If you are in business for yourself, there is a good chance that at least at one point in your life you have treated a person like a dollar sign as opposed to a human being. Let’s face it, it happens , yes I hate to admit, I’ve even done it – not intentionally. We all have financial obligations that we have to meet. When a friend tells us about a challenge that they are having in life, we feel that we have a product or service that can help our friend and at the same times help ourselves.
The golden rule tells us to treat others as we want to be treated. Think about it for a second have you ever been treated like a dollar sign? Did it make you want to buy whatever product your “friend” or someone else was selling? I’m guessing that the answer is no. Nobody likes to be treated like a dollar sign. We can all sense that uncomfortable feeling in the air when we know we are being sold, and all we did was ask the person, “how’s your day?” And then they somehow manage to weave into the conversation how their product could help us. I think the best word to describe what we feel in that situation is the icky – yes I just used the word icky. When you feel that icky feeling, you feel that your being used and that your “friend” doesn’t really care about you as a person. They don’t care about that flat tire, or terrible blind date or that you missed the latest episode of Survivor on tv.
I hate to confess there were times that I treated people like transactions. It wasn’t until my amazing coach Limhi Montoya helped me to see it, that I even realized it. And then when I realized that I had been doing that at times, I realized it was time for a change. I actually did have good intentions, I felt that if those people were to become my coaching clients that I could sit and help them overcome all of their challenges. They would be talking and in my head I would be thinking, “oh I could really help you with that”. However, in even saying that I realized that my logic was flawed. People don’t need to be helped, and they don’t need overcome anything. People don’t need to be saved.
Remember, You are 100% okay and perfect just the way that you are!
So whats the opposite of treating people like transactions? BEING GENUINE
I had the chance to meet a guy named Jason at a recent networking meeting and it was so refreshing.
We hardly talked about business. But we were having such a great time talking, we ended up staying after the meeting and talking for another almost 2.5 hours. Was this person trying to get something from me? Absolutely not, he already has a very successful business. He really didn’t need anything from me. He was just genuinely interested in me as a person. He told me about his wife, kids and what he enjoys and then he just told lots of funny stories. Now that I think about it he did even share stories about his work – and he had some great ones. He is a piano tuner. I didn’t even notice until writing this that he had shared much about work since we were just having a genuine conversation. He didn’t try to sell me, and yet now I am happy to refer anyone to him to tune their pianos, which reminds me if you need a great piano tuner in the Mesa, AZ area, then just click HERE and it will take you to his website. He is personable, funny and even plays some songs before he leaves. He has tuned pianos for 20 years and has a massive client list.
Wow! I guess I learned more about him than I thought. It’s interesting what can happen when you feel someone is just being a genuine person and not trying to sell you.
It’s said people like to BUY from people that they know, like and trust. Remember that people like to be BUYER’s, they don’t like to be SOLD.
You may be thinking if you are a business owner that’s just starting out, “I could never just be genuine and interested in everyone, I have to grow my business now.” Hear me out, forget all the sales tactics and just give it a try, be genuine. People are in such a hurry these days, that when someone takes even a few minutes to be genuinely interested in you, you can truly feel it. And when someone feels heard and appreciated they are much more likely to want to buy from you.
When someone is talking to you, don’t be thinking of what they can do for you! Don’t be thinking of the next clever thing that you are going to say…
JUST LISTEN…. And watch your life and relationships get better.