I want to step back this week and revisit how this whole “Mr. Shmooze” thing started, because it is at the core of everything we do with our research and our writing.
Years ago, I became fascinated, both as a buyer and a seller, with people who could make a difference by sheer force of their personalities and will. In other words, while the product or service they were representing were obviously key, these special people could add to the appeal of them through their own, unique communications skills and selling styles. That set me off on a journey I continue to make today in the quest of understanding, and passing along, the magic such people create in the course of pursuing their life’s work.
If you have read my book and my blogs over the years, you know by now that the chemistry these people generate is the result of hundreds of little things they do, day in and day out, to make their lives, and the lives of the people around them, a little more interesting, a little more intriguing, a little more exciting. They are experts at breaking people’s routines, even if only for a few minutes, drawing people’s attention and emotions to higher levels and creating memorable occasions along the way.
I have always said that a salesperson, or any person who wants to build relationships, can boil down his or her interactions with other people to a simple question.
As you part company, does the other person feel the same, worse or better for having spent a few moments of his or her life with you?
If the answer is consistently “better,” you will be unstoppable as a relationship builder and as a human being.
