I’m not sure if you’ve seen this before but I’m reposting with a bit of an update.
Don’t Bother Pulling The Horse!
if he won’t drink the water…leave him be
I penned this article over on Medium over 2 and a half years ago and recently I’ve run into the same situation yet again.
When I originally wrote this article in December of 2012, it was because a friend who owns a mid-size advertising agency was having trouble closing the deal on a “client” that just didn’t understand the value of social media. He never did hook the client and it’s better that he didn’t.
I run into this quite often. I get calls, RFPs and requests to meet with prospects who are having trouble with generating measurable results in social media. In speaking with some of these business owners, you’d be surprised as to how many people, in 2015, STILL want to be convinced that social media is something that they need to be involved in.
Recently, as I began ramping up my real estate investing business I’ve been spending time on a number of Facebook forums where I’ve found that people would rather engage in illegal marketing from 1999 than wrap their arms around the obvious benefits of digital marketing.
In fact, I’ve even been asked by some to actually PROVE to them that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other forms of socially driven inbound marketing actually works. Can you imagine being in business, any business, in 2015 and having a doubt if social media marketing works?
If you don’t believe that social media has tremendous value and generates significant results, it’s not up to me to show you. In those instances that’s when it’s time for me to make my exit. I walk. I end the conversation. I decline the meeting. I don’t make the call back. It’s not worth my time. It’s game over. I don’t feel the need to convince anyone. You either believe or you don’t.
My objective isn’t to work with clients that I have to convince. My objective is to work with businesses and people who believe what I believe.
Someone who doesn’t understand, believe, or trust you isn’t someone you should be doing business with anyway. It’s a marriage destined to fail.
Focus your efforts on working with businesses and people who share your passion, your commitment and your vision. Take the time to create a presence where those who want what you have to offer, seek YOU out.
In this very competitive business environment, too many people are too quick to take every client that walks through the doors or calls on the phone. That’s a fools game.
The proverbial horse that can be lead to water but can’t be made to drink needs to be left alone. Don’t worry about convincing him to take action.
Eventually he will drink or succumb to his own stubbornness and die.
