I Like Your Look!

I Like Your LOOK!

 There are commercial and professional lessons to learn and apply everywhere, and in modern mundane or even irritating everyday experiences. 

We all have survey fatigue don’t we.  Open a web page, get asked for a survey.  Sit down to a family dinner after a hard day and the phone rings asking you to take a short survey.  Walk down any downtown street, and get confronted with a clipboard.  Mostly I give a firm, but polite no thank you. 

Recently though, I succumbed to this most modern of overtures and here is the story:

I was walking through King George Square in Brisbane looking for some free WiFi prior to a get-together with some work colleagues from 10 years ago.  I had not seen them since leaving Australia in 2003.  A friendly twentysomething with a clipboard from an environmental group was in my path and made eye contact even though I was trying to avoid it.  She said to me, “Hey, I like your LOOK!”  And guess what, I stopped, engaged and filled out the survey joining their cause. 

Some readers may exit at this point with a groan about this being another example of titillated musings by an over-forty, boring suburban dad.  Bear with it though, as this episode has a valuable commercial/professional lesson and an outcome to which all of us in sales and marketing should aspire. 

The base opening salvo to attract new clients hasn't changed much in decades:  make a good and memorable first impression to further engage for mutual benefit.  What has changed is that the returns are dramatically diminishing for traditional methods that rely on numbers and impersonal messages: direct mail, bulk email, cold calling etc.    Companies are finding more success with social selling, inbound marketing and thought leadership.  As I have come to understand with today’s plugged in and heavily armed (with information) customers, you have to give to get, tell a more compelling story, and have a much more personalised conversation.  That takes hard work, diligent research and clever thinking.   If we get that right in business, the rewards are great. 

So let’s dissect the story slightly more to understand why the survey girl “got the Guernsey” while everyone else has me pulling a “Heisman.”  (Sorry, could not pass on the chance to use both Aussie and American sports metaphors in the same sentence)

I have to confess that I had tried to dress as cool as possible that day because I wanted to impress my former work colleagues from 10 years ago.  Shoot me for being shallow.  I was wearing a pair of light olive skinny chinos, a new , fitted pattern shirt, brass studded belt, two-tone suede desert boots and black metal Ray Bans. 

She said, “Hey, I like your LOOK!” not anything more overt or inappropriate like “Hey Sexy!” or showing only her interest such as “Hi, we need you now to help us save the planet.” Both of those would have come off as insincere at best and shameless at worst. I am running with the notion that she was sharp and insightful.  She picked up on a vibe that I had dressed myself with care that morning and that my “look” was something important to me.   So I might react in the way she wanted, which I did. Her gambit came off as a unique and sincere message for my consumption only.  Perhaps it wasn’t genuine, but her inflection certainly made it seem so.  Gold star she gets. 

Later that day , I realised, “Hey we all should aspire commercially and professionally to  that I LIKE YOUR LOOK!  moment with potential new clients: 

·         Take the time to understand them

·         Say something meaningful and genuine - to them

·         Engage them in a mutually beneficial conversation

Easy to say, much harder to execute, but the it is a survival imperative and tools are here today:  LinkedIn, inbound marketing & marketing automation, other social media and most importantly everyone’s own untapped creativity. 

At least now I have a memorable experience to link to this ideal and better-defined aspiration.