To say that humans are social beings, would rank right up there in the top five statements in the Captain Obvious Hall of Fame. Obviously some of us are more comfortable than others; but it always amazes me when casual encounters turn into huge business opportunities.
I had one such encounter at the gym recently. One of the gentlemen I train with sometimes, brought in a friend who he had known for a long time. It turns out, both of them were Financial Advisors with a well-known company. In fact, I had bought some life insurance a while ago and I was pretty happy with it.
My friend asked if his buddy could train with us that day. No worries here. I like lifting with new people. During the workout, the two of them talked about some of their ex colleagues that had recently retired from the business (with some pretty big nesteggs from where I was hearing) and had agreed to go into the restaurant business. Ahhhhhh!!! My opportunity.
As I was set to casually mention that was my business, my friend brought it up and we had a long conversation about the restaurant business, online marketing, target marketing and the digital marketing space relative to restaurants & hospitality. I was excited to be social and they were excited to get a bunch of free information. The gentleman from out of town suggested that he connect me with the group that was in the process of buying the restaurants.
As luck would have it, two members of the group would be in town and wanted to “pick my brain” over lunch. We talked for several hours. I could have held back on the information and given them very general answers and asked them to retain me as a consultant, but I was just excited to be able to share some information and help some folks out. We parted ways and they thanked me for my time. They didn’t know what they didn’t know, but were most appreciative that we were able to connect.
A couple of days later, I got a call from my training buddy. I thought he wanted to talk about increasing my policy, but it wasn’t that. He had spoken to his restaurant friends and they wanted to bring me on as a consultant to help with their grand openings. Huge opportunity indeed!
When I called the gentleman back, we discussed the things he wanted to get done with his openings. I happened to ask him why he chose to work with me. He mentioned that most folks tell you what they can do for you and sell themselves immediately. I didn’t do that he said. I was more interested in passing along what I knew to some folks that needed some guidance. All because I wasn’t afraid to serve. When you have serving as the priority, a lot of great things can happen.
CHIEF MILE OWNER TAKEAWAY:
Knowledge is power, but so is hospitality. When you overdeliver, it often comes back to you, often in unforeseen ways.