Steve Yastrow

The Encounter Habit

Today’s newsletter is called “The Encounter Habit.” Here’s the rub: Relationship-building encounters are the most important products you produce, every day.  At any moment during a customer interaction, monitor how well things are going, and be alert and ready to improve the encounter.  It can be done!

Pay attention!  Be alert!  At any point in time, you can turn a customer interaction into a relationship-building encounter, and avoid having it devolve into a relationship-eroding transaction.

I’ve just landed at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, from where I will fly to Mauritius later today, landing early tomorrow morning.  Continuing my theme from my “Pain is Inevitable, Suffering is Optional” post at the beginning of this 17-day odyssey, I successfully managed not to let United Airlines’ silliness upset my travel peace of mind, even during the O’Hare check-in process that required two lines, one for checking in and one for checking passports.  (Could have been the “Not” example in an Industrial Engineering 101 class. )

I know it’s strange, but I really like these transition days in Europe … somewhat serene from too little sleep, ready for a new adventure.  Check out my “Warsaw Walking Yoga with Joni Mitchell” video blog from last summer.  Regrettably, I don’t have enough time before my next flight to go into Paris for a few hours, so I’ll have to find something interesting in the airport.  Hey, I might even have a chance to practice the Encounter Habit.

(Post update 8:30AM Mauritius Time, Wednesday, 11:30PM Chicago time, Tuesday: Just arrived in Mauritius. Beautiful suite at Le Meridien’s resort, overlooking the Indian Ocean on the north shore of the island.  After a zillion hours on airplanes I should sleep, but I need to go outside.  Finally got to meet my friend, client and host, Kiran Dinaran of Multievents, in person, after months of Skype and email.  Looking forward to a great couple of days here.)

Posted in Customer Encounters | 9 Comments »

Joni’s back … at this very moment

One of my favorite lessons from writing We and studying customer relationships is that the best wisdom for business often comes from everyday life. A few weeks ago I wrote a post describing an inspiration from listening to a Joni Mitchell song when I was in Europe. Today, Joni’s plain wisdom inspired me once again.

Just now, at 33,000 feet on the way from Atlanta to Chicago, I was listening to her song Chelsea Morning and heard one of my favorite passages:

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning and the first thing that I knew,
There was milk and toast and honey, and a bowl of oranges, too.
The sun poured in like butterscotch, and stuck to all my senses,
Won’t you stay, we’ll put on the day, and talk in present tenses?

One of the key components of a relationship-building encounter is that you and your customer need to both be fully present, engaged in the present moment. As I wrote in this recent post on tompeters.com, one of the easiest ways to kill a sales conversation is to be focused on the next step in the sales process, ignoring the opportunity to create an encounter RIGHT NOW, in the present moment.

When Joni wakes up into her Chelsea morning, she is fully engaged in the “what’s happening now.” What does she want to do? Talk in present tenses.

That’s profound. Even while you are in a discussion with your customer planning the future, or recapping the past, be sure that you are in the spirit of the present tense.

When you are engaged in dialogue with your customer, think, “Won’t you stay, we’ll put on the day, and talk in present tenses?”

Wow. Thanks again, Joni.

Posted in Customer Encounters, Wisdom from everyday life | 2 Comments »

Warsaw Walking Yoga with Joni Mitchell

A day in Warsaw by myself helps me practice one of the key skills needed to build customer relationships …

(The video is actually only a bit more than six minutes.)

Posted in We relationships | 7 Comments »