As I have stated previously, I often ask myself why people do, and say,
some of the things that they do. We all see them, and we all hear them. I am
not the only person who looks at these people and questions why. I see other
people with those questioning looks on their faces and shaking their heads in
wonder.
“Do you know who I am?” This is the number one statement that tells me
that the speaker is not someone who I want as a business relationship. They are
only interested in themselves, selling what they have to offer, and not caring
about the other person and what they might really need. They don’t want to
build relationships; they only want to sign a sale and move on to the next
deal. This is what I call, “Write, and run.”
Do you ever try to have a conversation with anyone and they are looking
over your shoulder, trying to see the more important person who they really
want to meet and try to sell. These people cannot maintain eye contact for fear
that they will miss their real target person, who they have already decided is
not you. They don’t care who you are, what you represent, or what you might
offer to them; they just want to move on to the more important target for them.
We all have met someone who does not ever have their business cards and
expects you to remember them. They always have forgotten them or just gave away
the last one. Is business networking like bar meetings; are we supposed to
write our contact information on a napkin or someone else’s palm? I want to
meet professional business people who operate their business as a business. They
will always carry business cards and give them to others in exchange.
The second level of the person with no business cards is the person who
has some but wants to reserve them for more important people that they may meet
later. This is insulting. Do they not understand that the person that they snub
may have some very important friends to whom they may have referred the person
or who may have heard the exchange when their friend was snubbed? Karma can be
a real pain when she is provoked.
Oh, if you don’t have a business card to give to me (and I
will follow-up when I get one), I will always offer one of mine and ask you to contact
me so we can follow-up with a meeting to start forming a relationship. In my
last 11 years of networking, I can count the people who have contacted me after
that offer on the fingers of my 2 hands, and that is a sad percentage. Why miss
a chance to chat with someone who is willing to listen to your story and hear
what you want to say?
Last but not least is the person who, after answering
multiple questions about what they do and how they came to their current
position in business, never asks the other person anything about them, their
life, or their business. Nor do they want to ever follow-up to do so. Building
relationships is not their priority after all.
Gratitude Marketing is not just a way of life
that sounds good. It is the best method of building relationships with everyone
you meet. If you cannot be someone’s customer, be their business partner, try
to drive business to them, and start a mutually rewarding relationship that
exemplifies karma at work. Who knows, you may find that your new partner is your
best source of clients that you could have. Please leave me your comments, or
email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com,
or call me at 360-314-8691.
I feel your pain, Jim. Some of these things happen far too often.
ReplyDeleteI think people who know this stuff will gain so much more from networking. ...and for those who do know this stuff, it's always good to be reminded. great article Jim!
ReplyDeleteI think people who know this stuff will gain so much more from networking ...and from life in general. And for those who do know this stuff, it's always good to be reminded. great article Jim! I'm going to share this with a few others.
ReplyDelete