How to Turn Good Will Into Simmering Antipathy

Good will is a delicate matter. On the one hand, providing good customer service and communication will usually engender a reciprocal level of good will on the behalf of the party that you are providing the service to. On the other hand, if they feel that it has been abused, it will rapidly turn to a negative perspective or even active resistance.

As an example, I was recently asked to participate in a focus group for an institute of which I am a “Fellow”. This is supposed to be a level conferred on members who have achieved a relatively senior status in the institute. I participated in the spirit of giving active input albeit that it was at some cost to me in terms of time and travel expense. The topic related to the institute providing better service to its members who are dedicated to active involvment in “not for profit” organisations. Being that I have provided service to a not for profit organisation for some 10 years, I was more than willing to participate. I firmly believe that one should “give something back”. A key area discussed at the focus group was communication methods to the Not for Profit members.

It occurred to me that one of my clients has a technology solution that would assist the institute in communicating with the not for profit members. I decided that I would make the connection so that they could explore the potential benefits. I contacted the person that convened the focus group and left a message requesting some time to discuss this potential solution. I did not receive a response for some days and finally received a call from the person’s personal assistant. I was told that the assisant had been delegated the responsibility of talking with me and if I forwarded some information, they would pass it to the responsible officer in the institute for such matters.

So, having made the effort and paid the cost of participating in the focus group, I was to be treated as if I was an unknown person making a “cold call” with some product that was of no interest when I was actually seeking to make contact, spend a small amount of time and if there was a potential fit, make the connection with the appropriate provider of the technology solution that would benefit the institute and its members.
This is a great example of turning good will into a negative perception. On the one hand the rhetoric was that the institute cares about its members and is seeking to learn better ways to service its constituents. The reality is that when a member that they have asked for input goes the extra mile and attempts to introduce something that is innovative, they clearly do not want to listen or hand it elsewhere in the organisation so that they do not have to ‘bother with it’.

So the lesson here is: Are you really seeking to engage your constituents, whether they be employees, customers or the greater community or are you merely doing a “PR job” that is shallow and that when there is any real opportunity for communication leaves them feeling that they have been ‘duped’.
Real communication means that there is a “both way channel” for the parties to hold a conversation. Demonstrating that the activity is merely “face value” will soon mean that the people that you are seeking to engage with will move from demonstrating good will to being at least apathetic and at worse actively derogatory – and you won’t know that it is happening until there is some damage done.
If you are going to develop good will, make sure that you are actively reciprocating it.

Philip Belcher, CEO, LSE Consulting Pty Ltd.
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