During the past couple of weeks, I’ve had to do some cold-calling (one of the least favorite activities of any introvert).  It’s led me to ponder the wisdom of putting up “no solicitation” signs outside of businesses.  I can’t help but notice that almost every business has one, but that it doesn’t stop people like me from soliciting them anyway.  If it doesn’t stop an introverted entrepreneur, it surely doesn’t stop an extravert either.  A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a customer at one business while a competitor of mine stopped in to “drop off a card.”  The girl behind the desk rolled her eyes and said, “Why can’t people read?  We have a ‘no solicitation’ sign on the door.”  Let’s face it: when salespeople see a “no solicitation” sign, we interpret it as a dare.  Successful salespeople are persistent and unafraid to break rules.

However, when the situational context changes even by a little bit, it becomes a whole different story.  For example, if you’re looking for a job, you can walk into a local store and ask if they’re hiring (even if that store has a “no solicitation” sign outside).  If the store is actively looking for help, they’ll even put up a “help wanted” sign out front.  Sometimes they even advertise in the paper or on the internet.  If you go to Chick-Fil-A looking for a job, they’ll tell you that if you come back with a completed application on the first or third Tuesday of the month, they’ll do an on-the-spot interview with you and give you a decision right then and there.  How’s that for being straight?  Most salespeople would give anything to have their customers and prospects spell out the story like that.

In the new economy, the marketplace is going to be flooded with new entrepreneurs who have never run a business before.  That means that there will be more and more people selling things.  The number of solicitors hitting the pavement is going to grow an order of magnitude greater in the coming months and years.  Putting up a “no solicitation” sign isn’t going to stop them.  Unless you’re willing to hire an armed guard to stand outside and demand to know why people are entering before they walk in your door (which will likely scare off your customers), solicitors are a reality you’re going to have to get used to.  Why not, instead of saying “no solicitation,” putting up a sign establishing a proper solicitation protocol?  Better yet, why not announce what needs you have and what problems you’d pay somebody to solve?

Solicitation doesn’t have to be annoying.  Remember, what you resist persists.

I just identified, over the past few weeks, a fatal flaw with my marketing plan.  I haven’t been living my story as The Introverted Entrepreneur.  Ever since I started creating this brand name, I’ve been keeping myself busy going to lots of networking meetings, introducing myself cold to strangers, calling people on the telephone, and even leading new groups.  All the things that, in other words, introverts hate doing.

This is a serious mistake because I’ve run the risk of intimidating people to my approach.  It is imperative that I be successful in a way that any introvert can duplicate.  Success by itself, in other words, isn’t enough.

But it finally dawned on me after about the 20th person made the same comment, that my approach just wasn’t working.  The comment was – “But Dave, you’re not an introvert.”  In other words, I had alienated my audience by creating the impression that I couldn’t relate to them or understand them – because I wasn’t one of them!

But, there’s still time to correct the mistake.  From now on, when I walk into rooms filled with strangers, I will attract them to come talk to me.  If it’s awkward and uncomfortable, I’ll stand in the corner and talk to no one.  After all, I won’t be any worse off than if I just hadn’t gone!

How consistently do you stick to your story?  What do you tell the world that you stand for?  Do your day-to-day actions reflect this?

One of the things I’m realizing, especially looking back on this week’s events, is that authenticity is a key trait of all successful businesspeople. While this applies equally to everyone, I think it is more apparent in the case of an introverted entrepreneur (my example will show why).

I got a phone call from a classic annoying salesman earlier this week. He was selling something called the Jaguar Marketing system, and from looking at their web site, it looks like a great place to throw away $4000 and get absolutely nothing in return. If you have time to kill, take a look at www.superbsystem.com, but don’t expect anything good. (See my earlier blog post about systems; this sort of thing is exactly what I was warning you about.) Now I’m convinced that their “turn-key marketing system” is utterly worthless, but that’s not what this is about.

The guy who tried to sell me this system was a classical introvert, which you could tell by hearing his voice. He repeatedly got nervous on the phone, stuttering over and over while he was talking. I could also tell that he was reading from a script, just like his bosses trained him to. He then asked me to “hold on one second” while he then connected his boss on a 3-way call, which I’m sure he was also trained to do. He talked over me, didn’t ask any questions about what my needs were (except that he came right out and asked how much money I was currently making per month). Suffice to say, it didn’t work.

What’s my point? My point is that this still happens all the time. Extravert managers teach the cookie-cutter approach, and for an introvert, it simply isn’t authentic. Granted, this guy was particularly obnoxious, but you have to understand how sales training looks for the newbie introvert. You’re told that “this is what works” and that you have to just “get over it” whenever you have apprehensions about offending someone. See, the hard part for me to accept is that earlier on in my career, when I made those first few sales calls, I must have sounded just like this guy. It sure would explain some of the hostile looks and unreturned phone calls.

So, if you’re willing to be yourself, you at least have a chance at getting your foot in the door. If you pretend to be someone else, you’re not going to fool anyone. Chew on that awhile.

Hi everyone; my apologies for the delayed posting.

I just went to a communication course this weekend, and I got a deeper understanding of how listening works. Pay attention to this; it has a lot of implications for those of us who would rather not make phone calls.

Now, note that I am not about to tell you to start making cold calls. I maintain that calling your friends to sell them something is a bad idea. I also maintain what I said in my very first post; if you have lost contact with a member of your warm market, the thing to do is call them up and just say hi.

That being said, remember what I wrote about your warm market list a few posts ago. As you’re writing down a list of names, think of how each person could benefit from your product or service, and think of who they might know. But then, stop there. Just be aware of these things before you call them. DON’T call them with an agenda.

So, here’s the good news. What you’re going to do is say, “Hi, how are you,” or something along those lines, and then just shut up. Odds are, they’ll start talking. The object of the game is to get them to keep talking until they run out of things to say. Then, ask a question about something they just said. Try to pick something that they seemed interested in. Then, you’ll probably get them started again and they’ll talk for awhile longer.

The beauty of this approach is that you don’t have to have anything figured out before you call them! It makes life a lot easier. Also, you won’t have to bring up your business, because most likely they’ll ask you about it.

That’s all for now. I still have some posts coming about how to create your message, and I’ll just close by saying that if you focus your energy on listening, the whole process becomes a lot easier.