3 Mistakes you Make When Dealing with Difficult People

Dealing with difficult people happens to everyone. More than likely it happens to you on a daily basis. Just search on Twitter and you'll come across many feeds that reference this topic. Click here to see a picture of one feed, referring to "rude vendors."

I can openly say that I have and still make these mistakes, when letting difficult people get to me. It will always take a conscious effort on my part. As business professionals one of our main goals should be to work with people that make our life easier, but that isn't always the case.

Is it worth dealing with these people? Well, it's all based on how you want to FEEL and what the added benefits are through dealing with them. Personally, if I work with a difficult vendor I will do everything I can to not deal with them again…unless I have no other choice.

If you have to deal with difficult people focus on these 3 areas that are common mistakes and it just might make your life a little easier.

You Become Defensive

When dealing with difficult people it can be a natural instinct to defend yourself. If they attack, judge and belittle you, why wouldn't you defend yourself.

But the truth is, once you become defensive, two opposing forces will be FIGHTING  each other rather than gaining ground on what's to be accomplished.

No resolution comes from a defensive state.

If you know nothing good will come out of your mouth…take some deep breaths. This will allow you to refocus and think rationally.

Instead of becoming defensive, stay positive and take deep breaths. Yes, this may sound too simple but it works.

You Don't Listen

I'll just toss a number out but I can be certain that 90% of all disagreements are made by one, or both parties not listening to the other. We come across this more frequently than we should.

Listening is one of the best skills anyone can include in their tool kit, especially when dealing with difficult people.

By actively listening, you can understand where the other person is coming from. If it's a vendor, this may be a GREAT time to see that there may be a flaw somewhere in their business. Disagreements are excellent to learn from.

Not all difficult people are the same. By listening you can weed out the people that have legitimate concerns from the people that you won't be able to work with.

You Avoid Solutions

Sometimes, when you deal with difficult people you think of everything but a solution. You're saying to yourself  "this vendor is annoying" or "what a pain."

These may be true, but try to present a solution. By presenting a solution you are showing the other party you're trying to correct the issue they have. You are actively engaging in the resolution to the problem and most people will respect that.

When you understand the mistakes you make when dealing with people, it will only make you stronger the next time a difficult person comes along.

Conflict and difficult people can be a major contributor to your stress levels. The effects of stress makes you less efficient and can disrupt everything you have going on.

What mistakes do you make when dealing with difficult people?

Quality Assurance: Your Vendor Can't Define It

We’ve all experienced an aircraft spares quality control issue at some time or another and if your experience was anything like mine, it was beyond annoying. It was ridiculous. Quality assurance should be an essential part of every organization and it goes far beyond the meaning of a good product. It's better  defined as a good brand. I recently ran into a problem with a new company whom we were dealing with for the first time and it was quality assurance at it's worst.

Imagine this. You send a $10,000 order to a company, which has to be wired up front, but due to a severe time constraint, you overlook your typical vendor approval process to make sure the unit is at your facility the next day. You figure, you can finish the paperwork in the morning. The next day arrives and your chief inspector is ready to review the material but the order never shows up. You call the vendor…no answer! You call FedEx…package is untraceable!

Through some luck you end up getting in contact with the vendor, however he is disengaged and states "we dropped the package off at FedEx, if they lost it, too bad". Now at this point I'm sure you're furious, so you call FedEx. FedEx tells you they reviewed the video tapes and the gentlemen who dropped off the package, came back and asked to retake the package  because he "forgot" something. At this point you know you've found a crook and unfortunately time is going to have to be spent chasing this guy around.

You see this happened to me and if I just had relied on the quality assurance program we had in place for new vendors, this could have been avoided… I was  constrained by a deadline and rushed.

Here are 3 reasons why your vendor needs a quality assurance program:

1. Reduces Risk

With lower barriers to entry, we've all seen an increase in aircraft spares part suppliers, mostly low overhead "brokers", but the amount of honest companies compared to the amount of actual companies is low. What a quality assurance program  forces companies to do is to be organized. They must understand that policy and procedures are necessary to minimize quality control issues during the aircraft spares sales process.

It isn't easy and it takes time  and additional staff to do so.

