Do Not Forget The Most Basic Strategy
Sometimes we spend so much time talking about different techniques and tools that we should be using we forget the most fundamental ideas. The most basic of those ideas is simply the first lesson we ever learned in Kindergarten. The Golden Rule: treat others the way you would like to be treated.
I had an experience over a three-day period a while back that annoyed me and I would like to share that experience with you. I was at a friend’s house for a barbecue a couple of weeks back and there was a number of people there, all having a good time. There was one individual, though, who was insulting to everyone and had a negative comment for everything. Almost all parties have someone like that and I am not here to talk about someone who ruined my good time. It is the second part of the experience that is interesting.
Two days after the barbecue, my cell phone died and I went in search of a new one. I proceeded to the store that I had bought my last phone from and as I was looking around, I noticed the same obnoxious person from the party in the store. As it turns out, he is a salesperson there. He walked over to me and asked if he could help me. He was nice and professional, however I walked out of that store without saying a word or purchasing a phone. I could not believe that this was the same person who, two days earlier, was insulting various people for various reasons.
The point is simple. You are always networking, even when you are not trying to. I did not go to that party to make a contact in order to purchase a cell phone but due to a chain of events, that is where I ended up. If the salesperson had just been civil at the barbecue, when I recognized him in the store, I would have probably purchased a new phone from him. The bottom line is, you never know where your next customer is coming from, so treat others as if they might be your future.
FINAO – Brad Huisken – IAS TRAINING
