I was travelling to Vancouver through the Rockies on a train a few years ago and I happened upon an older--and much wiser--man in the dining car. I'll never forget that guy--he gave me some of the best advice a marketer could ever get.

"Be nice to people--everyone," he said. "You never know where your next big sale will come from."

I listened to that sage advice and can now tell you countless stories about people I met by chance who turned out to be great clients.

I talked to a fellow on the telephone the other day--clearly, he hadn't met this guy. Or, if he did, he didn't listen. And it cost him a job.

I needed a new designer and someone had suggested I try this guy out.

"Hi, Barry," the conversation began, "this is Ron Jette from Adams Jette Marketing. Do you have a minute?"

"This is a bad time right now," he responded. Click.

"Hello?" I could hardly believe my ears.

Maybe when I introduced myself he thought I was going to launch into a sales pitch and he just wasn't in the mood. Whatever the reason, he hung up on me.

Little did he know--and little did he care enough to see--that, in fact, I wanted to hire him.

I waited a few minutes and called him back.

When I introduced myself again, I could hear he was frustrated--the clucking of the tongue and the heavy sigh gave it away.

"Before you hang up," I said, "I just have to ask: Is this how you treat all your clients?"

There was a moment of silence. He composed himself, completely changed his demeanor and asked how he could help.

Of course by then, I had already decided that this was not a guy I wanted to work with. But, I thought, maybe I could leave him something else that would help him increase revenues.

"Be nice to people--everyone," I said. "You never know where your next big sale will come from."

With that, we ended our conversation--and our relationship.