Quality assurance drastically reduces the risk you'll take in dealing with a company. If they have an internal audit form, a QC manual and specific policies in place, you have a much better chance of knowing your dealing with someone reputable. Isn't this critical when dealing with expensive assets such as aircraft spares?

2. Reduces Laziness

Do you want to deal with a company that appears to be lazy, I don't. A quality assurance program help's distinguish the lazy companies from the companies who are making an effort. If they don't have specific guidelines to abide by in their quality department, they're lazy. And what's worse than a lazy company? Being lazy in quality control means they're lazy in shipping, customer service, among every other aspect of their organization.

Lazy here, lazy there, lazy everywhere!

3. Increases Organization

Having structured, quality control procedures you can be certain that the organization you're dealing with is more organized than the companies who don't. From record keeping, aircraft spares traceability, vendor audits, shipping standards, certain activities have to be in place and organization is essential.

The moral of the quality control story is...try to deal with vendors whom have a history of quality on their side. But make sure you broaden your view, because you deserve not only a high quality product but a high quality service experience as well.

What are some quality  assurance concerns you experience? Comment below.

3 Reasons You Should Fire Your Aircraft Spares Vendor

Are you frustrated? Is it hard to sleep at night because it seems your aircraft spares vendor just doesn't care? This is an all too common occurrence and I know exactly how you feel. It seems in such a critical environment that the distance between us and certain companies only grows further apart. I have a rather funny story to share with you, but a serious one for that matter.

The other day we called a company and needed to buy a $100 part off of them for a rotable we were having repaired. We told them we needed it shipped the same day and we could buy it for $100. He said "In today's environment, I'll take anything I can get". So we proceeded to purchase the part.

The piece part didn't show up the next day. We called the vendor (keep in mind this is on a Thursday) and nobody answered...all day! So we had to buy it from elsewhere, having to spend more time and money on such a small piece part that could eventually have a dramatic effect on us. The original vendor part showed up the next day, which we had to deny. We have yet to get a return phone call.

This is a simple story that had a rather minimal impact on cost, but it happens on much greater scales and we are victims of the larger issues as well, as I 'm sure you are.

Below are 3 reasons why firing your vendor is necessary:

1. Reliability

Poor reliability is devastating to you and the close relationship you need with your vendor. I understand issues arise, whether it be logistics, MRO repair, or OEMs dragging their feet but it's overcoming these problems, solving the problems and working day in and day out to come to a resolution that makes a vendor reliable. During difficult situations you can test a vendor on how they react to a situation and see if they're willing to do everything they can for you. This proves to you they don't just care about receiving a PO, but legitimately care about you personally and your organization.

2. Accessibility

Mediocre accessibility can create bottlenecks in your productivity. A good vendor must be reachable at all hours of the day. Whether it's an AOG, or you just want someone to talk to, it doesn't matter.

Our Account Managers will answer their Blackberry and respond to emails at 3am. They do everything they can to stay in constant communication with our clients. Now, this doesn't have to be the case for everyone, but when they aren't asleep can you call or email them and get a response? Or maybe through a different medium such as Skype or text? If so, you know they care about your operation and are available to make sure that your job is that much easier…it's peace of mind.

3. Flexibility

Now, this point may seem like I'm going to talk about prices but I'm not.

The flexibility of a vendor is critical, why? Because it doesn't take them 3 days to meet your requirement or get a response. Who wants to talk to a machine, press numerous numbers, and then have to leave a voice mail to talk to a human? I don't. Even if they don't answer their voice mail right away as most people are quicker via email, that's a start.

Have you ever heard a vendor say "if you don't hear back from us in 48 hours, consider it a No Quote"? Are these companies kidding! No, I rather you just tell me right away or at least engage with me so I know in the future, you care about my needs. This is not a flexible interactive relationship, but instead you just telling me that you care about yourself and I come second in 48 hours.

Today, it's important to understand the role of a vendor, aside from their product lines. You need the whole package from distribution, to a relationship built on reliability, accessibility and flexibility. When one of these start to deteriorate, it can make things much more difficult than they have to be.

What do you look for in a vendor? Please comment in our comment section below and we will respond.