A decade ago I was at an evening social networking meeting
at the local chamber of commerce. Most people in attendance were dressed in
smart casual attire and some were wearing the business attire because they came
straight from the office. The room was a mixture of a business blue and brown.
About halfway through the informal networking meeting a man showed up wearing a
wetsuit and had goggles and a snorkel dangling around his neck. He was a new
member who owned a scuba dive shop that gave lessons and sold equipment, and
this was the first meeting he had attended. Needless to say he stood out from
the crowd and for the next hour was bombarded with questions, humorous
greetings, and the odd strange glance. A few months after this meeting, my wife
and I were planning a vacation to Mexico. High on our agenda was to learn scuba
dive so that we could take full advantage of the many scuba diving
opportunities in the area where we would be vacationing. Guess who we called to
take the required training to get PADI certified before the trip? You it, the
man in the wetsuit. In fact we didn’t
even both to inquire at other dive shops in our area. He made such a positive
first impression on us that we felt totally comfortable with dropping into his
shop and signing up for the required courses. Not all networking meetings are
suitable places for these types of unforgettable promotional tactics, but at
the social mixers there is no reason you cannot dress to leave a lasting and
positive impression by standing out in the networking crowd.
No comments:
Post a Comment