Your place or mine?

(This is not what it looks like)

He knew there was something about her, the moment she entered the café and walk flauntingly past him in her high heels to the bar, leaving him only a hint of her perfume. At the bar, she perched herself on a barstool and placed her order. His gaze had followed her all the way there and she knew it. Sipping black coffee from a large cup, she pretended to take in her surroundings before throwing him a quick yet intense glance. It unnerved him, making his heart beat even faster as he gulped at the lump in his throat. Little did he know what he was in for.

With her eyes closed, she relished her last sip. She got up, straightened her pencil skirt and made her way to the door. Then, just as he assumed these were the final moments of their brief encounter, she stopped at the table he was sitting at, looked him assertively in the eye and spoke loudly enough for only him to hear: “Your place or mine?”
He choked on his coffee and told himself that what he had just heard, was merely a figment of his imagination.

FREEZE FRAME

Let’s switch to a different scene in another time and another place. We are now in your office at your place of work. You are at the computer checking out the Home page of a company website that you stumbled upon while surfing the Web for certain products that your organization needs. At first glance, this company and the way they present themselves look very promising. The design, the first text and the tagline appear to make sense.

That is until you navigate to the About page. The first thing you notice, is that there is no real information on the company itself and the people who work there. There are no photos or employee bios, just some lines repeating more elaborately what you have read on the Home page. A feeling of disappointment comes over you when you make your way to the Contact page. Instead of finding a phone number you can ring to get more information, you are confronted by obtusely formulated phrases compelling you to phone or email the sales team right away. This is the proverbial straw. Without the slightest hesitation, you leave the website and return to the search engine.

FREEZE FRAME

Back to the first scene in the café, up to the point where she had just gotten the coffee that she had asked for. This time, instead of sizing up the attractive man sitting near the entrance as if he were her prey, she gave him a warm, friendly smile. When he had returned her gesture in kind, she ambled, cup of coffee in hand, to where he was sitting.
“Hi,” she greeted with an enchanting smile. “Do you mind if I sit here with you?”
“Of course not, be my guest,” he replied as he got up and drew a chair away from the table for her to sit down beside him.

STOP THE CAMERA

Here’s a question for you. What do the first two scenes have in common? If you were to ask me this question, my answer would be that the lady in scene no. 1 and the company behind the website in scene no. 2 have no regard whatsoever for the people they are dealing with. They are solely intent on getting what they want and their only interest in people is that they serve as a means to an end. What they forget, is that we humans are a social species and therefore, it is only natural to get to know one another properly before getting down to business.

Fortunately, the lady had a different mindset in scene no. 3, or to be precise, heartset. Just like the gentleman who had immediately caught her attention, she was interested in meaningful long-term relationships. So, she let her heart lead the way, which is why she was not afraid to open up and show her sensitive side. It worked. He did the same and together they effortlessly took the first step towards making real contact.

Need help? Contact me ;-))

Isn’t scene 3 what we all want? I know that’s what I want and I’m guessing it’s what you want too. It’s also what we are all capable of. However, sometimes we could do with a helping hand. Do you want help with your communication? Contact me for a heart-to-heart and we can get to know each other properly before I help you to communicate effortlessly and effectively with your audience. Oh, and by the way, there are no strings attached and I won’t be making any indecent proposals either.

Telephone/WhatsApp: +31 (0)6 245 44 691
Email: email@wimbeunderman.com

Images:

‘Passion’ by Norexy_art on Pixabay
‘Coffee’ by Little Foxy on Pixabay
‘Index’ by PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay
‘WB April 2023’