We are on holiday currently in Goa in India. It’s a nice place and the people are very friendly. The rain was hammering it down when we arrived 2 days ago but since then it’s been warm and dry. I decided to use the 2 weeks to chill out, keep the plates just about spinning at Drive Social Media and do a little blogging. The best tip I can give on holding the readers’ attention or the delegates’ attention during training courses is to tell stories...people love little stories. My stories are a mixture of wholly true, partly true or made up...and I am confused myself now which is which... J If the story adds a little value or helps someone to be successful or overcome a problem it’s worth telling.
Today we took a taxi and adopted ‘Su’ as our driver for the holiday. Fair play to him he made sure that he had added value to our2 hour taxi ride before he raised the subject. He made sure we were comfortable for the journey. He then pointed out all the local spots we may like to visit. If we liked holy places and places of worship he told us about them with enthusiasm. He fascinated us with his talk on Hinduism. We told him we wanted a supermarket so we could buy some essentials like decent coffee and dried milk – the hotel coffee being rather poor unlike the food which is very good. He waited 1 hour while we did our shopping and had lunch. He asked what kind of things we wanted from the holiday. We enjoy a little sightseeing, nice places for lunch, and a good bar for the football. He advised us on each one. At the end of the trip he said if we needed him, he gave us his card, we should ask the hotel to call his local number. A testimonial from the hotel no less. We didn’t need it. We had already bought....and despite his Manchester United shirt.
The bartender Mallu was friendly enough. He helped us get my laptop powered across his bar so I could catch up on emails. Then he chatted with Genny as I did some work. It had been tough on business for the hotel in the last 2 years. The Europeans and especially the British were coming in less numbers because of the recession. Thankfully, the Russian tourists had filled the gap and kept the hotel busy. He preferred the Europeans. They were friendly and he learned English from them. The Russians didn’t speak English and they didn’t much like the British. They were unfriendly and drank heavily. I suggested he learned some Russian or at least show willing for his guests. He agreed but that led to another issue. He learned how to say “How can I help you my friend?” in Russian. Unfortunately, this was interpreted by Muscovites as meaning they were now preferential guests and started demanding discounts on everything..... Oh dear.
A couple of regular Indian guys today exemplified some great pointers for business people and online and offline networkers.
Listen to your customers and give them some great value. Treat them with respect and they will buy. No need for a heavy sales pitch.
Choose your customers well. Fairness and respect is needed from both sides for a long term fruitful business relationship.
