“What do you do?”
“I do this. How about you?”
“Ok, I do that.”

Are you bored yet? Sound familiar? Living in an increasingly competitive market place this type of dialogue is all we ever seem to have time for. This, however, seems contradictory to what we should be doing when we leads such busy lives.

The developments of technology mean that it is easier than ever to create an good corporate look. Therefore, flashy and showy websites come as standard, prices are matched across suppliers and offices are geographically complete. How is one supposed to differentiate between such businesses? I believe it is going to be the individualism of companies which has an impact on our decisions.

People prefer to work with people they know rather than just people they have met. Therefore, its is individuality that makes up a company and differentiates the company’s ethos from one to another.

Furthermore, individual marketing within a corporation is increasingly essential, opposed to the traditional general corporate marketing. This is what differentiates companies – the personal touch. The passion of an individual will be what shines through giving the company the competitive edge they strive.

To achieve this people need to be themselves more, that is their unique factor. Penny Power says:

“The more individual I’ve become, the more successful I’ve become.”

To avoid having conversations like the start of this piece, when meeting new people why not try something like this. Ask the new acquaintance to list their three biggest achievements before they give you their business card. Choose the achievement that appeals to you the most to initialise the conversation. Through this method you get to people really well in a short space of time.

We all lead busy lives, and we wish to get to know people as individuals as quickly as possible. So why not push the boat out and ask some different questions next time you meeting someone new? That way you will be able to get know them a lot quicker saving you time in the long run and creating a better acquaintance.