As you may have noticed from my some of my other posts (and certainly my “ranting” over at Twitter (@VeitSchenk), I’m all against being pitched constantly.

a) it annoys the heck out of everyone (just think of going to a party “hello my name is Marty and I want to sell you some Tupperware”. Are you going to stick around. No, more likely you’ll discover that you urgently need to wash your hair)

b) it puts all of the pitchers quickly into the NFL (no friends left). Which also explains why so many network marketers mostly hang out with, well, you guessed it, other network marketers. Because noone else wants to talk to them anymore.

So far, so obvious.

But here is my thought of the day:

Wouldn’t we all be better off if we showed the pitchers how to pitch properly?

Let me explain:

my assumptions are this: the blatant pitchers

a) are normal people like you and me. They probably have a family, (some;-) friends and have similar feelings, dreams and desires as the rest of us.

b) want to earn some extra cash (to support those dreams, desires and 4 hungry kids) and

c) they simply don’t know any better way than, well, pitch. Thinking: hey, I’ll just find a large following (jeez, why do 50% of followers pitch me with the VERY FIRST FRIGGIN’ message: “hey, I’ve just found this awesome tool that helps you find a gazillion pitchers over night….”), pitch some stuff to them and I’ll make some money.

Whilst it may sound a little condescending, but here’s the deal:

I work a lot with small businesses as a small business coach and sales trainer. And guess what?

The majority of small business owners haven’t got a clue.

1. They don’t know how to welcome a stranger into their shop (yes, we’re still stuck on “can I help you” followed by “no thanks, I’m just browsing” followed by resignation followed by a huge loss of opportunity to bond with another person and fulfill their needs. More on that another time)

2. They’re still trying to sell instead of consult (ask the client first before offering what they’ve got. The worst example I’ve got is the sales people for newspapers: storm into any small shop “hey, would you like to buy an ad in our paper” No questions asked. All to often, no business made either)

3. And they’re still thinking from their perspective (”hey, this is what I’ve got” as opposed to “hey, that’s what my clients want” — and then they wonder that most of their coupons in the papers don’t work). Trust me, sad but all to common. About 97% common.

So, my guess is that most of those who make Twitter more and more into a place where I have to be rude and unfollow people very quickly are simply representative of most other small business owners:

Pitchers are simply lacking a basic sales education.

Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m not against using social media as a marketing medium, as long as it comes from a position of wanting to add value to other people’s lives and using a consultative approach where I first find out what others want before pitching my own stuff.

So, if this is the case, the big question then is:

How can we get them to see the/our light without being arrogant?

(”hey, we know it better” high-horse riders (wanting to keep this post PG))

Because, ultimately, if everyone took on a consultative selling approach, Twitter would be much more a place of contribution and questions instead of, well, uninvited pitching.

And as a side-benefit, the pitchers would probably make much more money in the long-term.

Please share your thoughts

Veit

PS: Apologies to all the baseball fans who were sent here by Google, I guess I must have used the word “pitch” more times than a ball is thrown in your average innings. (which probably shows that I haven’t got a clue about baseball)