DON’T BE A JERK

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He sat down next to me at lunch at the convention…a young fellow in his mid to late 20’s.  He pulled out two cell phones…one was an IPhone…and some other small high tech contraption.  I had never seen anything like it before, so I asked him, “What is that?”  He said it was a recorder that shoots videos and uploads them straight to YouTube.

 He asked me if I had an IPhone.  I said no, and showed him my Blackberry.  He asked if I texted.  I told him I didn’t text…that I thought it was a generational thing.  He said, and I quote, “the problem with you OLD people is you just don’t want to learn anything new.”  Then things got worse.  I told him I trained professionals & business owners on social media like LinkedIn & Facebook.  He told me no one is interested in that stuff because young folks like him were onto other things.  The speaker at the luncheon began his talk, so we didn’t talk further. 

 Compare my ill mannered table companion with the fellow who sat next to me at lunch the next day.  We introduced ourselves and had a wonderful time learning about each others businesses and families.  He told me he worked with financial consulting firms to build their practices.  This was a great coincidence since I serve on an advisory board of a financial consulting firm.  I was impressed with what he had to say and I promised I would put him in touch with the owner. 

 When I arrived home, I received an e-mail from someone I didn’t know.  He was friends with Bill, the financial guy I met earlier in the week.  Bill had recommended he contact me.  He was interested in hiring me for some training.

 Wow!  What a different outcome.  A condescending kid versus a really nice guy who knows how to build his business network.

 The lesson is you don’t know where your next customer is coming from…and it sure doesn’t pay to be a jerk. 

 This is David Sher, your eNetworking guy, saying it’s not what you know, but whoo you know.

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