A Time to Sell, A Time To Tell

It's Friday eve at a busy airport and I arrive breathlessly, hoping I'm not late and wishing for once my flight will be DELAYED so I won't miss it.
Racing to the departures board, I start frantically to search through eight screens of flights to find the gate and time for mine.
As I search for the New York flght, the whole &^%$* eight-screen display blinks, goes blank, then shifts to...a gorgeous photo mosaic of the city I am in.
Thanks, Chamber of Commerce! This is totally NOT what I need right now. I am angry and frustrated as precious seconds tick away and I await the departure data to return. By the time it does, I now suddenly hate the entire city of Chicago for doing this to me.

This is so how NOT to market. Here's the analogy to our real world lives: You have to know when people are coming to you (your website, your office, calling you) because they need information and guidance RIGHT NOW. And you have to know when they are in receptive mode for listening and responding to your "sell message." Fortunately this is easy to do. You just have to listen and observe for 30 seconds, and it's clear.

There's a time for everything - a time to sell, a time to listen, a time to advise. Consumer product companies and commodity-type services can get away with being in-your-face-all-the-time, but professional services and nonprofits cannot. We have to sit at a higher plane to earn the market's respect and attention. Know when it's time to sell and when it's time to tell.