Every since I was a little boy, my mother drilled into me that my name is ‘Michael’, not ‘Mike’. When friends would call the house, she had been known for her response of ‘We do not have a Mike here, we do have a Michael’. Most people call me Michael, mission accomplished.

But, there are a few who call me Mike, even though my business cards uses Michael, my email says Michael and I introduce myself as Michael.

I really do not care, but it sends a negative message to me. That person does not really care about me as an individual. If they did, they would have picked up on my preference with regard to my name, which is a very personal thing.

And that creates a small doubt in my mind about that person. Do they pay attention to other details? If they do not care now, what spurs them to care?

For the person in sales, any doubt or dissonance is bad. For the manager, there are two messages that you can send people when you meet them. It is all about the details.