The Pedestal Group

I love looking at food I don’t recognize and learn about other  cultures through food.  It is fascinating stuff I promise!  The challenge is, unless you are really adventurous, it is tough to know what to buy. Yesterday I got to go to one of my favorite places in the world – the West Side Market.  This year marks the 100th anniversary of the market opening so you can imagine how many people have been through it.  There is a neat little store within the market in the back corner and it is usually completely jammed. You have to know what you want to venture in.  Yesterday, we hit at exactly the right time because it was empty.

First, I got an opportunity to really look through the store and see what they had.  That in and of itself was fun.  Then, ordering cheese, I got to talk to the manager / owner. He was charming and gave us samples of several things as well as advice on ways to prepare the items we were buying.  With his help, I was able to buy several things my family has never tried before and it became an experience – not just a shopping trip.

In the past, I have avoided this store because it was too busy to bother.  Turns out they have some really unique items that are spectacular.  I never would have known if we hadn’t been able to get there!  So what’s the morale here?  If you are a brick and mortar store, be sure people can easily get in and out.  Make it inviting so people will try it out.

If you are like the rest of us and don’t have a place for people to visit, think about the messages you are sending.  When people ask, “how’s business?” what is your answer?  If you answer, “we are super-busy” you are saying exactly what that store used to say.  No room!  The other end of the spectrum is to say things are slow.  But then you run the risk of the other person wondering what’s wrong with your business if they are seeing a big up-swing.

Instead, convey you are busy without being too busy for something new.  ”2012 has started well but there’s always room for more business” tells the person you are open and have something to offer.  Leading with what you’ve been working on the most can also convey busy while giving an idea of what you have to offer.  Just like the sales person gave us samples, sharing stories of what you are doing right now can cause the person to say, “I want that too!” and start turning into business.

If for some reason what you are doing for other clients isn’t something they need, you then have an opportunity to ask about their business.  What has them busy?  What challenges are they seeing?  For example, at the sausage vendor, we discovered that Mondays are half price sausage day because he gets deliveries on Tuesdays.  The trade off for the lower price is fewer options.  By talking with him and finding that out, we now know not only can we buy sausage on Mondays cheaper, but the kinds my friend and I wanted were the ones he always has left on Mondays.  Now, not only do we get what we want, but we are in-the-know on the specials.  We feel cool and he sells more sausage. Win-win!  By turning the tables we got great information.  You can do the same by talking to your prospect about trends, changes, or what they are seeing on their end.  These discussions can lead to ways to partner you wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

So make sure you are easy to get to talk to, you have things to offer, and can ask questions to find out the “specials” and information others may not have.  It is a great way to increase your business!

I arrived at a networking meeting this week and starting talking to a client I haven’t done business with in awhile.  It was great to catch up and see if I could help them now.  While we were talking, four people interrupted to ask if I would see them before I left.  My client was impressed and asked how I do that.  It was his first time to that meeting in over two years.  I explained that I attend this particular meeting every month.  People can count on me being there so they will often make themselves a note to connect.  I schedule an extra hour in my calendar for the meeting because I know I will be staying after and getting there early.  I am always present at this meeting.

It seems funny that a little thing like showing up can make such a difference but it does. If you asked those people who wanted to talk to me if they remembered me when I wasn’t around they would tell you “absolutely”.  But that’s not the point.  They associate me with the event.  They are going to XYZ Meeting and my face pops into their heads.  With that comes reasons to talk with me.  And wah-la! New business.  Other people walk in the room and find me there “just like always” so there is a familiar face. They don’t have to talk to someone they don’t know and they can be confident I will introduce them to whoever is around.  Again, we get to reconnect and generally can make new business happens.  All because I was there.

The other thing that happened was several people asked me about the presence of another person.  That person wasn’t at the meeting and clearly people were disappointed.  Two of them said they would follow up later but the other two, even after being offered his contact information, chose not to take it.  A missed opportunity?  Seems likely.  I did send a note to the individual and let him know these four were interested in speaking with him, but when he calls he now has to overcome why he wasn’t there first.

I highly recommend (if networking is part of your marketing plan) to choose a group or groups that fit your target audience and  commit to attending those meetings regularly.  You really need 5-6 times before you will become known and to evaluate if there is business to be gained from the group.  Give yourself the opportunity to succeed and don’t make up your mind after one meeting.  Being present makes all the difference when it comes to networking!

Today I was standing in line at the post office and recognized the gentleman in front of me. But if you had offered me a million dollars, I couldn’t tell you his name or how I knew him! Totally awful, right? Except after we said hello / how are you, he asked how things were at BNI. Given a context, I knew who he was, what he does and had good questions to ask while we waited for the person in front of us to send 37 (no kidding – 37) packages overseas.

So, what did I learn? At this time of year when you are going to all kinds of events and get togethers, after the initial “hi”, give the other person a context. Ask them a question about the place where you met. Even if they remember you, it will help the conversation and if they don’t, what a giant help you have been! I came back to the office and fired off a quick email to say how nice it was to see him. He’s now much more in my thoughts because he helped me in a situation that could be awkward and I’ll guarantee he didn’t realize he was helping. If you do this on purpose, you can really make a difference for a conversation that might otherwise go nowhere!

How else can you help people out?