While it’s beneficial to market yourself and your company in conversations, presentations, emails and social media updates, it’s even more important to be engaged. Your audience could care less about who you are and what you do if you haven’t established a connection of trust and respect. By truly engaging with your audience, customers, clients, and fans instead of focusing on giving your sales pitch, your networking, presentations and relationships will be more meaningful. Here are a couple of pointers.
1. Set your mindset
Remember quality rules over quantity. Focus on building relationships and not just about adding contacts. In other words, don’t aim to collect as many business cards as you can at a networking event or get as many retweets as possible. Consider how you can help the people you engage with and meet.
2. Listen and respond
Don’t hear the conversation but listen to it. Find out and address the concerns and show them a solution and/or engage in the conversation. Provide helpful information, advice, and/or facts.
3. Be authentic
People can see your true intentions, and they probably won’t respond to a clear sales pitch. Likewise, if your presentation is all about you, your audience may have a hard time seeing how they fit in the equation. If you’ve set your mindset to building relationships, be authentic in making sure your audience’s needs are met.
Are you responsive and authentic in the way you engage with your audience?
