The idea for this week’s article came to me while filling out the morning USA Today Crossword Puzzle. In and of itself there is no connection, so I don’t want you to spend any time trying to connect the dots. I suppose my point is that ideas come from anywhere and everywhere.
The truth is that your clients and future clients are out there dancing to the beat of their own drum. The chances are very good they are not doing the fox trot to the same rhythms. They are all focused on their own set of circumstances, and worrying about whatever it is they worry about. For you to enter their world thinking, or believing, that you can soon have them focusing on your agenda is nothing short of delusional. But there is a way.
We all spend much of our waking hours talking to ourselves. (This in itself is not a bad thing but, unfortunately, most of what we hear is negative self-talk.) We are all pre-occupied with our daily concerns, and when an outsider attempts to segue our thinking to another train of thought, the result is often less than appreciated.
The answer (maneuver, trick, solution) then becomes somewhat obvious. Make an earnest attempt to enter the conversation the person is already having with themselves.
Let me try to explain this “strategy” by way of example.
My business provides services to both agency managers/owners and frontline agents. If I approached an agent and slanted my promotional material toward company financials, software enhancements and future exit strategies, I do not imagine I would be exciting the imagination of these frontline agents. To practice what I preach, I would take a few moments to decide what these very same agents are thinking about day to day. Perhaps it would involve FAM Trips, salary bonuses, additional days off, future industry conference attendance, etc.
I hope you are getting my message. If not, let me put it more bluntly. “People do not care about you, your past, your future, or the “horse you rode in on.” They spend 24 hours a day thinking about their interests, their problems, their current conditions and a whole bunch of “what-if’s.”
If you want to capture people’s attention, while positioning yourself as a very interesting individual, try diligently to enter the conversation they are already having with themselves.
P.S. – The first step in doubling your business in the next 100 days is to invest in my latest book titled, 100 Bedtime Stories For Travel Professionals.
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Mike Marchev is always looking for a few more proactive travel professionals to join his Sales and Marketing Club. mike@mikemarchev.com.
*** You want more to think about? Check out my weekly podcast (Mike’d Up Marchev). Also listed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, and iHeartRadio.
