I have a sneaking suspicion that you're a bit like me.

You don't want to be a pushy salesperson type.

You'd much rather have people approach you asking to work with you than you would to approach them with an offer.

In fact, you might even feel like “pitching” is somehow unethical or an annoyance to your potential clients.

I kind of feel like that too.

But today I reflected on my experience with buying coffee.

I'm no coffee connoisseur. Kathy's the one who appreciates a proper cup.

But we do have a “bean to cup” machine that grinds and makes a rather decent brew.

And it's my job to buy the beans.

I use an online service that sends us a couple of packets of coffee beans every 2 weeks.

Always high quality. Always freshly roasted in the last couple of weeks. And from a wide variety of countries and growers.

It's a little adventure every fortnight to open the parcel to see what we've got this time.

As I said, I'm no connoisseur. But I'm enjoying learning about the different types of beans and roasts and the different flavours.

I look forward to each parcel arriving to try the new beans.

And in all honesty, I wish they sold to me a bit more.

The only emails I get from them are notices that my parcel has been dispatched. And there's never any promotional material in the parcel.

I'd quite like to be offered some kind of special new bean sometimes. Or the chance to learn more about the origins of the coffee. Or maybe some gadgets to go with my coffee machine.

I suspect the people who run the company are rather like you and me: they don't want to be pushy or salesy and risk damaging their relationship with me.

But I wish they were more salesy (in a nice way). I wish they made me more offers.

It would enhance my enjoyment of the coffee significantly.

I wonder if the same was true for you?

I wonder if you offered more things for your clients or contacts to buy whether they'd actually appreciate it rather than feel it was too pushy?

If someone loves what you do then like me with my coffee supplier, they probably want more from you and don't mind being offered more products at all (as long as it's not too much, too often).

Worth thinking about?