Stop Selling ~ I Hardly know you!
I HARDLY KNOW YOU, SO PLEASE STOP SELLING ME ~ YOU’RE AN IDIOT!
Although technology seems to be changing faster than you or I can blink an eye these days, one thing about sales has never changed throughout the years and I don’t think it ever will… What is it I hear you ask?
“RELATIONSHIPS ~ THE FOUNDATIONS OF TRUST”
Most of you reading this article know all to well that as a sales coach, I regularly have a humorous dig at the lack of common sense some people have when they hop onto Facebook or other social networking sites and start flogging their business, service or product to complete strangers. Having said that, for some strange reason a large percentage of them still assume that adding random people they don’t know to their online networks and approaching them cold about an idea will bear some kind of fruit.
The truth is that it does bear fruit… Moldy sleazy fruit that nobody wants to be around and it smells a bit like that guy or girl you avoid at the barbeques, always trying to sell you something that is “THE GREATEST AND LATEST BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY”.
So why have I hopped back onto the soapbox again about this popular topic?
Well something happened the other day that made me decide it was time to dust off the ‘StorieSelling trust-o-meter’ once again and write an article that might hit home a few helpful points for all my readers.
It was about 12pm on a Tuesday and I was actively replying to a message from a close friend on Facebook when I noticed something in the new Facebook ticker on the right hand side of my screen that made me stop dead in my tracks. A lady who had requested my Facebook connection a few weeks earlier that we will just call ‘Sharyn’ was doing what seemed to be like a constant cut and paste of the same business opportunity message and adding it to various people’s public walls.
Now my first impression was to just delete her as she was obviously a spammer and probably had the same intention of spamming me in the same way, but then I had a thought that I might have been too harsh on some of these people in the past. So I thought I would do the good Samaritan thing instead and sent her a private message telling her that everyone could see that she was simply copy pasting that same sales message on people’s walls and that it might do her significant brand damage if she didn’t stop. In her defense she appeared to take the tip on board and stopped the spamming shortly there after.
At that point I thought to myself, “I think I did her and the world a favour today”, in fact I also remember thinking that might result in some good karma too as I handled it with care for all concerned.
One week later on a Saturday night, I had just walked out of a movie and my iphone buzzed as a new email had just arrived. So I picked up the Iphone to read the message… Well to say that I was shocked would have been a massive understatement! Believe it or not the same lady ‘Sharyn’ who had been spamming Facebook strangers earlier in the week, had now sent me a separate email about a brand new and different business opportunity?!?
What really got me revved up though and caused me to write this article was the headline of her embarrassing attempt to sell me an opportunity… It said ~ “SINCE WE ARE FACEBOOK FRIENDS!?!” You have to be kidding me!
The letter was like war and peace to say the least, rambling on and on about the virtues of this latest and greatest opportunity. Not only that, but she had left off the BCC on the email and included my email address publicly along with a number of other unsuspecting victims! I was speechless!
So here are a few points that I feel need to be made right here and now:
- Just because YOU requested someone’s connection on Facebook or a social networking site, it doesn’t mean that they like you, know you or trust you yet.
- Just because you might have what you think is the greatest business opportunity in the world, it doesn’t mean a stranger that you have added to your network will listen to the first sentence if they don’t feel that they really know you.
In fact can you see what the missing element is for Sharyn here and any other person trying to flog a product or a business opportunity? It’s simple and it’s obvious, in fact I mentioned it at the start of this article…
“RELATIONSHIPS ~ THE FOUNDATIONS OF TRUST”
Relationships are built over time, relationships are built by showing people you can be trusted, relationships are built by adding value to each others lives…
I can hear you asking, “Can you achieve all of this online though?” The answer is “Absolutely YES”. But you need to be patient and you need to have the right integrity about what you are doing and why you’re doing it.
The sad part really is that the Sharyn’s of this world have probably blown all of her real friends away already by pushing an opportunity down their throats and in a desperate attempt to get ahead. They are now plowing through lists of cold social networking contacts adding them for a few days, then jumping on these people in the same way before they have had time to germinate or develop any kind of connection.
Throughout most of my sales and marketing coaching workshops I refer to a concept called the “StorieSelling Trust-o-meter” which simply put, illustrates that a warm contact ~ where there is a higher level of trust. Is far more likely to be open to hearing about anything you have to say. Versus churning though enormous lists of cold contacts that really don’t want to hear from you, whilst you’re damaging your personal brand in the process.
So how can you build trust online and still make money, whilst keeping your personal brand and reputation intact? Here are five proven strategies:
- Be patient, stop thinking that everyone is a prospect and start to invest in long-term online relationships and friendships regardless of the outcome.
- Let people get to know the real you online, let them into your life a little, let them discover you are a person of integrity first.
- Pay it forward by recommending other people connect for mutual benefit, not the benefit of your own pocket.
- Discover what your ‘social value’ is in this world and then pay it forward in some way online, such as helpful tips, articles, etc.
- Occasionally let your networks know how they can find out more about your business if they choose to know more, perhaps a seminar, webinar or just a request a call here button.
So in closing this article, I want to thank ‘Sharyn’ from all of us, because if she didn’t embark upon such unprofessional strategies to grow her business. I wouldn’t have had the spark of insight to write this article for the benefit of all concerned. You see there really is a silver lining on every cloud if you just look hard enough.
For further ideas and strategies to help you grow your mind and your business, please enroll at www.themindpolice.com
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