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Marketing is about people, and there are three categories of people that you are likely pushing away on a professional basis due to lack of perceived prospect value. Here’s why you should be paying more attention to them.
A word about dignity and poise
It never hurts to treat everyone with at least some semblance of dignity and respect. You do not have to pay a ton of attention to everyone – nobody has time for that – but you should always uphold your manners when interacting with anyone you encounter in your professional travels. It’s a more dignified way to live, and moreover it will likely open doors for you.
The next time you consider hanging up on that telemarketer, blocking that email newsletter, or blowing off that annoying wholesaler who keeps messaging you on LinkedIn, pause and communicate delicately, just as you would with your biggest client. A lot of times, asking them to modify their behavior will preserve the relationship and your sanity at the same time.
Most important, that’s the kind of treatment people remember years later.
You can never go wrong by being poised and polite.
Salespeople
They get a bad rap because of the bad actors. But the majority of salespeople have qualities that are highly attractive from a business standpoint:
- Perseverance
- Interpersonal skills
- Knowledge of etiquette
- Work ethic
- Generosity
- Humility
- Bravery
- Expansive network
Less-tenured salespeople are the ones who are prone to making a nuisance of themselves. But even in these cases if you level with the person and tell them you’re not a buyer, they will probably wise up and stop their annoying behavior.
Stay in touch with salespeople. You never know where they may end up and even if you are not a buyer, if you treat them with dignity, it may reward you knowing them years down the line when they are the head of enterprise client relationships at Google and not trying to pitch you cybersecurity services anymore.
Students, startup founders, or otherwise broke people
People who are perceived to be broke get written off as non-viable prospects all the time by financial advisors. This is a mistake for those planning on being in business for the next 10 years.
I used to be a college professor. Students that I had in 2013 were penniless and in debt. I stayed in touch with them, connecting over LinkedIn. Over the years, I have witnessed these young adults start at the entry level and work their way up to executive positions. One just called me the other day, talking about how he owns three properties and he’s asking me if he should sell them.
Yes, it’s hard to look at someone struggling financially and make the decision to award even a second of your most valuable resource: your time. But consider that when they are successful one day, and most people eventually learn how to make a living somehow, they’ll remember your kindness and generosity when they didn’t have a dime to their name.
The CEO of Zoom had to start somewhere!
Social media big mouths
I am guilty of being a big mouth on social media and in my daily newsletter.
What can I say… I get lonely when I have to be quiet.
There’s always that big mouth on social media who just has to be the center of attention. You don’t have to follow every update, but stay connected with them and check in every so often.
Here’s why.
The big mouth is one for a reason. If nobody paid attention, the big mouth wouldn’t keep talking. For those of you looking to meet a ton of new people, it is a good idea to engage with their followers – the people who are commenting on the big mouth’s postings, going to their events, etc.
It is a gargantuan task to build a following on social media from nothing. Leverage relationships with big mouths (selectively, of course) to accelerate the uphill climb.
Sara’s upshot
I’m not trying to encourage you to go chasing down people who are not viable prospects. But everyone is a human being, and you never know the value they may have to your business. On a cursory level it’s impossible to comprehend what somebody is truly capable of.
Be strategic as you collect these relationships. People will do what you teach them to do for you. If you see every person as an asset regardless of what they may be doing at the moment, over time they will become that for you. Not everyone will, but many will.
Here are some tools that may help.
I wrote some blogs on how to use LinkedIn, how to market (webinars, emails, follow up strategies), and how to get clients over Google.
If you like my approach to social media, join my training program or read my e-book.
I’m also available for consulting or writing content, just send me a message.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next month!
Sara Grillo, CFA, is a marketing consultant who helps investment management, financial planning, and RIA firms fight the tendency to scatter meaningless clichés on their prospects and bore them as a result. Prior to launching her own firm, she was a financial advisor.
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