I recently wrote a blog for UPworld about joking.
Knowing full well that this is a business audience connecting professionals
interested in real estate, design, architecture, engineering, and construction.
The suggestion was put to the readers of this blog to seek-out humor that is
timeless if a bit formulaic and funny if a bit silly while being artfully
inoffensive. If we believe people want to do business with those they know,
like, and trust it might make sense to let humor be a point of difference.
The supreme art of war is to subdue
the enemy without fighting - or so says the famous Chinese military strategist Sun
Tzu. It seems humor can be a powerful
tool if we can appreciate the nature of competition in this digital age.
Naturally you will want to set yourself apart as a premium provider of smart
solutions. (Solutions that solve real problems ranging from quality service,
workmanship, reputation and reasonable value. All at a price that is
acceptable.) Think about it this way: You want engagement with business
prospects. You have to find ways to create meaningful dialogue with your
customers. That dialogue is only possible if you create an environment of approach-ability.
In the scheme of things your current customers and employees become the most
important ambassadors for your firm.
As a case in point, allow me to give
a specific example. A general contractor, of whom I was working, was struggling
with a client who was feeling less than satisfied. At the heart of the
customer’s complaint was the notion that communication was falling short of
expectations. “I think the problem was the lack of communication with our
organization about schedule, cost and project updates,” he said in an emergency
meeting between customer and general contractor CEO.
The CEO paused a moment and
responded, “That’s funny because I have here some verbatim comments from your
project manager specifically to the contrary.” As it happens the CG had funded
an outside researcher to conduct a customer satisfaction survey. Used
diplomatically, the objective evidence (in a written report) allowed the General
Contractor and his client to better understand and mend the working
relationship between the two firms.
The objective report was just what
the two executives needed to let their guard down and share a laugh and address
what appeared to be the real issue – flawed communications between builder and
customer.
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