November 18, 2009 68 Comments

Stop Humping My Leg

mouse humping Dear people trying to sell me on something new: stop humping my leg. You know what I mean. You’ve seen dogs do this, right? That’s what it feels like when you jump on me breathlessly to share your new product or service when you don’t really much know whether I’m the right guy for your services.

I was recently leg-humped at Web 2.0 Expo, by someone I like, and who I think is smart and has a lot of good potential. The thing is, I politely declined a demo, and he persisted. Immediately, I shifted to my back foot. I felt defensive. I rolled up my interest and tucked it away.

This is a relationship. Everything is a relationship. Even if it’s on the transactional side of the spectrum, it’s a relationship. Think of it that way. Think of the protocols of getting into the better parts of a relationship. Julien and I wrote Trust Agents as part of the antidote to doing this the wrong way.

Simply: If you hump my leg, you risk screwing yourself.

Photo credit Tanais Fox

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  • http://www.linkedin.com/in/sharelomer SharelOmer

    Brent, thank you for the great links, i was not aware of it and it got me thinking a lot.

  • http://www.bitsfortheboat.com/ ropes

    I totally agree with this point that If you hump my leg, you risk screwing yourself. If I had any product I would surely tell you about that.

  • http://johnhaydon.com johnhaydon

    A well trained dog only needs to hear “no” once.

  • http://twitter.com/missystanisz Missy Stanisz

    That's a great way of putting it – and the sad part is, the “leg humpers” probably hate it more than you do (being on the receiving end of said hump). Not a good time to be a leg humper…

  • Retirepreneur

    My two cents: Stop product peddling and just ask a few solid questions to get to know more about what I need… Recent example: I'm having some challenges with my phone system. Reached out and connected with a few providers… EVERY SINGLE salesperson did a feature “dump” on me and nobody probed my problem. If just one person came back to me with “You told me your biggest problem was yada-yada… and here's why this won't be an issue with our phone system” – the deal would have been closed.

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  • http://www.adspark.ca/ Jay Roach

    I agree, leg humping is a turn off. Unless you specifically asked someone to hump your leg. Then it's appropriate i think.

    But seriously, for all the sales/business development guys out there who are trying to make connections at tradeshows and the like… get creative and make the people come to you. A great way to do this is with an interactive display/installation of some sort.

  • http://www.afreshspace.com Liz Jenkins

    I so agree with you on this – even with the somewhat distasteful image of leg humping. Maybe it’s the economy or maybe it’s just because I know a lot of people through networking & where I live but I am being bombarded with people trying to sell me skin care products, candles, jewelry, etc at “parties” or to become a “representative” of this new and exciting company that they are thrilled to be a part of. Aaaack. Leave me alone. Don’t stalk me at luncheons. Don’t assume that because we have a nice business acquaintance-ship that I’m interested in being harrassed, sorry, participating in your new venture. I politely decline and then they add me to their incessant mailing lists that I can’t seem to unsubscribe from. Ok. End of rant. Thanks.

  • http://twitter.com/sethgoldstein Seth Goldstein

    You should send this person a copy of your book.

  • michaellawson

    Chris
    I had a post rattling around in my head for awhile, reading this finally made it come together for me.

    Thanks

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  • http://www.memorybits.co.uk/ usb flash drive

    LOL, it sounds more like Julien wrote this post. No two mesh so well you do not know you all are on one hand the people (which of course boils down to meet the specific needs of the feeling) you have on the other hand, the (strongly and to a modest For some people this is a way) they put in their place. You do not have one without the other and the world can succeed.

  • http://www.yuregininsesi.com yuregininsesi

    Had a laugh at this because you know we all get this at some point in time! Chris, I think some of the best advice for business owners is people first and profits second. It'll ease things around you quite a bit and then once you've actually built a good relationship with the person, they'll be much more receptive to whatever it is you're selling.

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    leg humpers, LOL ,Something most people don't know but humping is a dominant trait.

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    Great! Thank you for sharing!

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