Stop Pitching Me
Stop pitching me and start your approach by asking yourself how you can add value to me before you reach out. I receive pitches daily from people peddling their services and wares. Nothing wrong with marketing your stuff, its the mechanism by which we spread our message. Just chose your marketing method, respectively platform, to suit the audience, or as my father once told me you cut the cloth to suit the man … no he wasn’t a tailor.
My outlook on this and what I practice is simple. If making a one on one approach, even to someone with whom I have no prior relationship but have perhaps been referred, I want to explore what is important to them, what challenges they are facing and are open to someone else servicing, supporting or solving it for them, and whether either what I can do can make a valuable contribution to their situation or that someone I know, like, and trust can.
Before the lines become blurred, this is not about servant leadership. I say this because a recent conversation on this very topic with a PhD grad evoked that response. The above is very much a serve yourself first approach. I am only interested in doing things that make me stronger, and increase my wealth, whether monetary or other wealth. You cannot help people if you are weak or poor, you need to be strong and wealthy. By serving yourself first you will automatically serve others. If I were to do things just because I can, I would be doing something different every day. This would not serve me and would diminish the value I can bring to others.
If you think that the way you can add value to me (or anyone else) depends firstly on my wants and needs you are no better than a $2 shop that offers everything. I have no doubt that you can have multiple skills and abilities that may be useful, but if you adopt the stance that you can be all things to me, you risk devaluing, in my eyes, the things I may want to do with you.
Paul J. Lange
International Veteran Private Equity Industry, Investor, Venture Capitalist, Strategic Advisor, Keynote Speaker, Author, Mentor
For more information read My Story
Latest posts by Paul J. Lange (see all)
- Complete Relationships – Personal & Professional - January 7, 2018
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