Where Are Your Customers?

Jean Chow, Business Coach & Strategist, Toronto, ON, CYBF Mentor, info@msbizwiz.com

Looking for new customers? Connect the dots! Check your network, smile and say “Good morning!” to the person on the subway or in the Starbucks’ queue, drop off your niece’s friend and strike up a conversation with the parents, stop and ask your vendors “how’s business?”. Start the conversation.  You’ll be surprised how it may lead to new customers.

“Thinking outside the box” is one way to describe Steve Jobs, one of the most brilliant misfits of all time.  Here’s the ad copy he initiated upon his return to Apple (from the Harvard Business Review Blog Network http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/steve_jobs_legacy_design_your.html):

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” (Apple Inc.)

Be open. Be mindful. Be sincere. Listen actively and ask the right questions. And above all, be gracious and always remember to thank those who refer you and pay it forward by referring them. Think outside the box!