Shaken, Not Stirred – Playing it Cool Like James Bond
byChuck Bauer
Shaken, Not Stirred
Playing it Cool Like James Bond
Networking events can be a great way to make personal connections but they also present challenges when it comes to follow-up. You exchange business cards, then maybe a couple of standard “it was so nice meeting you” emails, a few phone messages and then THE VOID.
No returned call. No closed deal.
So how do you avoid these common mistakes and achieve success? A recent Facebook exchange on commonly used networking lines noted the following…
“Business cards are obsolete!”
“What’s your email?”
“I would hope the business card has her email address on it.”
“LinkedIn.”
“Here, I’ll give you two…one for you and one to give to someone who may want to talk to me about [fill in the blank with your offer].”
“So you throw [the business card] away and forget we even met tomorrow?”
“If you don’t know who I am by now… you don’t matter to me! Lol.”
“Let me give you two. One for you and one for a friend.”
“Let me get your info.”
“Google me.”
“So sorry I’m all out! Here give me one of yours and I’ll reach out with my contact info.”
“Here take two.”
“Hand them your phone so they can input their contact info in it. Then send them yours after they hand it back.”
Sound familiar? Looking to create some intrigue with your prospects… an air of mystery… distinction? Think about this—
James Bond never carried business cards.
At a networking meeting, a woman asked me for my business card, and I replied, “I’m sorry, I do not carry my business cards with me.” Carrying business cards with me and making it a point to hand my cards out to everyone is NOT DISTINCTIVE! However, I said “May I have yours?”
She immediately grabbed her purse and pulled out her card while explaining to me (at about 200 words per minute–which is 60 words per minute TOO FAST) what she did.
I cupped her card in BOTH of my hands while I listened intently and displayed a very professional demeanor. When she finally stopped speaking, I thanked her for sharing. (But yes, I did feel choked by all the info!)
She then asked what do I do? (I am now in control, BTW!)
I said I own a sales and business consulting company, and that we BUILD LIFE-LONG RELATIONSHIPS with everyone we meet. Therefore, I would like to do something special for her on her birthday, so I respectfully asked for only the month and day of her birth – the year is not necessary. Guess what? She gladly gave it to me which I wrote on the card.
Now I had her! I was distinctive, different, confident and professional! Manicured nails. Pressed jeans. Nice long-sleeved shirt. GREAT shoes. Hair combed. Slow speech. Different – distinctive, relaxed and in control.
The only thing missing was my martini–shaken, not stirred.
She began asking me non-stop about my company and shared with me all the other sales training companies she had hired for her company with no results, etc., etc. All this while I was being quiet and using positive speech connectors and making mental notes of everything she said – she might be a qualified candidate! Other people showed up and that was the end of that… or was it?
Going to networking events, doing these CANNED :30 or :60 second elevator speeches is CHEESY and NON-DISTINCTIVE. Hyper-ventilating while running around the room passing out cards is so counter-culture to an effective “Attraction” strategy vs. a “PROMOTION” strategy. The cheesy strategies will only get you to non-affluent, non-VIP, or non-qualified types of prospects.
Repeating the same procedures with the same information chokes your progress.
I, on the other manicured hand, will always do my best to be different and distinctive. If everyone else is doing it, immediately STOP and find a better way. Feed the relationship through anticipation rather than immediately stuffing it with information which may or may not be remembered!
The curiosity built ON PURPOSE will work in my favor 100 times over when she finally receives… what you’ll find out about when you watch the following video.
Chuck’s insights come from observing LIVE sales calls and business transactions through his work as a professional business coach, not to mention over 40,000 minutes of LIVE Virtual training per year. His clients, including sales professionals, business owners and C-level executives, will tell you time and time again that Chuck’s tactics have saved deals, streamlined operations and skyrocketed revenue. Put Chuck Bauer to work for you and experience the immediate gains for yourself and your company.
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