I spent the last two days manning a table at the SHRI HR Congress to promote Right Impact Training, the training and education part of Caelan & Sage. At first, Marylin handled the people who came to our booth as I listened to what she said, how she said it, what she was asked, and how she responded. Soon enough, I was at it on my own, engaging people who came by to check us out or stood looking at us curiously. This was reminiscent of my training day for Natural Selection Promotions, where I met with one of the demo-ers and she showed me the ropes. As I observed how she did it, I began to lure more customers over to try the product and after a bit, I was quite well-versed in why it was a great thing to eat. So, as I do, I sat back and watched until I was ready to try it out on my own. For the most part it went decently, with just a few people who were less than receptive and left without leaving any contact info. Occasionally, I'd get a question that I didn't really know, so Marylin would jump in and provide more details.
I have found that I can be quite comfortable working off a table, where anyone who comes by and looks at us long enough should know that they are just asking to be talked to. They are the ones who make themselves available and open to some pitching, so they tend to be interested in hearing more. However, one thing I wanted to work on was going out into the crowd of delegates and striking up a conversation that would lead to another networking opportunity. Unfortunately, this is definitely one of my weaknesses, unless I am in a high-energy environment like a camp or organized icebreaker activity. Since this was very much professional and all about business, I didn't know how to approach the people as they were munching on food or sipping on drinks. My innate shyness always finds a way to kick my butt at these gatherings. When I was a child, I was so quiet and reserved with strangers that I couldn't even look them in the eye and I would flush a bright red in the stress. Since then, I've improved a lot, but in situations that I am uncomfortable in, I tend to revert back to some of those old ways.
Now it's not so much a problem of approaching strangers, but it's more of what context I am doing it in. I went around to all the exhibitors located in the other room and was perfectly happy with going up to each of them, chatting them up on who they are and what they do, then in turn sharing who I am and what C&S is all about. Based on that information, many a business card were exchanged, with promises of e-mail correspondence to come. There were some possible collaborations and a few potential clients, which was very promising. That was much easier for me because everyone knew that the people at those tables were there to spread the word on their company, so we had a pretense to start with. Then, upon telling me their story, they were curious about mine (I think especially with my American accent), which opened up a chance for me to share with them without imposing on them. Everything seemed unpretentious and we built up a good rapport that way.
My difficulty with approaching the delegates at the congress was due to the fact that every time they were in our area, they were getting a meal to eat or having a tea break. So to start off with, they are more in the relaxing type of mentality. Granted, they realize that these types of professional conferences are a breeding ground for making new connections, but I feel intrusive walking up to them with an agenda. I could try one of our teammates, Napper's, tactic and just chat them up on how they found the congress so far and whatnot, but that is not quite my selling style. Marylin has a very aggressive approach and Napper has a very laid-back approach; I am somewhere in between, but closer to Marylin's style. Perhaps I need to change my frame of mind and not take this type of event as a sales event, but more as a networking event. In part my impatience is because I want them to see the intrinsic value of our services right away and look into hiring us or working with us.
The next time I get a chance to go to something like this, or when I go to the next forum or sharing session, I will remind myself that I am just there to meet new people, whether or not they will be useful business contacts. I have been pressuring myself too much lately, always thinking very critically about how each interaction could turn into an opportunity for us. I remember I used to love to chat people up for no good reason but to talk to them. We'll see if that mentality will improve my fear of approaching strangers...
