Photo by earl53.
Food, tea, pets, wine, and TV shows are among subjects invoking the best internet relationships.
Susan Murphy elaborates:
Some of the best friends I’ve made, I’ve not made because I’m sitting around all day long doing “business” on Twitter. We’re friends because we’ve shared things about our lives with each other. Some of the most important client connections I’ve made, I’ve not made because of a tweet about my company. I’ve made them because of things like a tweet about the lemon meringue pie I baked last weekend….
Because to me, it’s part of what makes you, you. It shows me that you’re more than just your company’s mission statement. It shows me that you’re okay with letting your guard down a bit once in a while. It shows me that you’re a person, just like me.
Whether your best conversation all day is about the pie you baked last weekend or the latest sales numbers is not the point. Is Susan right or is Christina right? They both are right.
Explore common threads and magic will happen.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
We are both right
I agree with Susan here. I take a pretty extreme vendor-agnostic approach when networking, especially on social media. So when I meet people, its generally to talk about fav foods, what we are doing this weekend, books we are reading, etc. – then – the conversation may lead to ‘what it is you do and who do you work for?’ On the other hand, my conversations interally are a but different (although we def dont talk ‘shop’ all day long). I have a goal in those conversations and that goal tends to be to learn. Learn how I can help, how am I doing, what else could I be doing, etc. There is a time and a place for everything.
My experience has been that by making a personal connection with an existing customer, I can often solidify the relationship as well. A business coach once told me that people don’t do business with you because of your product or your price – they do business with you because thy like you.
Good points you both make. When I compare how my business partner and I are doing networking, I have to say, that my partner definitely is more successful. He is more the “by-the-way-what-is-your-job”- person, whereas I am quite straight forward. I think this is coming across in a too pretentious way and people identify me as seller. I have been trying to work on this and I think the less I try to selling something, the more and better feedback I get in the long run- such as people coming onto me asking for our services.