Grifting away

The internet didn't make us all marketers. It revealed that we always were. Every interaction is a transaction. Every piece of content a sales pitch. Every platform a marketplace.

The winners aren't those who reject this reality. They're the ones who embrace it and choose to sell something real. Something valuable. Something that outlasts the transaction.

This reminds me of so many things I’ve read from Seth Godin over the years. Focus on value and not grifting. It’s ok to sell, ok to offer something in exchange for something else. But transparency, sincerity, and focusing on what you can give are the tools here.

Yes, we could all be grifters. But that’s not the life that interests me.

Recently my wife answered the door for a canvaser. They offered a free inspection of the exterior of our (admittedly old and remodely-in-progress) house.

My wife hesitantly accepted, on the condition that they would email a report and we wouldn’t be accosted with a 90 minute conversation at the end. The canvaser readily agreed, happy to close the deal, and sided with my wife on not wanting to disturb us.

You see, this isn’t our first rodeo. We’ve made the mistake in the past of doing all but physically pushing a vacuum salesman out of our house after an exhausting three hours.

The day arrived, my wife was still out, so I answered the door and pleasantly let the inspectors know what we wanted. About five minutes into the conversation they made it clear that they’d need our attention for 60-90 minutes and couldn’t possible do the arrangement we’d already been promised prior.

I nearly flipped a lid.

I was incredibly kind, though frustrated, and made it clear that was unacceptable.

Everything spiraled down from there. We were lied to multiple times, gaslit, and pretty much treated like idiots who couldn’t possibly know what we want.

You know who I’ll never go with? That company. I have zero interest in ever working with them. Being lied to is not the way to start a working relationship.

We do know that we need help with our home, and have been hiring out help (and my wife doing most of it on her own) as we’ve been able the last few years, and are not opposed to getting more help. But from grifters? Never.

Via westenberg.