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You are what you sell.

laughaboutitinc

Today’s blog is a bit personal for me, but I think it is really important to share.


When you own your own business, everything you do is marketing and that includes how you treat the people you come in contact with. Everyone you meet or talk to on the phone is a potential customer. They are also a potential marketer for your company. It is often believed that “word-of-mouth” advertising comes only from people who have had a good personal experience with your company. Too often it is forgotten that many people will refer you, even if they have never done businesses with you, based on an impression you have made with them. That impression does not have to have come from a business interaction. Leaving a bad impression potentially means a lost opportunity and possibly lost sales.

We all get phone calls from people who have something to sell. It is easy to forget that every business relies on sales, yours included. It can be tempting to be rude to people you can’t see and who are interrupting your day. I know this because I deal with it every day. I call businesses in order to introduce what I do. I am respectful, I don't try to sell people on my introductory phone call and I make that clear before I proceed. My goal is to get permission to send an email with more information. I call businesses that are local to me or in places I frequent.


Though the majority of my calls go well, and people are respectful and pleasant, there are many where I am treated very rudely. Sometimes I am treated with outright hostility. Many times I am not even given the chance to introduce myself or why I am calling. It can be disheartening, but that’s not the point. I am a potential customer. That’s the point.


When you are rude to someone, no matter what the circumstances, you have decided that you don't ever want that person's business. I'm afraid there are a number of places I simply won't shop at because I was treated with rudeness and sometimes outright aggression. I also won't recommend these businesses to anyone else. If it comes up and I am asked my opinion on them (though I will never disparage any business because that isn’t an impression I want to leave) I won't have anything positive to say. Nor will I recommend them if someone asks for a referral. What a completely lost opportunity. If you treat someone with disrespect, it is a direct reflection of how you run your business, or at least it creates that perception, and that is really bad marketing. So the next time you get a call from a salesperson, keep this in mind: You are a salesperson. Maybe you don't have to rely on cold calling, but you make your livelihood from selling something, so give a little slack, and remember, the person calling you may well be a customer the next time you speak.





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