Can We Talk?

On a recent edition of my weekly talk show, Don't Wait Til Pigs Fly, I had a guest who by all accounts is a marvelous business person. For many years she has sold Mary Kay. Yes, she's in that field that some of us dread -- direct sales. And in the beginning she wanted nothing to do with it either. But now after many yearly revenues in the $200,000 range and 23 cars, she has learned to love what she does.

She is also the head of several in person networking groups in her local area. People from hours away drive to be part of the program periodically. She has a special "sauce" she uses for what she does. She doesn't sell. She is helpful. You don't want her Mary Kay, she's fine with it and she wishes you well. She doesn't stick flyers in your face, just a smile and a greeting. Unless you ask or it's her turn to introduce herself at meetings you would never know what she does. Yet, again, she has received 23 cars and makes several hundred thousand a year in revenues. Pretty good, I'd say.

Why am I telling you this? It's because I'm fed up with people still trying to market the old way ... the here, buy my X. Buy my Y, and so forth. Linkedin used to be my go-to tool for getting to know other people, but sadly even here now we're starting to see the slimy sales guy come through more and more often. You will connect with someone because they send you a nice note saying they enjoyed an article you wrote, or liked a post you shared, etc. You see they have friends of your friends, they are located nearby or something similar. And wham, that opens the door wide.

The next thing you know (after saying they would like to get to know you better) here comes the hard core sales pitch, laid out pretty in all the colors of friendship. We at such and such company really care about you and how you grow your business. I believe that if you give us a chance we can provide you with ..... and guarantee that if you're not satisfied, etc. ARRRRGH I hate it. It's a robo call in disguise. It's a pure and blantant attempt to create a connection but in ways that you did not ask for.

I immediately disfriend someone like that after telling them politely to "go away". But this is becoming an epidemic and I think we have to do something to stop it. A person may get a sale or two but a long-term relationship, I highly doubt it.What is it going to take to convince these people to stop trying to muscle their way into our world? Let's be more like Randi, and be helpful. Share and provide value. Sounds good to me!