No matter how nicely dressed and groomed a person is, if the person has motives that are not apparent in the first meeting, people become wary of such a person.

I've experienced it recently at a large tradeshow. A woman came up to me, smiling. I thought she wanted to know about what the experts at the booth and I had to offer. So I told her about our offerings. She then only said one thing: may I have your business card? I gave it to her.

Right then my internal alarm bell rang.

I've attended many tradeshows in the past in which people would just ask for business owners' business cards without telling them why. 10 times out of 10, they wanted to sell people something without telling them right then and there. This sneaky way of prospecting is a real turn off to prospects.

Today, I received an email from the same woman with a letter attached. The letter praised the booth layout and how impressed she was, then she proceeded to tell me about the tradeshow she was organizing, and the price structure for the booths available. She even signed with "sincerely". It is absolutely, totally insincere.

Will I give her business? No. Will I refer her company to others? No.

Sneaky selling is a big faux pas that really busts a person's image. Today's society is very much sales based - which is good in the way that it is easy for prospects to know what is available. But not good in the way that people are being sold on things they do not really need, and when persuaded to buy, they regret their decision soon after.

If sales is your profession, do so with your heart. Do not think the amount of dollar you may get from a person, but think from the prospects' point of view - how can they benefit from your product or service offering? If they truly do not see it even after your heartfelt explanation, let it go - when a sale is meant to be, it will be!

Noelle Wong sees and unveils beauty in people. She is the owner of iN-IMAGE! Inc., a personal image consulting company in Toronto that offers one-on-one consultations and workshops to help people increase their personal presence. For inquiries please contact her at noelle@in-image.com. Her website is http://www.in-image.com

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