, she said she was looking forward to seeing us!  Each doctor appointment, we went  as a family, with our oldest daughter in tow.  She held her, kissed her, and doted on her for a few minutes at every appointment.  She gave us practical advice about what to expect with two little ones so close together in age.  She shared her experience with her kids who are 18 months or so apart.

On May 18, 2009, our second daughter was born, and again, Dr. Angel delivered her.

So, when it came time for my annual exam, I was looking forward to seeing her because it was like seeing a friend after a long time.  She connected with us.  We bonded.  She cared about us.  We cared about her.

Now, I share how amazing she is with everyone who will listen.  I recommend her to anyone and everyone who is pregnant, thinking of getting pregnant or needs to find a new doctor.  I even recommended her to my mom!

Dr. Angel is genuinely nice, compassionate and caring.  This is just her nature.  But, it’s a great example of relationship marketing at work.  It is her honesty and genuine demeanor that makes her a great person, a great doctor, and someone you want to be around.

So, the business lesson from my experience is this:

We should all strive to genuinely care about our clients, business partners and customers as if they were family.  Each one of them has needs, a family and things they are trying to accomplish.  By truly caring about other people and their needs, they will care about you.  You will be on the forefront of their  mind, and they will talk about how amazing you are whenever they have a chance.  That will naturally bring you more referrals.

But don’t screw it up!

You need to start this process of relationship building with every new person you meet.  Yes, it will help you be more successful, but it will also fulfill you in other ways that cannot be replaced.  There will be a tangible peace in your life and your business, just knowing that you are surrounded by people you care about, and who care about you.

Being a work at home mom is a wonderful thing.  I get to be here for my girls every single day, watch them grow and develop.  However, there are challenges that cannot be ignored…

Your kids won’t sleep when you need them to. I work hard to schedule meetings, webinars and training while my kids take a nap or before they wake up in the morning.  They are usually like clock work except when I have something scheduled.  For example, this morning I scheduled a meeting at 6 a.m. my time (8 a.m. EST) with a prospective customer. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to get going so I wouldn’t sound like I just woke up. And, wouldn’t you know it, my oldest daughter woke up crying at 6:20 a.m.  I couldn’t get her back to sleep so I had to reschedule the call.

One of the things I firmly believe in, is telling the truth to all prospective clients and customers.  Everyone I work with knows I have two babies and they come first.  Most are very understanding, and have no problem with rescheduling, or hearing them in the background.  Thankfully, my girls are good and don’t make too much noise.

While life is full of hiccups and challenges, you have a few extra to manage when you work from home.  However, you need to be flexible and calm with your work plans.  Remember, you work from home to take care of your kids so they should stay the priority!

OK, I know McDonald’s is not a healthy place to eat.  But, every once in a while we indulge…

This last weekend, my hubby and I watched a special on McDonald’s operations and how hard they work at testing new products.  They have this intense process where they test and retest and taste products before even rolling it out as a trial to customers.  They also work  very hard with their multiple vendors to ensure the food tastes the same no matter where you get it from.  (We actually had breakfast at McDonald’s when we were in Hawaii and it did taste the same!)

The documentary also detailed how McDonald’s ensures that their food is easy to make so that a 20 year old cook can make it as good as the cook with 20 years experience.  This was fascinating but we both looked at each other and asked, “Why can’t they get the salt to fry ratio right?”

You know what we mean.  Sometimes, you go to McDonald’s and the fries are way too salty.  So salty you can’t even eat them.  Not to mention the old fries you know have been sitting their awhile.

So how is this a business lesson?  Well, its about meeting your customers’ expectations.

When you go to great lengths to get everything “right” in your business, why would you allow a “failure”?  For me, McDonald’s fries are a failure because they aren’t consistent.  You can have old, soggy, salty fries or fresh salty fries, sometimes they are just right, etc.

McDonald’s is a very successful business, and they are not going away.  People will still eat there despite the fries.  But, wouldn’t it be so much better to have a great experience every time you go to McDonald’s rather than a crap shoot?  You really don’t know what you’re going to get.

So why do you keep spending your money at McDonald’s? Is it OK that they don’t meet your expectations?  Do you lower your expectations for McDonald’s?

Why would you lower your expectations for anything you are spending your hard earned money on?

OK technically, I am on vacation.

But when you own your own business, are you ever really on vacation?  No, of course not!  As business owners, we are constantly working our business, following up on leads, prospecting for new clients, catching up on business news, etc.

I got a very interesting and timely business lesson from my 18 month old daughter today.  Actually, she’s been trying to show me this lesson for a while, I just hadn’t been paying attention to the details.  Even though she can’t really speak yet, my daughter communicates very well. Using non-verbal communication skills, my daughter tells me when she’s hungry, tired, needs a diaper change, bored, not feeling well, etc.

