The squeaky wheel doesn’t always get the grease
C.J. Hayden says in the first line in the first chapter of her book, Get Clients Now!
This is true, but that doesn’t mean beating them over the head with it!
Sometimes because of excitement (or, desperation), an eager sales professional may come off aggressive, pushy, or needy. If you think of a guy or girl coming on to you or trying to pick you up in this way, it becomes clear this method isn’t what you’d call magnetic or attractive.
I was reading about this very thing over at the Church of the Customer blog. Jackie Hubba describes the marketing methods of two different types of restaurants she encountered on her trip to Mexico.
The first, who she calls the “barkers” practically jump you to get your business, using all manner of yelling, flashy, in-your-face tactics designed to quickly usher you into their establishment, take your money, and send you on your way before you even know what’s happening.
(Talk about “Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am”)
The other — the “attractor” — relies instead on ambience, attractive decor, helpful staff, and crowded restaurants to naturally inspire inquisitiveness and the desire to inspect further to see what all the (positive) fuss is about.
Which type of marketer are you?
Of course, you won’t last long if you’re the best kept secret in the industry. Marketing and self-promotion is necessary — essential, even.
But, all great relationships that last are based on attraction, not on barking.
Unless, of course, you’re a dog.
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Flickr image by Kish, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic License
