Are you a shark or a dolphin?

This is Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. That means they're showing a whole series of programs which feature the work of scientists who study sharks and shark attacks around the world. Apparently a lot of people find this fascinating. Not me. Just thinking about sharks makes me cringe. They scare me - and not in a good way.

Now dolphins - I love dolphins. As a child I watched Flipper every week. As an adult I've been to Sea World several times wanting to see and hopefully even touch real live dolphins. Is there anyone who doesn't love dolphins?

Dolphins and sharks both live in the ocean, but there the similarity ends.

A shark never stops swimming. It's always out cruising, looking for its next meal. It is one of the ocean's most efficient and successful predators - a killing machine. Some scientists claim that sharks don't deliberately prey upon humans, but accidents happen. Either way, the results are often fatal for the human.

Dolphins, on the other hand, are usually quite friendly to humans. Stories abound about them swimming and playing with people, and even sometimes rescuing swimmers in distress. They do this even though there's nothing in it for them beyond the pleasure of companionship.

So what does all this have to do with lead generation?

If you're out hunting down prospects, they can sense it, and it scares them off. They may not literally run away screaming, but they avoid you. On the other hand, if you genuinely like people and want to help them, prospects can sense that, too, and they find themselves drawn to you.

Okay, so business isn't about altruism. There is something in it for you. You're trying to earn a living by turning prospects into paying customers. And there's nothing wrong with that. What I'm talking about here is your approach. Your attitude.

Think about it. When you're swimming in the ocean, if you happen to see a dorsal fin cutting through the water toward you, which animal do you hope is underneath that fin? A shark? Or a dolphin? Likewise, when your prospects see you approaching them, which kind of marketer do you think they're hoping you are?

Focus on being helpful rather than predatory. Show prospects that you have something to offer them that they can use to make their lives better, and they'll be attracted instead of repelled. And they'll be much more likely to stick around and become paying customers.