When you run a business or have a management position in a company it is sometimes necessary for you to schmooze existing and potential clients. Schmoozing is basically another form of selling. Your aim is to impress your clients enough that they will agree to sign that new contract or invest in your company or whatever it is you need the most from them, but instead of simply making a sales call or rocking up with a pitch you are using your own personality and your ability to show them a good time to get them on board. With that in mind, here are some of our top tips for successfully schmoozing a client in order to get the best outcome for your company.
By Team Savant
Image: Kevin Gonzalez
Schmoozing is what you do when you have already sufficiently impressed them with the data but you just need that final push to get them fully on board. It is also what you do when your clients have experienced an issue and you want to smooth things over. So, it is fair to say it is a really important part of running a business and/or having a successful corporate career.
Take Them Out
Very few people want to be schmoozed in a boring old office space, no matter how nice it may be. If you want to really impress your clients and investors, you need to take them out of the office and show them a good time. This could mean taking them for a boozy Caribbean-inspired lunch at Rum Kitchen, taking them to see their favourite football team compete for an important trophy or even taking them to see the Foo Fighters in concert. Basically, try to find out as much about them as you can so you can find an event they are likely to enjoy and do your schooling there. The event or attraction will already put them in a positive frame of mind, so all you need to do is be as gregarious and interesting as possible and the rest should be easy.
Don’t Talk About Work
This may seem counterintuitive, but when you are trying to schmooze a client the last thing you should talk about is business! Talk instead about things they love, whether that be politics, books, TV shows or sporting events. If you do stray into contentious subjects such as politics, try to remain as neutral as possible while being as engaging as possible because the last thing you want to do is offend. In such situations, asking questions is often a better strategy than offering up a lot of your own opinions.
Find What You Have In Common
It is a lot easier to schmooze a client if they like you, and they are far more likely to like you if you have an interest in common. If, upon finding out as much about them as you can, you discover that you do not actually have much in common, try to develop an interest in what they love, even if it is just learning enough to get by in a conversation. This will really help endear them to you.
Make It All About Them
As we mentioned above, it is usually a good strategy to ask lots of questions of the person you are trying to schmooze instead of trying to dominate the conversation yourself. Most people just love to talk about themselves and their interests, and it makes life a lot easier for you. Perfect the art of looking interested and asking follow up questions and try not to make it obvious that you’re not all that interested and you will find that your efforts are likely to be rewarded with a successful schmoozing session.
Get Things For Them
A really good way to schmooze clients without having to actually entertain them yourself is to do favours for them, Most of the time, this means getting the things they may not otherwise be able to access. This could be a vintage bottle of wine from the dealer you have a great relationship with concert tickets that sold out before they could snap them up or tickets to that brand new opera that you know they are just dying to see.
Most people will remember when you have done a favour for them and they will look upon you and your business more positively as a result, If they forget about the favours you have done for them, there’s no harm in subtly reminding them either!
Keep Your Knowledge Up To Date
If you want to be a successful schmoozer, you need to be able to talk about anything and everything, so it is really important that you regularly watch the news, read the latest bestsellers, take some time to visit the cinema and keep up to date with the latest developments in your industry. There’s nothing worse than being stuck with a bore who doesn’t know what’s what in the world, so if you are serious about being a schmoozing success, you need to keep your knowledge up to date in as many areas as possible.
Be A Nice Person
Of course, nothing we have mentioned above beats simply being a good person. If you are a nice, kind person who is genuinely interested in people and fun to be around, then you can pretty much just be yourself, talk to the clients you want to schmooze over lunch and create an amazing first impression, sure, it’s a good idea to throw in a few extras as we have discussed above, but if you are a horrible sneering person who treats the wait staff badly or makes it obvious you don’t really care, you will not get very far at all.
As you can see, schmoozing clients is not exactly rocket science but you should put some decent time and thought into it if you want to hit the right note and sufficiently impress the right people. So, don’t leave it to the last minute, and good luck!