This is the time of the year when there tends to be a heightened sense of humanity, spirituality, and morality in the air.

Business slows down, and we start to think about something more than ourselves while being thrown into the mix of chaos, hustle, and short emotional fuses.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “You are who you are when you're driving in your car”? You may get to the store and let someone with only one item go ahead of you. Heck, you may even go ahead of her to pay for her items and wish her a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. You may not realize that she was the very same person who was driving 10 miles per hour below the speed limit while in the left lane that you cursed out on the way to the store.

I've been there and done that!

Now, I don't want to go all holier than thou on you, because I am as flawed of a human as anyone else, but it's good to take a breath and inventory how we may be different people in different circumstances.

The Online Persona

I am hesitant to post an article on how we are different online than how we act in person. No matter what source or who said it, it can be construed as false, biased, or contradictory depending on the reader's perspective. But most of us do things on a phone or keyboard that we would most likely not do in person.

If you search Google (it has to be true because it's on the internet), an article states, “While 94.6% of people say they think other people act differently online, only 57.1% say their online personality is the same as their in-person personality. While we see how others act differently online than in person, we don't (or can't) see it in ourselves as much.”

It's also good to explore who we are and how we perceive ourselves on and off the clock.

Some of us act like a mix of Walter White (Breaking Bad), Henry Ford, and Nelson Rockefeller while at work, and then we perceive ourselves as a mix of Betty White, Harrison Ford, and Nelson Mandela at home.

Business can feel like a mix of strategy, sport, and stature, while our home lives are about family, community, and legacy. It's not like we are intentionally acting differently or inauthentic, but, “We are who we are when we're driving in our car”!

Guilt trips aside, I want to explore a few online marketing tactics that we would not want to have done to us in person.

Do Unto Others…

The “Golden Rule” says, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

How does it make you feel when you get a cold call during dinner or a connect and pitch from a relentless salesperson? Sometimes, you could throw the phone or the computer, while at other times, you may just respect that the person is doing their job.

Imagine someone in your building or neighborhood knocking on your door and asking to borrow $1000. How would you react? I am sure you would be hesitant, but their chances of success improve proportionately to the time they spent getting to know you and helping you first.

Business is about getting someone to trade money for value. Value (like beauty) is in the eye of the beholder. Your chances of them actually trading money for value will improve in proportion to the time you get to know them and their definition of value.

It's built on a foundation of trust.

This is what relationship marketing is all about. It's about having the patience to help people work through the path of knowing, liking, and trusting you. That takes time and personal investment in getting to know them as well.

Easier to Ask for Forgiveness…

Grace Hopper (computer pioneer and naval officer) employed and helped to popularize the expression, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission.” I have been guilty of this many times, but it has not been without the cost of trust.

How do you feel when you are added to an email list and get barraged with emails you never signed up for and don't even care about? I get frustrated and do everything I can to unsubscribe.

In my personal life, I know that asking for forgiveness erodes trust, which has to be replenished.

Trust that becomes eroded in business leads to a lack of patience and often ends with business going elsewhere.

Business is built on a foundation of trust.

People add you to lists because they are hopeful you will self-navigate. They trust and expect that a good portion of people will simply remove themselves. It's a numbers and not a people game.

People who add themselves can still unsubscribe from any list but are slower and more hesitant because they saw some value at some time in signing up in the first place.

The goal of relationship marketing is to create enough value upfront so your audience self-selects to trade their email and info for more email and info.

Do Your Due Diligence…

Taking things at face value has a different meaning online than in person. Just because it's on the internet does not make it true. Just because a quote is attributed to a person does not mean they originated it.

The internet is filled with opinions, half-truths, and flat-out wrong info. That means you have to dig deeper than just one website or article.

Artificial intelligence cannot discern opinions, from half-truths, and flat-out wrong info. It just digests and regurgitates what it is fed.

I also look at face value in business differently. What you see in a LinkedIn or a business website profile can often be less than accurate and even misleading. That means meeting people in person can go a long way to building trust.

In business, there is no substitute for meeting someone, asking questions, researching, and confirming their answers. That could be from referrals, past clients, employees, and vendors.

It's built on a foundation of trust.

Relationship marketing is different from a marketing relationship. Relationships come first. That does not mean you must become besties or even like each other. But you do have to create respect.

That means it's best to do unto others and ask for permission before digging deeper. That requires a relationship, and relationships are foundationally about trust.

Closing Thought

As I said, I live in a glass house, so I am in no position to judge. It's something that I think about but have not perfected (and probably never will).

I don't always pay it forward, and I don't always curse in the car or at other drivers. But being human is a process that will never reach perfection and requires breathing!

“There's a natural law of karma that vindictive people, who go out of their way to hurt others, will end up broke and alone.”
– Sylvester Stallone

Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at The Bacon Podcast.