The Unimportant Dog Walker

I was at a networking event the other day and there was a woman there, I’ll call her Mary, not her real name. She and I are both regulars at this event so I had met her in past a couple of times. The event had ended and the room was nearly empty. Mary, another gentlemen and I were chatting. It’s worth noting here that part of the regular agenda was for everyone to stand up, introduce themselves and tell the group what they do for a living. It’s a wonderful group of bright, enthusiastic go getters, my kind of people! Mary is the catering coordinator for a major chain of Mexican fast food restaurants.

So, we’re chatting, more specifically Mary is talking and we’re listening. Mary loves to talk and it’s sometimes difficult to get a word in edgewise which is not a great networking strategy but that’s a topic for a different day. We were on the topic of those bowls on the counter of some businesses where you can drop your business card in to enter a drawing to win a free lunch, session, service, etc. The chain Mary works for has a bowl for cards in each of its restaurants sitting on the counter.

There are two ways to use these bowls. The first way is to randomly draw a card when you say you will and provide whatever service you promised to the winner. This is a great way to connect with an individual and possible future customer on other, bigger services you offer. The second, and in my humble opinion, less ethical, use of the bowl is to reach out to everyone who dropped a card, whether they won or not. I say less ethical because these people didn’t technically give permission to be contacted, they simply gave permission to be included in the drawing and presumably contacted if they win. Well, Mary was describing what this restaurant chain does which is neither of the above. Here’s how it went, “So I reach in pick a card and look at the business. If it’s a dog walker, I immediately throw it away (picture Mary chucking an imaginary business card over her shoulder). I want someone who will use our catering services, I want someone who counts. I want someone who I can make contact with and sell them on catering, someone big, someone who matters.”

I am not kidding, that is exactly what she said. She immediately rejected the lowly, counts for nothing, not worth her time tiny little dog walker. I am a dog walker. More specifically I run a 6-figure dog walking and pet sitting business that employs a team of 9 people. I’m proud to be a dog walker!

In one single breath Mary told me in no uncertain terms that I was unimportant and not worth her time. Now I’m small from a global perspective but, in making the comment, Mary also immediately discounted an entire 60-billion-dollar pet care industry, 6 billion of which is pet sitting and dog walking in particular. And remember, I had introduced myself and my profession to the group, to Mary, on more than one occasion.

I politely excused myself saying that I needed to go to a meeting with one of my dog walking clients (this comment also seemed to sail right over Mary’s head). People like Mary, and there are many like her, haven’t learned a critical business (and human) lesson and that is that EVERYONE MATTERS. Can you imagine what would have happened if the advertising exec attending a business mixer had met Aaron Easterly, one of the founders of Rover.com, in the early days and immediately dismissed him because he was a lowly dog walker??

Whether Mary was purposefully exclusive and insulting or whether she was just too wrapped up in herself to notice anyone around her I may never know. What I do know is that I will never eat at this restaurant again, nor will anyone in my family and I certainly will never use them for catering for my team meetings or support them in any way. They’ve lost this “unimportant, lowly dog walker” as a customer for life.