The Hard Sell Is A Hard Pass

You’re asked into a small conference room in the center of the hall by a man in a nice suit and wide smile. He holds his hand out, indicating the two empty chairs on the far side of the cramped room, so close to the wall you can barely pull them out far enough to sit down. His associate comes in once you’re settled and closes the door behind him. One sits across the table, eyes locked on your every move while the point man sits at the head of the table blocking your only point of escape.

I feel like most of us have been put in this uncomfortable pitch position before. Where we felt more like prey than potential clients, and the setting felt like the only escape was a yes. It makes me feel small, and any time I do say yes in this situation it’s more out of stress than enthusiasm. I’ve gotten better at reading rooms with each passing year. While this situation may have worked on me in college, now I just write about it on a LinkedIn post.  

I made a video on this topic talking about a gallery in the French Quarter owned by a couple whose work I adore. I’ve wanted to buy one of their pieces for over five years now, and whenever I’m on Royal St. I have to stop by. On one occasion I suffered a hard sell from a man insisting if I don’t buy a piece today it may be gone tomorrow—it felt right out of a infomercial. On my most recent visit, I was treated with respect by a woman who had more of an imagination. She painted a verbal picture of what my home will look like one day when I’m ready to make the purchase and that I could come back anytime. You can guess which associate I will go with in the future when I’m ready to buy. 

The risk you run with the hard sell is alienating people and I think the reason that it's so common on LinkedIn is it's really easy to look at these profiles as some sort of digital rolodex. An account can set up an automation system, connect with 30,000 profiles from all over the world (or a specific city) and send out the same pitch. As long as there isn't some hilarious typo in it chances are they will get some responses. A very small percent, but even 1% of 30,000 is 300 yeses. 

For me, these messages are an inconvenience. I read them and I delete them. The question I have is, is it worth it? Are the returns enough? Just how sustainable is this practice? Now, if you're looking for a quick cash grab, I can understand the appeal of blasting every contact you have with a script and hoping for a small percentage of a large quantity to say yes but again I have to ask how sustainable is it if you're trying to scale up? 

The philosophy of Follow the Hummingbird is not a hard sell. We try and win our community over with our expertise, which we give away for free in a number of ways (free workshops, speaking engagements, content on social media, and pro bono work with non-profits). 

What I like about this is even though there are some days that feel like all the leads are going cold, at least the relationships are real. At least the people I am working with want to continue working with me in the future, and I suppose that is the heart of what this article is trying to state—that asking yourself what kind of long term impact you want to have on your community will impact your pitch. If you want to be an expert in your community, the way you sell yourself (your service, your product) has to uplift the community in some way. And the chances of that happening through a script, or a close first mentality, are slim. 

“Being the Queen is not all about singing, and being a diva is not all about singing. It has much to do with your service to people. And your social contributions to your community and your civic contributions as well.” -Aretha Franklin