BD tips and insights

FaceTime, or the power of real life meetings in a digital world

In a way, we’re all more visible than ever, emailing, linking-in, twittering and googling away the day. It’s tempting to get busy with that and think we’re “doing” relationship building.

As a fellow consultant recently told us of senior decision makers: “Face time. They all want face time.”

And she wasn’t talking about Apple’s FaceTime app. She meant across-the-table, look-me-in-the-eye, direct communication. A tangible, in-person interaction.

Don’t mistake your 500+ LinkedIn connections for the power of real world connections. Make sure you diarise some “face-to-face” time to connect with those clients, prospective clients and referral sources that matter to you.

Whilst virtual connections are convenient and nice to have (and sometimes lead to work), it’s difficult to build real rapport this way.

Wouldn’t you rather spend time having two or three meetings with people that turned into real paying clients or valuable sources of referrals and information, than cultivating countless superficial virtual contacts?

Taking the time to meet with people in person has rapidly become a really easy way to stand out. Meeting with someone and really listening to them is a much faster way to build trust than accepting a friend request or connecting with someone on LinkedIn.

Perhaps only add new contacts on social media after you’ve met face to face!

And if you’re not confident in the art of “face time” meetings, check out related articles and resources from our website or get in touch.

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Tender readability – tips to improve your tender presentation and some tender presentation no-nos

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