Posts Tagged ‘freebees’
The brain cell and the pot of yoghurt
by John Passmore
Ever since I heard that Chris Williams, one of the most successful people in our business, makes a point of targeting business owners, I have been seeing people in suits.
This is the reticular activator at work – that little nodule in the brain which searches for things we’ve told it we’re interested in.
And so it was that, coming out of the pub after an unscheduled lunch with my father-in-law, I met a man in a suit coming in.
I suppose it’s a bit of an exaggeration to say I “met” him. He was one of those typically important business people in a hurry. He wore the garish “power tie” which flapped about his face in the wind. He was shouting into his mobile phone. He walked at a speed that suggested the end of the world might arrive if he didn’t get to where he was so urgently required within the next five seconds.
In short he was the sort of person who, in a crowded street would be too busy and too important to take a card from a passer-by.
But that was before I decided I needed more business owners. Also, this was not a crowded street but a quiet country pub. So I went up to him, didn’t say a word (in fact I pointed to my firmly closed mouth) and held up a card and nodded hard.
Without pausing in his urgent conversation, he took it.
Of course, I’ve no idea what he’s going to do with it – that’s his concern, not mine. I’ve sowed the seed and that’s what the 50 cards a day is all about.
After that I had to take back the suitcase I bought in the supermarket (slight confustion there). But guess what? In the supermarket I found a smiling woman who offered me nut clusters to taste – and I always like a freebe.
“In fact, not only do I like a freebee, but I’m always on the lookout for in-store demonstrators,” I told her.
“Well, we’re only here for two days this week. They’ve cut our hours…”
And guess how the conversation went after that? In fact in the middle of it her friend turned up and I had to start again.
One way and another I shifted a lot of cards – especially considering I only took back a suitcase and bought one pot of yoghurt. But in the queue for the checkout, I turned to the woman behind me and said: “I always gaive one of these to the person in the queue behind me. Have you had one yet?”
“What is it?”
“It’s about money.”
She looked: “Save money, make money…”
“So which would you rather do?”
“Well both, I suppose.”
“I could tell you about it if you like. It takes about 35 seconds. D’you think we’ve got time?”
And we did – just. I’d have liked to have made the appointment but it was my turn to pay for the yoghurt: “Have a look when you get home. If you like it, give me a ring…”