On Monday, we talked about the challenge of shifting your customer’s attention from their current emergency to you and your meeting, and doing this within the first three minutes. I shared that one of the best ways to accomplish this task was to learn something personal about your customer and then use that topic as a transition in the meeting. Good idea, but, how do you do this without sounding a little creepy?
A few months ago, I was meeting with a lady at a club for lunch. We had been introduced by a mutual friend who thought our businesses could benefit from each other. As our meeting was approaching, I had a million other things on my mind and wasn’t focused on her or our purpose. When she arrived, I came to the lobby area to greet her and walk back to our table. Of course, I acted professionally and looked excited to meet her, but it was superficial – I was thinking about everything else. She then said: “I saw some of your posts on Twitter and noticed that you’re an Orlando Magic fan.” Same result as Monday’s example – the personal topic that interested me shifted my focus to her and eventually our meeting. There was one thing she did that made this a comfortable transition.
The technique that made this a comfortable discussion was her method of communicating. She boldly stated that she looked up my Twitter feed. This action is acceptable and even expected today. Use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. to learn about your customer and admit it as your source. Candidly state something like: “I saw on LinkedIn that you went to Purdue. Great engineering school. How does their football team look this year?” This will take out all the mystery of your research and let them know that you took the time to prepare for the meeting.
Idea Tuesday: Use social media to find personal information about your customer and boldly admit it. This will take any “creepiness” out of the situation and illustrate that you did your homework.
