Pick Up the Check
I’ve had people in my workshops order internet in the conference room so they had access and attempt to put it on my bill! I’ve had people who ordered special food—lattes, or eggs—to augment what I was offering, and charge it to me. I had one guy, who thankfully left my community for good when he was ostracized, try to order Louis XIII when I offered after-dinner drinks on one occasion (it goes for $250 a glass).
I’ve seen people show up at a cocktail party I was hosting when they hadn’t registered for the event itself, and I’ve had people “ask me to dinner” and then stare at the check as if it were a cobra.
One guy who wanted to “partner” with me never offered to pay for a single meal, so I “fired him” part way through a project that resulted in a ton of business—for me. Every day on social media people want to “get together so we can help each other,” although they have zero to offer me. (When I tell them my “pick my brain lunch fee” is $5,000, they disappear in a huff. I suggest you buy stock in “huff.”)
Other people ask me who else will be in a session, could I organize a dinner for people the night prior, how do they get special treatment at the hotel, and what I’d recommend they do in the evening. I tell them I’m not the concierge (concierges are tipped).
Act like an adult. It will do you wonders trying to build business. And, oh yes: Get some physical therapy on that arm that refuses to move toward the check.
© Alan Weiss 2016
