Being an entrepreneur is a strenuous job. It takes you away from family, your hobbies, your friends. But it also gives you the opportunity to see people in ways that are not usually possible when you are of the salaried kind. People react differently to you. Atleast it seems that way. The truth is that people are always what they are and they do what they always do. Its just that your vision or your perspective has changed or rather expanded so much that you perceive them differently.
As an entrepreneur I have been exposed to people, sometimes the same set of people that I know and have met even when I was their friend or employee or colleague. I am going to put down my thoughts on some sets of people, so that anybody who stumbles upon this article gets a heads-up or atleast I can look back on these when I need a refresher.
Note: This is a style that I am trying out. A content type that is new to me. A delivery style that is not new but since it is tailored for this content, it may not sit well.
I started my life in Sales and Marketing and I still continue to be in that, alternating between these roles as the situation deems fit. So most of my revelations would be based upon my personal experience. The very first kind of people that I managed to identify and tag would be the Tire Kicker.
This is a species of people who have existed from the dawn of time. Yes, i would call them a species as they have developed interbreeding and producing more of their own. They are very tough to identify and they camouflage as the more desirable entity- the customer. Members of the species are found to be with loads of time and energy in their disposal and they involve in typically maximizing the time and effort that a salesperson puts into the overall selling process.
They are known to hem and haw over the simplest of decisions, Their special ability lies in the way that their queries are disguised like a probable customer and they lace it with all the proper questions. They are extremely dangerous and many cases of sales pipelines collapsing and horrendous projection meetings are evidence to the effect that this species has on the sales process. They basically lack knowledge of the product or service that they evince interest in and try to make it up with questions that are whispers that they caught in some industry conclave or in the countless newsletter subscriptions that they never bother to read.
Identifying one is the tricky part of the conquest. Pointed questions regarding kick-offs and budgets invariably get the desired prognosis. The creatures tend to be baffled by this line of questions and will avoid a direct answer or deflect with more questions.
Solution: Quickly move to the point where the prognosis can be made and from that point judge as to the quantum of effort that this particular lead would have on your overall available man-hours. If the probability that this might mutate to, heavens forbid, an actual customer is even minimal, keep the lines of communication open. Ignore frequent mundane requests and the creature would automatically wander off to latch onto another ignorant vendor.
As an entrepreneur I have been exposed to people, sometimes the same set of people that I know and have met even when I was their friend or employee or colleague. I am going to put down my thoughts on some sets of people, so that anybody who stumbles upon this article gets a heads-up or atleast I can look back on these when I need a refresher.
Note: This is a style that I am trying out. A content type that is new to me. A delivery style that is not new but since it is tailored for this content, it may not sit well.
I started my life in Sales and Marketing and I still continue to be in that, alternating between these roles as the situation deems fit. So most of my revelations would be based upon my personal experience. The very first kind of people that I managed to identify and tag would be the Tire Kicker.
This is a species of people who have existed from the dawn of time. Yes, i would call them a species as they have developed interbreeding and producing more of their own. They are very tough to identify and they camouflage as the more desirable entity- the customer. Members of the species are found to be with loads of time and energy in their disposal and they involve in typically maximizing the time and effort that a salesperson puts into the overall selling process.
They are known to hem and haw over the simplest of decisions, Their special ability lies in the way that their queries are disguised like a probable customer and they lace it with all the proper questions. They are extremely dangerous and many cases of sales pipelines collapsing and horrendous projection meetings are evidence to the effect that this species has on the sales process. They basically lack knowledge of the product or service that they evince interest in and try to make it up with questions that are whispers that they caught in some industry conclave or in the countless newsletter subscriptions that they never bother to read.
Identifying one is the tricky part of the conquest. Pointed questions regarding kick-offs and budgets invariably get the desired prognosis. The creatures tend to be baffled by this line of questions and will avoid a direct answer or deflect with more questions.
Solution: Quickly move to the point where the prognosis can be made and from that point judge as to the quantum of effort that this particular lead would have on your overall available man-hours. If the probability that this might mutate to, heavens forbid, an actual customer is even minimal, keep the lines of communication open. Ignore frequent mundane requests and the creature would automatically wander off to latch onto another ignorant vendor.
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