Jan
03
Always offer a money back guarantee to the glass-is-half-empty fox. This will help temper his lack of faith in human nature. But that doesn’t stop this fox from seeing the glass as half empty. He laments that everything he has achieved has been earned through his own sweat and blood. In his mind, so many others—employees, vendors, the government—are trying to take advantage of him. This makes him a little bitter. It’s a cold, hard world out there, according to Klaus. Any number of outside events could topple him. His mottoes: Trust no one. Rely only on yourself. Hunker down.
Now mind you, there are plenty of glass-is-half-empty employees working at larger companies, but it’s a different situation. With a negative corporate employee, there will always be others around to help mitigate his attitude. The glass-is-half-empty attitude will reflect a single employee rather than the position of the corporation. In a small business, where the fox IS the corporation, this attitude can easily become the company culture.
The worst thing you can do with a fox like Klaus is to be overly optimistic. Don’t think for a minute that a glass-is-half empty small business owner wants to deal with someone who’s bouncing up and down with enthusiasm. Your energy and outlook are really not going to change his tune. It will most likely just annoy him.
When dealing with a fox like Klaus, you need to adjust your personality a little, and try to look at things from his point of view. Don’t debate whether life is a half-full or half-empty glass. He thinks it’s half-empty, and your job is to help him deal with all the negativity that surrounds him. Accept his position and offer solutions to help him defend against “those who are out to screw” him. Make sure your product legitimately helps him, and prove to him he’s not going to be screwed like he expects to be.