Beware The Poseur
- December 19, 2011
- Posted by: Rochelle
- Category: Brand + Design, Marketing + Selling
Sometimes, lurking behind a charming façade is a poseur.
You’ve met him: the slick-talker who pairs precious little smarts with an outsized ego. In Texas, that guy is “all hat, no cattle”.
You’re savvy enough to spot the type quickly and ignore or neutralize him.
But what if he is your competition?
Start with this: don’t waste your breath trash-talking a known poseur. Good clients avoid competition-bashers like the plague—it makes them uneasy. Instead, frame your approach to highlight your strengths.
Shine a light into the dark corners. Transparency—dealing with your client’s worries simply and directly—builds trust. The poseur prefers to deflect client fears with detours to the inconsequential. Your job? Don’t let the competition dictate your conversation.
Do be prepared to fix the mess a poseur has created. It’s embarrassing for a client to fess up after choosing unwisely. Making it right without “I told you so” is gracious and will be long remembered. It’s clients-for-life territory.
Who knows? Maybe rescuing clients from poseurs will become your go-to marketing strategy.
2 Comments
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I like this article. Thank you for posting, Rochelle.
George
This is good advice Rochelle. Especially the last part about being prepared to fix the mess. We have picked up a number of excellent clients because we fixed up a mess created by their incumbent provider.
I also agree that it is much better to educate clients about how things can be and let them work out for themselves that this is the real deal.
Ray Keefe
Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd
Casey Business of the Year 2010
Industrial Electronics Future Award Winner 2011