Let’s have a coffee
This month I’m stepping away from social media and getting physically social. What do I mean? I mean to get out and meet people the old-fashioned way. Starting conversations with a simple “hello” or a handshake. Or in some countries, a nose rub.
I’m talking about in-person or face-to-face marketing. Conversations over a beverage, meal or even a game of golf. It’s a way to get to know a person. None of this online “hide-behind a profile picture”. Instead, you make the effort to meet in-person.
Whoa! In-person? Face-to-face? Within spitting distance? That’s right. Even before the days of the pandemic, we’ve been distancing ourselves from interaction. Whether it be professionally or socially, it seems, as a species, we’re communicating farther apart from each other, blame technology, germs, bad breath, or lack of time. Now there are advantages to online forms of communication, but I’ll stick to the good old-fashioned method in this article. We’ve been communicating face to face for thousands of years and face to screen for less than 30.
When it comes to your business, what better way to get to know your customers than to hook up with them in person (not that kind of hooking up). Myself, I love meeting folks at industry conventions, seminars, trade fairs, and my favourite, over a round of golf (although golf is considered a second date).
Now for those who know me, I’m a bit of an extrovert, so I don’t mind starting conversations. Ideally, if I find myself in a situation that calls for a name tag, all the better. These situations are intended for socializing. Afterall, the name tag says “Hello, I’m…”
When you sit down with someone, you get to really know that person. Their body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, etc, are telltale signs of compatibility. Or incompatibility. It’s up to you if you want that “second date” or to bring them into your business. Much easier to determine than over a Zoom, phone or email conversation. No “reading between the lines” involved.
Like many, I’ve been caught in online conversations where the recipient took my remarks in an unintended way. When we press keyboards to talk to someone, we take away the emotion in our words. Or add too much. In person, it’s evident in the conversation what is being said, good or bad.
After a term in politics, I discovered how speaking and/or confronting people face- to-face resolves issues intelligently and respectfully. The same goes when speaking to clients and customers. The personal relationship that you build can be a lasting one. And profitable.
I don’t know about your business, but I’d rather surround myself with people I want to be around than to have to navigate my way around customers I couldn’t care less for. Build genuine and lasting friendships with those who seek your brand and your business will prosper. Isn’t running a business that keeps you uplifted and positive the reason you started it in the first place?
Meet you on a tee box, mark.
