Has Your Business Resorted to Peddling?

If we are truly in the age of permission marketing, why then are so many small business owners, solo entrepreneurs, and sales people shamelessly hawking their wares at every networking event, or conference that they attend? The easy answer is: the recession. More and more people are desperate. These answers attempt to justify the ever increasing intensity and shrillness of this peddling ilk.

The logical questions that follow would be: Is networking suppose to be like this? Does this method produce more sales? The unscientific answer is no (this is based on anecdotal experience). But this lack of sales only seems to increase the effort behind the peddling. It is a futile cycle that gets perpetuated with the intermittent reinforcement of an occasional sale.

What is the real reason behind so much peddling? Clearly, the intended goal is to make more sales. The reality that this does not happen is simply not attributed to the method. Why is it used anyway? It seems to be used because there is no knowledge of another way. Peddling seems to be the activity of unsophisticated small business owners and their marketers. Now that may sound a little harsh but it is true. This is the tactic being used in the offline trenches by those who have not yet read Seth Godin's book and warnings about interruption marketing.

How does peddling manifest itself? Anyone who has ever been to a small business networking meeting has been initiated to it. Typically a vendor will approach another at a networking event and hand out a business card without taking the time to meet, greet and shake the hand of the intended business card recipient. What usually follows is a "product dump" (or "service dump") about everything the vendor's company offers. The recipient glazes over in a short time and may be waiting to either escape or return the favor. The exchange of business cards is the key activity and walking out with a stack of cards is the benchmark for a successful meeting. Usually, however, there is little if any follow through. The cards may be fated to rubber band binding or a good toss into the trash can.

What are the alternatives that will make networking more effective?

One could start by slowing down the pace (yes, that means the method called "speed networking "must be chucked). Networking should be viewed as an opportunity to meet new people and cultivate the introductions that have been made previously. Yes, it should be about building relationships. And it starts with simple etiquette. Polite introductions should be used. Active listening skills can be applied. This means that you note what the fellow networkers are saying and you ask appropriate questions to learn more about their business needs and wants. It is not just about nodding with agreement until "your turn comes".

Superior sales will follow when "soft skills" are learned (which means that handing your business card is not the number one priority). Professional sales training courses teach these skills. Typically, the training starts with accessing the salesperson's communication skills and how they react in a given sales environment. The assessment helps sales people to understand their own strengths, weaknesses and style. This not only helps sales people to understand others but very importantly it helps sales people to understand the way that others perceive them. Sales people often view themselves as being very enthusiastic and full of optimistic energy. They often fail to realize that their enthusiasm is frequently perceived to be glib and self promoting by other behavior types. It turns them off. This is not a good thing for you if you are in the shoes of that salesperson. It is also not a good thing if you are in the shoes of the person being turned off. You may be missing out on an important sales message.

Unfortunately, being super enthused to the point of aggressiveness is the type of tactic that is frequently taught and perpetuated by "old school" managers who still pontificate that sales are just "all about the numbers". They maintain that if you crunch through enough numbers (which are incidentally people) that you will make your quota. These sales managers are among the many that are enabling this maddening cycle of peddling. Many talented sales individuals are often being forced to adapt their natural styles to accommodate the misinformed manager and the numbers. Many talented sales people are not getting the guidance that would help them rise to superstardom.

If you have a business then you need to recognize that the way you manage your staff will have direct bearing on their performance. Soft skills apply to both your first (the ones who buy your goods and services) and your second set of customers (i.e. your employees).

What are the steps a small business owner can take to escape the mindset that is ultimately behind peddling? The first place to start is to read everything you can about permission marketing. The world is changing and you do not want to be left behind if you intention is to have your business stay relevant.

Secondly, consider the following:

" More than 80 of Fortune 1000 companies use multi-source assessments to develop feedback; so it doesn't take much to figure out that there must be something important going on here.

Small businesses that want to be leading edge and competitive would do well to heed these messages; especially when you consider this sobering fact: the typical interviewing process used by most companies is at best only 14% effective in predicting successful job hires (Michigan State University).

The bottom line is that developing great soft skills is crucial to the well being of any business. It will improve in house communications for hiring and managing those who are hired. It will help a business develop a sales force (whether that is just 1 person or one hundred) that is effective in the market place and will guide them to delivering messages clearly to a diversity of people. It is a plan to end unsophisticated and ineffective peddling. It will help you grow your business.

The company that does this will undoubtedly distinguish themselves in the marketplace and more greatly benefit from small business networking; no matter what the economic conditions are.

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