Do you pass The Boat Test?

At our company, we have a philosophy called “The Boat Test”. We don’t do business with people with whom we wouldn’t want to spend a day on a boat. It’s simple, life is too short to do business with horrible humans.

A couple of years ago, we had a meeting with one of the largest agricultural chemical distributors in the country. As a small manufacturer, this could have turned into a huge deal for us.

During that meeting, we were continually interrupted, condescended and dictated to as if we were lucky to be in the room.

About 20 minutes into the meeting, I received a text from across the table from my partner. “Does not pass boat test”.

We stood up, thanked them for their time and left. We now do business with their biggest competitor.

Do your employees pass the boat test? You can’t choose who walks through your doors, but you can certainly choose what kind of person you are to do business with.

Simple traits that our mothers taught us: courtesy, manners, empathy, kindness etc. These small attributes create an interaction worth repeating.

They may not call it “The Boat Test”, but every one of your members has a test that they use to measure their loyalty. Is your credit union passing?

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