As a kid I was brought up in a very “personable” home. My parents taught
me the value of being personable. If I received any form of gift, a Thank
–you note was sent. I was taught, if you receive a letter, you reply.
I carried that on into adulthood personally and professionally. Any e
mail I receive through my full time job or my part time side businesses I run,
every e mail gets a reply. Same goes for social media messages.
Recently I started to wonder if I was wasting my time with that
philosophy. A few weeks ago I decided to use my transferrable skills and
eventually expand with freelance work for audio production and social media
consulting. After talking to Chantal from Enterprise Temiskaming we discussed
the lack of "personality" and interest business owners/employers have
in general. I know myself I have had a few negative experiences with a couple companies
wanting my services but had no interest in talking to you personally or even
researching what I did, but rather push their years of experience or direct me
to a poorly constructed webpage with a list of their rates. The "I don't
have time to answer your questions but you need my service" is a big turn
off to any client or employee.
This wasn't the case however when I was re searching music production
companies. Zach from First Com called me personally. Right off
the bat he mentioned where I worked, what I did part time and even mentioned a
few hobbies. He had taken the time to check out my webpage and catered his
conversation to benefitting me, not just the company he worked for. Throughout
several conversations and e mails and thanks to his personal touch I felt like
an induvial not a number, which made me want to work with his
company. I’m using some of Zach’s approach when potential clients contact
me, by responding with a comment about their job/company.
I had a similar experience with Jennifer from Mossop Media. I remember
watching Jennifer as a news anchor on t.v when I was a teen. I stumbled across
an article that was posted on Facebook written by herself about "Life
After Job Loss" I shot off a quick e mail telling her I enjoyed the
article and to my surprise I received a very personal e mail back with some
great tips on how I can improve my future. She didn't push her company or her
philosophy on life but rather challenged and encouraged me to better
myself.
Now I see how important the personal touch really is for networking and
sales in any business. Those positive experience make me want do business
with those individuals at the same time bettering myself and improve my
businesses so my clients will have positive experiences themselves.
There are many benefits to taking a few minutes out of our busy
schedules to connect with potential clients or individuals. It may not generate
business, but it says a lot about your character, which is important for any
one in sales or the public eye or an induvial branching out on their own with
personal projects.
There's always a TON of negative situations that sour us to stop doing what
we stand for, but there is ALWAYS someone who reminds us, to keep doing what we
know is right.
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