A couple of weeks ago I met someone at a networking event. This person asked for my business card and mentioned getting together. This person work for one of “the nations fastest growing health and wellness companies” AKA, she works for some MLM. Not only do I not want to waste my time with this person, I want my card back.
Now, I actually know a lot of people and have some great friends with successful direct sales based businesses. And they’re successful because they run it like a business. They also are upfront and proud of the company they work for, not trying to hide it. Man that annoys me.
Flash forward to the following Monday night (we met on a Friday). It’s about 8:30, I’m sitting on the couch after dinner with my husband, watching TV and drinking a glass of wine. My phone rings. I don’t know the number so it goes to voicemail. I listen to the voicemail and it’s this person leaving an almost 2 minute voicemail. Strike ONE. Tuesday is a busy day of meetings, so even if I hadn’t deleted (oops!) the voicemail, I didn’t have time to call back. Tuesday night, 7:15 PM, Phone rings again. Goes to voicemail. This person again (and another 2 minute message!). Seriously? You have to give me more than 24 hours to respond.
Here’s the deal: My business is a BUSINESS. I don’t run my business on evenings and weekends (unless I choose to). And I certainly don’t want to talk to some stranger about setting up a meeting at 8:30 at night. If you’d like to conduct business with me, do it during normal business hours like everyone else.
And, there’s a major red flag going off in my head that you are calling two days in a row (and then a follow up email). You look DESPERATE. Chill out, people are busy leading their lives and running businesses. Give us a couple days to respond. And that you can’t find time during business hours to make those calls.
So, how do you deal with overly desperate people at networking events?
Yikes! I run from them. When it smells like hard core sales and it’s all about them I have no interest in meeting.
Business is based on building relationships, not making a sale. This person didn’t get the memo. You were right to ignore that phone call.