by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn
Most of us were taught certain rules in life, or put it another way we were taught an etiquette on what was good manners.
Saying please and thank you for instance.
There are certain things we know not to do, like rushing up to somebody attractive in a bar and proposing marriage. That would be seen as weird.
We would never go to a networking event and walking in and announce to the room, what we sell and the fact you had 30% off. Somebody would call security. We all know how to behave, we arrive, grab a coffee or tea and walk up to somebody and ask them questions. Did you travel far? Where you from? What do you do? We do this because as social animals we try and find common ground. Find out we went to the same university, they come from the town we grew up in.
My partner sat next to a total stranger on the train into London. She talks to everybody. Within 10 minutes they hugged when he got off the train at the next stop. How do they go from total strangers too long lost friends? Within 10 minutes, she found out that he was working at the same farm that her nephew worked out in Spain. A great example about how we are “social animals”.
The same should happen on social as in real life.
Somebody sends you a connection request, say thank you.
If somebody leaves a messages on a post or an article, say thank you.
Our saying please and thank you is common curtesy in real life and it should be on social.
The same as running into a bar and proposing marriage or running into a networking group would expect security to be called the same on social.
Don’t send me a connection request then pitch me your product. Don’t send me a connection request and ask for a call on “common synergies” this actually means you want to sell me something. Come on, people don’t buy from strangers. We buy from people, we know, people we have a relationship with, people we have a common ground with and from people we love.
Like the networking event, don’t sell, get to know someone. Larry Lavine (and it might have been thought up by somebody else) talks about commission breath. This is where somebody fakes liking you or fakes befriending you, they just want to sell you something. Nothing wrong to want to sell something, but there is about being faking friendship to make a sale.
I, as well as most people can smell it a mile off. You can tell when somebody really isn’t interested in you. A “life coach” send me a note at the new year and asked me “what goals I expected to achieve this year”. Subtle I know but when I asked what were they trying to sell me, they blocked me. Commission breath!
Be interested in me and your prospects and it will pay back dividends. Also, take the time to say, please and thank you, in life, what goes around, comes around.
People who read this article also read these:
https://www.social-experts.net/can-you-tick-the-social-media-box-and-say-thats-done/
https://www.social-experts.net/what-can-the-baseball-world-series-teach-is-about-social-selling/
https://www.social-experts.net/time-for-that-social-selling-competitive-advantage/
