Too Soon, Too Eager, Too Pushy

A few incidents observed at a networking event this week demonstrated some frequent communication mistakes:

Too Soon

A sales guy was introduced to an executive from a key potential client, a new contact with whom he had no previous relationship. Very early in the conversation, the sales guy asked directly for a meeting to talk about becoming a supplier. The executive visibly winced and his body language completely changed. Within a few seconds, the executive cut short the conversation and moved on to talk to someone else.

Too Eager
The owner of an industrial supplier was introduced to a possible client, who asked a simple question about what the supplier does. Grasping the opportunity, the owner started listing off all of his company's capabilities in considerable detail. The client's eyes soon glazed over, and then started to search the room for someone else to talk to.


Too Pushy
Another business owner started grilling an executive with aggressive qualifying questions designed to lead the executive down a sales path. The executive tried repeatedly, with decreasing civility, to deflect the conversation to more general conversation, but the owner doesn't hear or see any of the signals, and continued to push his agenda.