Who the hell is this guy?
If you live in the UK you may never have heard of Mike Michalowicz (pronounced mi-KAL-o-witz).He is the entrepreneur behind three multi- million dollar companies and the author of The Pumpkin Plan and the business cult classic, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.With a popular, quirky website MikeMichalowicz.com, he is a globally recognized entrepreneurial advocate. Mike is a former small business columnist for the Wall Street Journal and now hosts the business make-over segment on MSNBC’s Your Business.Not only has he got the credentials to offer some great business advice, he's hilarious - which makes learning some of his tips for business success an absolute joy.
Why Mike's message is relevant for Account Managers
I've been following Mike's blog for a while and came across this short video I think is relevant for anyone working closely with clients in an account handling role.
Face to face time with clients is dwindling
As we know the Mad Men days of agencies regularly wining and dining their clients are well and truly over.Unfortunately nowadays much of the communication between clients and their agencies happens over email or by phone rather than face to face as clients become squeezed for time with a multitude of different priorities.You as an agency partner are probably one of many suppliers your client needs to interact with on a regular basis and therefore you need to make sure the time you do spend with your client counts.
Making sure you don't blow it by using poor body language
You want to ensure you create great rapport quickly.The naturally self-aware account handler will conduct themselves with the highest degree of social etiquette.Through their own positive body language they will be 'in tune' with the client, the interaction is positive and hopefully fruitful as a result because the client feels they have 100% of the account handler's attention and focus.Conversely some account handlers may inadvertently end up breaking the rapport with their client through poor body language and this could lead to disastrous consequences.
The body language mistakes to avoid
You'll have to watch this short video to find out which are the common body language mistakes people commit and keep them in mind the next time you're with your client.Once you've seen it please leave a comment in the box below and let me know if you have any other common body language mistakes you think should be included for account handlers.Or indeed perhaps you have some tales of woe where you may have made some body language slip ups yourself in the past that you'd like to share? ;-)
