One day I logged into my LinkedIn account and I got a connection request from a random person whose name I won’t mention. He seemed like a good guy and then I saw his title….
“Partner at New York Life Insurance Company.”
At that moment, I knew exactly why he wanted to connect with me. So I decided to play along and have a little fun.
He started our conversation off with this:
“Ellisen, I’m looking to build my network, and came across your profile. I’m a Partner at NY Life and I have opportunities available with a fast track to Management. We have a few common connections, and I thought that there could be an opportunity to work together at some point.”
As soon as I read “opportunities available with a fast track to management,” a big red flag went up. He was trying to recruit me into his little cult. Little did he know that I used to work in the insurance industry, so I’m fully aware of how the business works.
So I responded with this:
“Good to meet you, *name removed*! Happy to discuss how we can work together.
However,
1. If you’re selling insurance to me, I’m already covered.
2. If you’re asking me to join New York Life, I’m not interested.
Any other topic, I’m down to discuss.
Talk to you soon.”
And I never heard from him again. I’m willing to bet my life savings that if I hadn’t mentioned anything after ‘however,’ he would’ve tried to recruit me. But because I was extremely direct with him, I saved myself time and energy from building a relationship that wasn’t even going to work out in the first place.
That’s why, honesty is TRULY the best policy.
When it comes to business (and even dating), it acts as the ultimate filtration system. Attracting all the wonderful customers/dates while repelling the shitty ones. It’s also a great psychological sales tactic. For example:
When you’re selling a product, talk about the negatives before going into the positives. Your audience will see you as a trustworthy person because you’re showing them that you have nothing to hide. No intention to deceive customers.
So do yourself a favor, save your time, energy, and headaches from crappy customers by being brutally honest.
Speaking of being straightforward, I blocked off some time to talk to you if you need any help writing persuasive sales emails.
Use my link below.