Always Talk To Strangers

2-3 minute read

When you were a kid, no doubt your parents would have told you to.....

"Never talk to Strangers!"

I can understand the logic behind the madness, however if you still live by this rule today it could cost you more than you think, and not just financially!

Why not talk to strangers? If you're in business of any sort, chances are the vast majority of your clients are or will be strangers. You want to speak to as many strangers as possible! Pretty sure Uncle John and Cousin Kathy aren't buying anything from you anytime soon! Keeping to yourself could be costing you huge.

It Pays To Upgrade!

I recently flew to Queensland for a family holiday, I flew with one of the main Australian airlines (vowing to never fly budget again following a horrible experience! Plus I find people are miserable on those flights following all the associated delays and difficulty getting on the aeroplane!) When booking the flights, I was looking to pay the extra money for the business tickets. Not because of the creature comforts that it comes with, but for the people I would be sitting next to, professionals, business men and women who see the value in paying for a greater service and perhaps strangers I could be doing business and connect with. That alone is worth the additional $200 a seat it would cost to upgrade. Given the short notice of my booking, business was all sold out and I could only get an upgrade to "Economy X" - an upgrade none the less and I wasn't about to let this stop me from connecting with people.

Make the first Introduction

When I boarded the plane and I sat next to a gentleman Andrew, he was travelling his wife and kids as was I. As we were organising our kids, I opened the conversation with "The joys of travelling with children!" and from that one line sparked a 2-hour conversation spanning the flight. We spoke about many topics, one of which was our professions, Andrew was a doctor and me a builder.

Now I could have very easily got on the plane, plugged my Airpods in, read a book, or just watched a movie and not engage with anyone. Chances are most people will do exactly that, so you need to take the initiative to engage in the conversation, be interesting and be interested. Doesn't matter how you start the conversation, just start it! Be mindful, you're going to come across people who don't want to engage with you (or anyone else for that matter!), that's fine, just move on, their loss more than yours, just don't let it deter you.

Provide Value

Andrew was asking me many questions about my company and the building process which eventually led to him telling me he had submitted plans to renovate and extend his home in Brighton. I gave him some advice on what to look for when engaging a builder for his project, some of the pitfalls to look out for with the design and tender process. All with the intention to provide value to him and the conversation. Towards the end of the flight, I gave Andrew a business card and told him to give me a call when he’s ready to look at engaging a builder. The value I received from the conversation was I met and spoke with a nice person, learnt something new about his profession and potentially picked up a $1m + extension/renovation in Brighton.

Now Andrew may never even call me, but had I flown with a budget airline, had I not upgraded my seat, had I kept to myself, I would not of had the opportunity to meet someone new, engage in an interesting conversation, learn something or potentially win a new construction project for my company.

So next time you're on the train, next time you're a party, a business conference, your kids school function, etc. turn to the person next to you and say G'day. The benefits far outweigh the risk! Remember:

"A great attitude will cost you nothing, a bad attitude will cost you everything!"

- Grant Cardone