I was standing in line at a Starbucks in Manhattan. In front of me, 2 young women in their 30’s and they’re somewhat arguing with the young barista guy at the register. I take my earbuds off so I can hear what’s going on. The girls asked for an iced Grande drink, with no ice and a Venti cup of ice on the side. Took me not even a tenth of a second to realize what they were doing and I smiled.
I suspect most of you reading this are smiling and maybe even a bit smirking right now. Well, as mentioned, I was too.
You see, the young women found a way to (in their minds) beat the system. Get a Venti drink for the price of a Grande. And the reason y’all are smiling now is because….that’s right, you’ve been there yourself before as well. You heard about this beating the system secret and you may have even tried it in the past or seen it on TikTok. In any case, it triggered an emotional reaction for you once you pictured this situation in your head. And it triggered this (in this case) smile and an emotional reaction BECAUSE the original and similar memory was emotional as well.
Now, think for a second with me here. Do you remember who was the one who shared this little secret of beating Starbucks with you? Who is it you shared this secret with?
When I realized what was going on with the two young women in front of me, my instinct, just like you, was to smile. Because, just like you, I have seen it before. For me, it was a client. Maybe 6 months prior. I was at a meeting in Chicago. A two-day finalizing a deal and planning a rollout kind of meeting. By the middle of day 2, as we decided to take a few minutes' break, my client, Mark, signaled me to follow him. We go downstairs and walk a block and a half to the corner Starbucks. We chatted along the way, gossiped a bit, and shared thoughts regarding the upcoming rollout. We wait our turn at Starbucks, and as we get to order, he winks at me and asks for a Grande iced coffee and a Venti cup of ice. At first, I didn’t give it a second thought. But then, when Mark got the drink, and poured the iced coffee into the Venti ice cup he explained while laughing. “Man, look. I got a Venti drink for the price of a Grande. My daughter taught me that”.
“Duuuuude” I replied. “Your daughter’s a genius!” and we both laughed feeling triumphant.
And then, as we were walking back up to the office, the magic happened. Mark picked up the phone and called his daughter. “My love,” he said to her “you will never believe what just happened that got me thinking of you” and I heard them both laughing together.
Do you have these moments sometimes, when you hear a song, that reminds you of an old friend you went to college with? Or you eat something, and it takes you back to a past memory with a grandma? Or maybe you see a sign on the back of a bus that triggers a reaction because of something related to it that happened to you and an old college buddy? Happens to all of us. But. Do you then tell them? Do you let them know? Do you make sure THEY feel you were thinking of them?
“ Did anyone call you recently just to tell you they were thinking of you? How did you feel? ”
Alon Zaibert
During a sales leadership development workshop I led for a company in North Carolina, I asked a group of 35 sales professionals to, each think of one of their clients. A prospect. Think of a recent conversation they had with that client or a prospect. What was discussed? Work, personal related things. Then, I asked them to think about anything they read, or that happened or that they saw during the last few days that may be related to any of those items they discussed with their client.
After about 10 minutes, and a few back-and-forth clarifying questions, all 35 of them found something.
ALL of them.
One recalled some fantasy football banter on the call and then game results from the following Monday night. Another remembered sharing best practices about a 3rd party software company and then reading they were just sold. Another recalled their client mentioned they were traveling to Canada next week and reading about an upcoming Air Canada pilots’ strike got her to think about it.
However, NONE of them thought of taking it further. And so, I said to them: “Pick up the phone. Call them up. Right now.”
“And tell them what?” they asked. “Tell them you read about the pilots’ strike, the software company being sold, and the Monday Night Football results. Tell them it got you thinking of them and ask them how they are doing.”
So after a few doubtful looks around the room and me pushing them to do it anyway, they made the call. Some chose to text, some to email and that’s okay I explained. Those who did get to speak with their clients came back glowing. “What an amazing feeling” was the overall notion. “They felt hugged, they felt important, they felt cared for” are some of the responses we heard. A few of those who texted, later that day received a text back with the same thankful notion with appreciation of their client for thinking of them.
Once you do that, once you trigger that emotional anchor with them and ask them a simple question like How are you, you are triggering the same emotions from that moment you and they shared. And then, when they realize you simply called to say you were thinking of them, this magical moment serves as yet another emotional mutual experience and automatically brings this relationship that much closer. This feeling of being cared for, being thought of, being hugged is something we all need. And being able to offer this feeling is truly….human. And then, trust level goes up, openness level increases…business benefits.
That’s right, you need to be proactive and aware. And then the formula is simple.
Something happened → Reminded me of something/someone → Triggered an emotional reaction → Let them know → An emotional reaction → Increased trust = Win-Win
So, I am standing there at the Manhattan Starbucks, looking at those girls who “beat the system” and smiling while thinking of Mark, my client from Chicago. And then I decided to go for it and I called him…
“Mark….you will never believe what just happened that got me thinking of you….”
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