One of my daughter’s favorite things to do is to stand at her toy box, and pull out every single toy.  She flings it about aimlessly, not watching where the toys go, and not really paying attention to what she’s throwing out.  Once all the toys are on the floor, she takes a mental inventory, and starts playing with one.  Then, another toy catches her attention and she goes and plays with that one.  If you have kids, you know how the rest of this story goes, she just keeps going from one toy to another.

The living room floor is a disaster.  There are toys everywhere. You have to be very careful where you step or else you might trip.  As a busy little 18 month old, my daughter does not pay attention where she steps, she just runs.  When she trips on something and falls, she gets very angry and has a little melt down.  But, she doesn’t pick up her toys so she won’t fall again, she just steps over that one and keeps going.

This scenario reminded me of some entrepreneurs I’ve observed lately.

I’ve been  a student of entrepreneurs for the last few months and I have a list of people I have been observing.  These entrepreneurs are from all different kinds of businesses so that I can get a wide range of techniques and methods.  But some seem to be running their businesses in kinda the same way my daughter plays with her toys.  In their quest to find the “next best thing” and make money, they are aimlessly moving from one project to the next.  It appears that they are trying anything and everything in their business without any real plan or direction.

What strikes me as odd is that they don’t take the time to finish a project, analyze it and come up with a plan to improve for the next time.  They keep making the same mistakes in each new program and it makes it difficult for me to follow their business.  It also makes it difficult to view them as an expert in their field.

To be honest, this is exhausting, frustrating, expensive and painful to watch.

I will admit, that not all my business adventures have been home runs -  I have made mistakes just like everyone else.  But I think one of the important things that anyone in any business can do is, figure out what went wrong and how not to make the same mistake twice.  Its not an easy task to identify your failures and sometimes it can be frustrating.  However, its a very necessary step to be more successful.

So how does my daughter’s toys fit into a business lesson?

Its simply a reminder to finish a project and put it away when its completed.  That way you can look at it from start to finish and identify what worked well, and what didn’t work so that your next project will be better.

Not too bad for an 18 month old, wouldn’t you say?

It seems as though people in general, have gotten “bolder” about what they put in email.  I personally think that some are hiding behind their computer screen and feel there are no repercussions when you don’ t have to face anyone to communicate.

And I think that’s a big mistake.

What you say in an email, is extension of you and your brand.  In today’s world of internet and social media, people will make a judgment about you and your company in a split second. But no one will listen to you if you have poor communication skills.

I have a quick example I’d like to share – one that may expose my personal misjudgment.  Nonetheless, it provides a teachable moment that anyone can benefit from.

In preparation to launch this website, I have done A LOT of research.  There are a ton of mom, work at home and review blogs.  I have been reaching out to various bloggers and asking them if they would like to do a guest post on my blog, or allow me to write an article for their blog with my website signature line, etc. All of this, of course, to help spread the word about my new blog and website.

For the most part, I have received very positive responses from almost everyone I contacted.  Even though some were not interested, they wished me well and left the door open when my blog was more established.  Perfectly understandable and I appreciated their feedback and professionalism.

However, (you knew this was coming right?), I received an email response from someone who was clearly offended and ticked off that I even approached them. This person proceeded to tell me, in an email, that what I was doing was tacky, and that no blogger with a big following would help me.  He/she  “explained” that since my website would be the only one to benefit from this type of “exchange” , that no blogger would do this just to help my website ranking when there’s nothing in it for them.

While I clearly upset this person, and felt compelled to send a note back to apologize, I didn’t.  Why not? Well, there’s a couple of reasons.

One, I learned a long time ago that you can get into an email war very easily and I don’t have the time or the energy for a war.

Second, I did some research and found that continuing a conversation with this person would not be in my best interest now or in the future.  You see, while initially I was not interested in my website ranking (that comes later), I verified that my website ranked higher than this person’s – and it hasn’t even officially launched yet!

I may be new to blogging, websites, social media and internet marketing, but I am not new to business, marketing, public relations or customer service.  I did my research before launching this blog and in some ways is a culmination of everything I have learned.  Only time will tell how successful I am.

I will never divulge this persons name, business, blog, website, etc., nor will I ever “work” with this person.  You see, without even meeting this person, I did not get a good vibe about their personality or professionalism.  If I personally don’t trust that person to work with them in the future, I wouldn’t pass along their information to you either.

So, my point is that when you send an email, take the time to think about what you are sending.  If you are upset, put in draft and come back to it a little later and reread it to make sure it’s professional while getting your point across.

And most importantly, never burn bridges.

What do you think?  Have you had a similar experience? How did you respond?