Is The Old Bait and Switch Approach Still Active in 2025?

This morning, I had a Zoom meeting scheduled with a partner at an investment capital firm. When he originally booked the call, his message was clear: he wanted to explore synergies and have a collaborative conversation. 

I was intrigued. It felt like an opportunity to explore something meaningful. In our original correspondence, I even suggested he might be a great fit to speak in front of my online community, BOSS Academy. Being open-minded on these initial calls, having a win-win mindset, often creates great opportunities.

What happens when one party misrepresents their intentions? Often everything falls apart. 

When I joined the call, a different name popped up than I was expecting. It wasn’t the person who scheduled the meeting. It was his business development associate. No introduction. No context. Just a one-sided sales pitch, delivered by someone I hadn’t agreed to meet. It wasn't a great start... I even prefaced my disappointment at the beginning of the call and expressed how the original contact should have been here. The person on the other end of Zoom stated, "He's really busy and only sometimes shows up to these calls." I immediately stopped him and stated, "I'm busy too and this wasn't the original intent behind our meeting" I then proceeded to ask what he was hoping to get out of this interaction. Perhaps he lacked some awareness and didn't realize I was frustrated, as he Immediately started jumping into a sales pitch. Yikes!

I ended the call quickly and politely, sharing that this was not what I was expecting from an introductory session. I left the experience with a sour taste because what happened wasn’t just poor etiquette, it felt like a bait-and-switch. In my eyes, this was a situation poorly communicated and poorly executed. 

Why This Approach Was Wrong

In sales, trust is everything. Once you lose it, it’s hard to earn back.

When someone believes they’re stepping into a "get to know you call" to explore partnership or value exchange and it turns out to be a one-sided pitch the result is not just disappointment. It’s often an instant loss of credibility. In this case, I was handed off to a junior rep who must hate his job, as I'm sure he experiences rejection regularly. 

I don't care that he was junior or a sales associate. This isn’t about titles. I respect business development professionals immensely. They often have a hard job. However, transparency is key. If your intention is to delegate the meeting or to have a rep qualify the lead first, say so upfront. Let the other party decide if that’s worth their time. It's about respect for the other individuals and it also set's the right expectations.

A Better Approach

If you’re in sales or business development, here are a few ways to avoid this trap:

• Be honest in your outreach. If it’s a discovery call or a sales presentation, don’t package it as a “collaboration” or “partnership conversation.”

• Respect the calendar. If you book the meeting, you show up or give the invitee a heads-up if someone else will be attending in your place.

• Prioritize mutual value. The best meetings aren’t monologues; they’re conversations where both parties walk away with something of value.

As someone who trains and coaches others in ethical selling and authentic engagement, I can tell you: shortcuts might get you a meeting, but they rarely lead to meaningful outcomes.

We all want to grow our businesses. But if you have to misrepresent a meeting to get on someone’s calendar, you’ve already started the relationship in the red.

We can do better, by just being honest in our intentions.