I was on the phone with someone the other day and they said, “Hold on. Before we talk business I just want to give you kudos.”
They went on about how we had talked seven years ago about a business I was thinking of opening and all these years later, I did it and now I was talking to that person about how the business can partner with his.
“Most people would have turned around by now. You’ve got tenacity, brother and I admire that.”
I feel pretty confident in writing that for most people that you’ll interact with after reading this, they’ve probably had to deal with some B.S. this week, too.
It might be worth reaching out to let them know you’re proud of them or you love them.
I’m continuously perplexed when people try testing two things that, if you paused for a moment, one would know which will be the winner.
Consider the marketing team that wants to test static image or video.
Or the ones that prefer to ask a coworker to review their work instead of an actual customer.
Even outside of marketing, which is more effective at creating an emotional connection? A high five or a hug?
That’s not to say one of the two options don’t work, but if we pause to consider that we’re talking about humans and not machines, the results of some tests are obvious.
Stay Positive & Put Your Effort Into The Unobvious
Things I heard as rationale for decisions made in the last week:
“I’m a fan of checklists.”
“I can tell the difference two degrees has on the end result.”
“I like when emails start with questions.”
It’s not that any of these are lies; it’s that they’re rational statements that support a decision for one’s self, not the end user or target customer or business prospect.
When you’re discussing any marketing efforts and a sentence starts with “I,” it’s pretty likely you’ve lost sight of the target.
With your marketing. With your greeting. With your ads.
Of course, where they are at is more than just a physical space or a landing page; it’s their narrative; their mindset; their specific hopes and dreams and expectations in this exact moment.
Yea, this makes marketing hard, but so so worth it.
Stay Positive & It Gives A New Meaning To Meet-up, Doesn’t It?
You can do something wrong or make a mistake and it might eat a bit at trust, but for the most part, the people worth working with will acknowledge that you’ve had a learning moment and you’ll be better because of it. Hell, it might even build trust with them.
Poor proactive communication, though, erodes trust faster than anything else.
Here are a few quick examples. They’re personal.
I proactively reached out to a distributor and followed up three times (the second and third time with more CC’s to increase visibility and to hopefully get things moving) to get a beer truck for a neighborhood event. After the fourth time, they finally admitted they hadn’t asked their events team and that the beer trucks were now fully booked for the night I needed them.
There was an equipment supplier that it took three emails to get a response from (this is also your friendly reminder to put an auto-out-of-office email if you are on vacation…). He cancelled our meeting the morning we were supposed to meet. We rescheduled and he not only didn’t show up – he didn’t call, text or email about missing it. I wasn’t rude in my follow up email, assuming he would be in the hospital as a valid reason for not communicating. He shrugged it off like it was normal. When I asked why I should re-trust him, he had no argument. Ouch.
Another furniture rep I worked with got six emails from me over the span of seven months asking for an update on the delivery of something I ordered. Not a single time did he proactively tell me there was any kind of delay.
I could continue to give examples, but here’s the thing: I’ve found other folks to work with. Ones that I’ve given thousands of dollars to, referrals, praise and appreciation. Some have even become relatively close friends.
So, I’m writing this for both you and me: Some people will lose your trust. There’s more, better people out there.
And if you’re someone that others are putting their trust in? Be the “better people out there” person.
Stay Positive & Put Your Energy Where You Actually Get A Return
