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Education
ChapterTitle
StreetSmarts SM
Speed dating in the internet age
By Allen Kopelman • Ghosting: We've all had it happen. You meet with a
Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. sales prospect, the planets magically align and then
you never hear from that person again. You text,
recently saw an old movie, How to Succeed in you phone, you email—all in vain. Get over it.
Business Without Really Trying. Obviously a com- • Zombieing: After ghosting you, some former pros-
edy, it was also a reminder of how things have pects come back, noncommittal and offering no ex-
I changed since 1967, when that Mad-Men-era movie planation, after they've run around for a while or
first came out. The hero, a young window washer named had a bad break with your competitor. What did I
Ponty, gains knowledge from a book of the same title as tell you? Don't slide backward.
the film and becomes an overnight success in corporate
America. • Textationships: Avoid these like the plague: these
frantic thumb-typers will keep you on edge with
communication that goes nowhere, leading to noth-
A half-century later, there's no such thing as succeeding ing, not even a date or a sale, just misery.
in business without trying; the internet has changed the
game. If that movie came out today, Ponty would be get- • Lazy dates: Learn to recognize the signals these
ting his ideas from YouTube videos and applying for work prospects give that they have no interest in doing
at Indeed.com. business and no intent to buy but just love to waste
your time and watch you squirm.
People treat each other differently in the digital-first age. • Breadcrumbing: Similar to lazy dates, these con-
Merchant level salespeople (MLSs) and prospective cli- versationalists keep things going, but their actions
ents rely more on electronic communications and less on don't align with their words. They drag you along,
face-to-face selling. This is also the case in our personal but they have no intention of doing business.
lives. This was especially true during the pandemic, when
dating apps replaced in-person gatherings and match- • Fizzling: Like a slowly-deflating balloon, fizzlers
making. slowly unwind as they lose interest, taking your
calls until they finally ghost you.
Dating, business overlap • Pocketing: Beware of gatekeepers who take your
Even now, after the pandemic, when people freely patron- calls but do not introduce you to a business owner
ize hotels, stores and restaurants, some keyboard warriors or person of interest, wasting your time and keep-
are still hiding behind a screen, communicating by text ing you away from the family.
and email instead of attending meetings, tradeshows and • Orbiting: Like a hawk slowly circling its prey, these
community events. Regardless of how MLSs communi- irritating people will continue to drive by your
cate with prospects today, the challenges they and other home or visit your website but do not engage any
payment professionals face in their working and dating further by allowing you to finalize the sale.
lives have similarities. Here are several examples. • Instant gratification: People and technology plat-
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