Why? Part 2

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.