Blog

The name on the building may get them in the door, but whether they stay or not depends on you.

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Two weeks ago today I woke up to the news that New Zealand had experienced a terrorist attack. It was shocking to hear, and when I was thinking of my tiny country back home, my heart just broke for what people were going through. It was 4:30 in the morning, and I typically get to Starbucks by 5:30. That morning when I went into Starbucks, I was the only person in there, and Nicole helped me. She served me my coffee and asked me how I was doing. And I just told her: I said, I’ve woken up to some really rough news. I shared with her just about what I had heard. She said she was sorry, and she gave me my coffee, and I went and sat down.

About ten minutes later I was still the only person in the building. Nicole came over to me with a heated muffin and just put the plate down on my table and looked at me and nodded. It showed me that she was feeling for me. She’d heard what I said and she was really just reaching out and connecting with me. For me that moment changed how I will ever see Starbucks. Nicole had reached out to me in a moment that was vulnerable and at a time when I was really hurting. She’d shown me kindness, she’d shown me that she was aware of what I was going through and just reached out and appreciated the fact of what I was experiencing.

That’s the same with you, no matter how big the company is that you’re working for, whether it’s a Morgan Stanley, or Wells Fargo Advisors, or Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan – it doesn’t matter. People might come in and begin working with you simply because they were coming to a big organization, but ultimately it’s up to how you treat them. It’s how you listen to them, it’s how you show them that you’re really getting exactly what they’re going through, irrespective of what assets they might be talking about, irrespective of the complexity of what they might be bringing you as far as business is concerned. It’s how you treat them as people.

Starbucks is a huge organization, and I’m sure in the months and years ahead it will have sometimes bad press or it will make the headlines for the wrong reason. Frankly to me, I don’t care: it’s Nicole and what she did for me that day that forever, for me, has changed how I look at Starbucks.

So,

1. Listen to how your clients are sounding. Empathize with them and watch carefully for body language and what they’re going through.
2. Take that on board and put that ahead of your agenda. Make how they’re feeling the main point.
3. When you connect with them, do it honestly and don’t expect anything in return.

Nicole just came up to me and put the muffin down, nodded, and went back. That day really impacted me, and so that’s why I wanted to share about Nicole and Starbucks and how to really make a life-long impression on somebody you meet.

I look forward to bringing you another Distraction-Proof Advisor Idea next week.