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Right before I left LA, I had two very different experiences with customer service that brought to the forefront the idea that how you provide your service is very important for your image. Then, as I mentioned yesterday, I just recently had another experience that emphasizes how great customer service can make up somebody's mind about the quality of your work! Even if the quality of your product or service is not related to the quality of your customer service, people will tend to go for people and companies they like and trust rather than ones that have no personal connection, but are mavens at what they do. And that is the influence of word of mouth, which powers viral marketing. Nothing is more reliable than the opinions of your closest friends, family, and colleagues. So, a word to the wise, outstanding customer service can trump many marketing schemes. And in this day and age, it probably costs a lot less to train employees to interact with your clients considerately than to put out a campaign. Now let me describe my experiences. Today, I got an e-mail from my mother asking if I had set up an IRA yet. I had joined Mint.com a few weeks ago, which sent me a couple of e-mails since then, reminding me that if I opened up an Individual Retirement Account before Tax Day, I could save thousands! Thrice I went, filled out all my info to see what I qualified for, and decided that I should go for a Roth IRA. Thrice I left it at that, not daring to click on the links below to Fidelity, Scottrade, E*Trade, or Charles Schwab to actually set up an account. So today, I decided it was now or never. With only two and a half days left before the big deadline, I went ahead and tried out Fidelity. I was watching a video with clips of an interview conducted overlooking the San Fernando Valley today and it brought up so many memories, particularly of Valentine's Day, when Panda and I had a similar view. Seeing that, with the California sun and telltale smog, made me miss LA so much. Not just the memories and experiences from there, but the greater Los Angeles area in general. From the landscape to the opportunities to the people, there is so much to love. Between two cities in LA County, I have spent the greater part of the last six years living in Southern California. I have certainly grown to the love place, despite the hours I spent travelling up and down the 5 and 405, stuck in traffic. Of course, there is also a slew of terrific memories of all the wonderful things I got to experience there. Most recently, there was the drive up and down Mulholland Drive that brought about some great new views of familiar territory. Then earliest on, I had been introduced to many of the main attractions in the area, from Santa Monica Pier to the Hollywood Bowl. I attended yet another forum today, this time on the topic of whether Singapore is ready to be a sporty nation. In other words, they don't have a very strong sports culture at the moment, but it is growing stronger and there are those who are interested in bringing it to the forefront. They want to develop a following for uni level sports like in the states, where college teams are closely followed, or produce athletes like in Russia, which is a powerhouse for certain sports. Well, those are just models to look at anyway. Generally, they just want Singaporeans to embrace an active lifestyle, whether by playing sports themselves or supporting and rooting for those who do (especially if they represent the country in international meets). At times I wish I had more family living near me, or a greater extended family sprawled around the world. I have always dreamt of having an older brother to rely on (or a gay best friend). Since I tend to connect a lot better with guys, I have always wanted to have one who was very, very close to me in a platonic way. Unfortunately, though such figures have come and gone, I can't really claim one guy who I can run to when I am hurt or scared or just have a great secret to share. More than that though, I wish that my cousins and I were closer. When I was young, I would always follow them around so closely that they nicknamed me their shadow. It was true enough, since I only got to see them once a year for a few weeks and that was my only tie to my background. This summer when I was spending time with my parents in Beijing, I got a chance to drop by their office and see where they work (and who they work with). While I was there, it was the strangest feeling to see my dad's fancy pants office, with mahogany furnishings and all kinds of cool decorations. It reminded me of one time when I went to see him at his last US office (in LA county), where he had a secretary to liaise with. People had to go through her to get to him and that, to me, was so odd. After all, I've always had full access to him! What was all the more strange this time though, was hearing him being called and referred to as "Dr. Qin" - umm, what? Nowadays with the market being so competitive, personal branding extremely important to stay on top of things. It's no longer just an issue of how your company is imaged, what your logo looks like, how your stores are presented, and what type of packaging you use. As social media is on the rise, so is the need for personal branding. It has become more and more about the individual and as such, it is paramount to present yourself with the image you desire. Every now and then, I come up with some outrageous idea that I really wish was possible. One that I've been thinking of is if our eyes could be cameras. I absolutely love to take pictures and I try to keep my camera on me at all times. Sometimes, things just happen too fast for it to be pulled out, turned on, aimed, and shot. So many brilliant pictures and shots have been lost that way. To some extent it preserves the beauty of life, making living in real time worth so much more than trying to live through still shots. However, those are often the very moments you really want to remember and be able to look back and share with others. I have gotten the pleasure of being able to chat with Panda online while on webcam for the past two weeks and I am so grateful for this technology. Although it took me awhile to convince him we (or at least I) needed this, he finally decided to go for it and I'm quite confident he hasn't looked back. Our chosen medium of video chatting is TokBox, which is what Meebo uses. I used to sign on to my AIM, MSN, and other accounts by using the in-browser service so I could access it from any computer, but for some reason it doesn't seem to load at the office, so I have had to revert to using Trillian. Unfortunately, due to compatibility issues, I can't video with him on that, so we make our way over to TokBox to see each other. |
laelene My philosophy is simple: things change. Therefore, we are all on a lifelong journey of discovery. We should be flexible, questioning, learning, adapting, and growing. Always. Archives
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