If you are like me and you grew up in the 1970s/1980s, you probably watched your fair share of cartoons on TV.
Remember Popeye?
On this show, there was a recurring character J. Wellington Wimpy (?Wimpy?) whose favorite catchphrase was
?I?ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.?
Image credit: Ammon Beckstrom https://www.flickr.com/photos/abeckstrom/5504735515
Did Wimpy intend to pay for his hamburger at some future date?
Or were his intentions less than sincere?
I see a striking parallel in our own business.
At least once every three to four weeks, someone approaches us for help growing their leads/customers/revenue, peruses the available programs on our website, contacts us to discuss working togther, and then injects a bizarre curveball.
?I?ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.?
Or in this case, let?s talk about a ?partnership.?
Presumably, a partnership where we?d invest ten of thousands of dollars in resources building out strategy, traffic generation assets, lead generation assets, and lead nurturing assets for the promise of earning a sales commission if/when something actually closes. (But how do we know how effective their sales process is, let alone their product and the rest of their supporting business processes?)
When this happens, I typically chalk it up to two things:
- The potential client doesn?t see a lack of differentiation as one of their core problems. (Essentially, the potential client is ?fine? battling it out as a commodity broker, even going head-to-head with Amazon if needed. Ask the nation?s largest retailers how that approach is working out for them.)
- The potential client thinks the rules don?t apply to them. (This would be as if this person went out for lunch, saw that the burger/fries combo on the menu was $8.99, and thought they?d negotiate it down to a buck or two ? just because.)
Your thoughts?
This article ? ?I?ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.? ? originally appeared on LinkedIn Pulse.
