Skip to main content

The Proper FORM.

In my last post, I talked about how people I met during a 1-2-1, mentally chased me away because of their “commission breath”. In today’s post, I am going to give you a tip on how to have a conversation with someone, especially an introvert, that will not make them run to the nearest exit. Because they didn't have the PROPER FORM.

If you Google, "proper form" you will see hundreds of thousands of different results on various topics. For example, showing football players on how to tackle someone without injuring themselves. In baseball, infielders are coached how to quickly field a ground ball and throw the advancing base runners. In school, children are taught how to properly hold a pencil to write. Personally, as a water-skier, my dad coached me on how to have the proper form while skiing a slalom course. Most of those search results are beneficial because they are typically geared to show people how to prevent injury, or to show a technique to master a skill. When you master the technique, doing those things becomes second nature. The “Conversational FORM“ to this day is one of the most beneficial for me and the impact that it has had on me.

Family | Occupation | Recreation | Miscellaneous

You don’t necessarily have to have the FORM conversation in this exact order. But, what is important, it has to be genuine. When the meeting is over, you will know more about that person and you are on your way to earning their trust. As I have stated in my previous articles, networking, and referral driven business is built on connections and trust. During every meeting, I write on my note pad, next to the person's name, FORM. This is to remind me that it's not about me but the person on the other side of the table.

I read recently that in order to control a conversation that a person needs to ask themselves "How can you make a person feel important upon meeting them for the first time?" Most of the time when people are having a meeting they think that in order to control a conversation, they need to spew information about their goods/services and continue talking. This is commission breath. I love the LinkedIn app on my phone because it will alert me before every meeting and say "Get to know Danny L. Smith before your meeting". In my "Stop Wasting Handshakes Program" the connecting on social media step is purposely ahead of the 1-on-1 step because I want to learn about that person before we meet.

I recently got into a debate on Facebook regarding business cards and networking.  In the next article, we will discuss business cards, handshakes, and what to do with them and how to not waste them.
I will leave you with this, God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen and take a commission altoid.

Until next time… Happy Connecting!

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Commission Altoids

Have you ever had coffee with a person and 5 minutes into the meeting you are looking for the nearest exit? It's not because their breath wreaks of garlic or coffee but because of "Commission Breath" and the sale that they are trying to make. In my previous article, I talked about how sales and marketers need to be careful to not have commission breath. Since January 7th of this year, I have attended 38 networking functions, have met over 140 new people and scheduled over 50 one-on-one meetings. There have been multiple instances of when I meet with people at an event or over coffee and they are so focused on trying to earn a commission that they forget the purpose of networking. One of my favorite books is Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey. In the book, Covey talks about how people do business with people that they KNOW, LIKE and TRUST. If the people that I had met with, had taken the time to have a genuine conversation so that I could KNOW who they are... lea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Business Cards, What A Waste…

I recently got into a debate on Facebook about Business Cards and their importance. Surprisingly, it was my 2nd most commented and liked Facebook post in months. — 1st being the announcement of my wife’s pregnancy 😊. Most people agreed with me and some did not. Which is okay! One person’s comment really resonated with me and I have been looking forward to writing this article in response to their comment. They said: ...it’s not the card that counts, it’s the connection. A card shouldn’t determine how professional a person is or how serious they are.  I have given out hundreds of cards to people who say they are going to contact me and never do. That is more of a sign of not being serious or professional. I take more offense to that than anything else. Action and connection count A LOT more than a little piece of paper. I love the ending when they say, "Action and connection count A LOT more than a little piece of paper" because after all, the title of my blog i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dilly Dilly!

In my last article, I said we would discuss the WHAM! BAM! WOMM! of networking. Next, to connecting with people, Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) is the most crucial part of building a business that is a referral based. Word of Mouth Marketing is a strategy in which you engage customers and get them talking about your services or products. Wommapedia.org has a great definition for Word of Mouth Marketing, Put simply, it is 'any business Marketing action that earns a customer recommendation.' Here are some tactics for implementing a successful WOMM strategy… It starts with providing excellent customer service! When you receive a referral from one of your referral partners or another connection, you have to provide a customer servicing experience that speaks for itself. When someone refers business to me, I have the mindset that I am working for my referral partner because I am an extension of them. One of the things that I tell my team when they get referrals from a ...
Post a Comment
Read more