Due to some client work I’ve been doing lately, I’ve been forced to go back into the cobweb-laced haunted house that is my Facebook account.
Each time I tip-toe my way along the creaky floorboards there, I see dozens of new friend requests pasted on the walls, all from people I don’t know from Adam’s off ox.
Occasionally, I go on binges of approving those friend requests.
Last week, I logged in and saw a message from a guy with an Italian name, whose friend request I must have approved some time earlier. My new friend wrote:
“Thanks for accepting my request man, I appreciate that! I noticed you’re into personal development. I have a quick question if you don’t mind.”
Personal development? I replied to say, sure. And I went about my day.
Since I don’t have any notifications enabled anywhere, I forgot all about it until I logged in to Facebook a few days later. And there was my friend’s quick question:
“Are you currently using online dating apps?”
That escalated quickly. With just 7 words, this Italian stallion was quickly nearing “unwelcome pest” territory.
I replied with a professional and elegant “no.”
I thought that would be the end of it. But I was wrong. The next time I logged in, a follow-up was waiting for me:
“Too many single moms or not matching with the type of women you truly desire?”
At this point, like a hot 24-year-old girl who has lost interest in a boring Tinder chat, I stopped replying. But I did check his profile. It turns out he sells some kind of service to get you matching with the type of women you truly desire.
This got me wondering. Even if this guy’s presumptuous marketing approach is successful in hooking somebody, who is he gonna get?
A long-term, devoted customer or client?
Or somebody who will ghost him at the very first turn in the road?
My guess is the second.
That’s not a game I ever want to play, and not one I advise to you either.
A sale is never just a sale, and a client is never just a client.
My advice is to think actively about the relationships you build, the long-term potential of those relationships, or if you like, the lifetime value. That’s really my biggest and most valuable conclusion after having worked with hundreds of clients, many of who paid me $100, a few of who paid me $100k or more.
And on that note:
Until this Wednesday, I am promoting Steve Raju’s ClientRaker training.
ClientRaker is all about finding high-quality, long-term, devoted clients. Without sliding into anybody’s DMs, without embarrassing yourself, and without offending or annoying people who are no prospects of yours to begin with.
In case you’re interested: