Friday Focus: Get Out There
This week J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon spoke on the importance and impact of building your brand in person. Getting out there and connecting with people, whether clients, colleagues, fellow industry members or future customers. The importance of forming a true in-person connection is still relevant and crucial to your success as a business owner, unfortunately this is being overlooked by most especially in recent years.
Today with so much tech and the ability to meet and connect virtually, many business owners and entrepreneurs have undervalued the power of the in-person interaction. Whether it’s going out to close a deal and find new business or catching up with an existing client or co-worker being present, face to face does so much good. We are all human and still value and respond to a physical presence. Energy transfers and body language still play a key role in decision making especially when it comes to building trust, the end goal of every sale or partnership.
People buy from who they like, and they trust, the fastest way to build that trust is in building a genuine connection, what better way to do so than to look someone in the eye, face to face, exchange a handshake and express each other’s opinions, objectives and experiences.
A physical interaction with someone is far times more memorable that a virtual one, all the senses are in use, touch, sight, sound and even scent. The brain has so many cues to pull from with memory and many opportunities to recall an impactful meeting.
How often have you remembered someone, not by name or job title but by many physical or emotional attributes you got from meeting them in person a talking head on zoom call can’t achieve. The girl with the nice shoes, the big guy, the firm handshake, good energy and so on, everything is so much more noticeable in person. All these elements are opportunities and leave you with the chance to make a stronger and long-lasting connection, leading to the ultimate goal of building your network and brand in the process.
Unfortunately, most don’t value the benefits of being present and or attending events, there are many factors that attribute to this but at the bottom of it all is the uncomfortability associated with it, which usually stems from a lack of confidence. That is not to say entrepreneurs are socially awkward or have boring personalities, I find it stems from a lack of confidence in their ability to articulately present their brands, or ideas, maybe not having all the answers to big questions as quickly or confidently as they’d like. Also, many big business events are intimidating, especially if attending for the first time maybe even solo.
It’s more comfortable for them to host virtual meetings with their laptop handy, in maybe their office or home than a conference hall with hundreds of people or in a smaller group having to present all day, speaking and looking the part. Resulting in most opting to stay inside, become out of touch with the target market and miss out on building meaningful connections.
This is your opportunity to do the opposite and beat the competition, as more and more get comfortable and stay at home, step out of your comfort zone get out there, attend events, get-togethers, seminars, classes, be present, by doing so you will stand out and thrive as someone who wants to be involved who doesn’t just want business, but means business. Build confidence by taking time to know your brand inside and out, be able to speak about it in any environment, then you’ll come across as knowledgeable, professional and capable, someone any potential investor, client or partner would love to work with.
To gain personalized guidance for your business on this topic and others contact us.
- Vince Calace
Founder - Venture Business Development