Has the whole ‘working from home’ made it tough to connect on a personal level?
As always, it depends….
Contemplating this question with friends in the hyperscalers, we agree that existing relationships were able to be sustained, and often even deepened (after all, we now know each other’s bedrooms, families and pets from various video-calls). On the flip side, it was incredibly hard to build new relationships.
Stating the obvious: A virtual coffee is not quite the same as a 1:1 on an office sofa. The novelty of virtual cooking and cocktail classes, Bingo nights and Vubs (Virtual Pubs), despite not needing a taxi home, has worn off.
The novelty of meaningful conversations always remains!
Look at Nicholas Epley’s (and others) research and findings here: people literally blossom with a meaningful chats and are happier – by talking to strangers. Every person we meet via work are initially strangers. Your call to action: Turn them into meaningful contacts!
Connecting to clients
One of my close mentors and inspirational sales leader, Khalid Qayum, advised his team during the pandemic have personal-time with customers by starting every call with a personal conversation. Take it from 1 min to 10 min within a few conversations. (Time yourself! Khalid is a genius!). This increased sales and new business dramatically. And it made the monotonous video sessions enjoyable for everyone.
Connecting to the team
At Chicago Booth, we students met initially virtual. The university prepared many fun and meaningful interactions to get-to-know each other: from people bingo, to smart introductions (What do you do, not your title! Unforgotten are Snake Charmer, Cat Herder, Magician and Pacifier) (reach out to learn more!). When we finally met in person, we had tons of stuff to talk about and excelled in group work.
Personal connection is key to working and engaging together.
Take an interest in the other person, their life, and their business. Sales will come with the relationships you build.
If you need a little boost for this topic, talk to us! Foxlove will help you engage and coach you to meaningful relationships with business partners. It is hard work and lots of fun!
Ramona@Foxlove-Strategy.com
Comments