Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Am I Being Sold?
Recently I was invited to visit a networking group...one of those with a thick rule book and a lot of enthusiasm. The people were so nice. They said, "We really need a writer in this group." "I need to come to another meeting," I said. "Oh, why bother? They're all the same." After the meeting, visitors were taken aside. We were given application forms and urged to sign up immediately. I said I would wait. But I ended up signing a few weeks later. And then the group began telling me all the rules that hadn't come up...a lot of things I hadn't noticed in the first few meetings. Needless to say, this situation left me with a sour taste. How can I network and exchange referrals with the members of this group? Alas, today more and more ordinary people have developed great selling skills. And it's hard to resist going into sales mode That's one reason I no longer offer "free" get-acquainted calls. I don't want to "sell" anyone on my services. And I couldn't offer one-hour and two-hour packages. It's not a good use of time to spend 30 minutes discussing a one-hour call. If we don't all discover ways to recognize a sales pitch and resist, we'll end up with the equivalent of a yard full of used cars. I admit: I'm one of the easiest sells around. And yes, I have a lot of used cars, metaphorically, in my metaphorical back yard./ |
# posted by Cathy Goodwin @ 7:52 AM 
