COFFEE CONVERSATIONS: How A Compliment Improves Your Business Relations

Photo Credit: fatherly.com

The entrepreneur journey has taught me that even without a lot of money to begin with, you can move forward the race with business smarts; what you lack in money, you compensate in smarts. That's pretty much how I was able to grow my business; I didn't have access to a huge capital and investors so I had to rely on my existing business smarts (thanks to blogging and freelancing for teaching me these skills) and along the way, I have improved; up until today, I always make it a point to improve my business smarts.

The most useful business smarts that have helped me along the way were soft skills; one of which is communication; and part of communication is paying compliments to people.

In this post, I will muse about how paying compliments can improve your business relations so you can take your business to the next level.

First, let's talk about why compliments are incredibly powerful:

1. They're positive affirmations.

2. They bring out the good in people.

3. They lighten up the mood and the energy between you and another person.

4. They intentionally or unintentionally brighten someone else's day.

5. It's a sign that you are brought up well because it's good manners, which can impact first impressions.

How does paying compliments help improve your business relations?

1. IT'S A QUICK, EASY ICE BREAKER

- A huge part of growing a business lies in your ability to network with other people, most especially new people. However, going up a person and introducing oneself can be a daunting task to some. I used to have this fear of introducing myself to people until I have assessed that some of the best conversations I've had with strangers started with acknowledging physical things that we both like in each other such as shoes, bag, hair, and the likes so whenever I meet someone new, my opener is always I try to look for something they have that I'm interested in too and compliment it; it helped me get over my fear too!

2. YOU OPEN UP THE PERSON TO YOU

- We all have our safe spaces and we're always guarded whenever we meet someone new. Paying someone a compliment to start a conversation is always a good way to set the mood for the rest of your chat because you start on a positive note; no one wants to keep on talking with you if you start on a negative note!

3. IT'S A GREAT WAY TO BUILD A CLOSER RELATIONSHIP

- When you pay a compliment about something, that means you are interested in or passionate with that thing as well; this common ground could lead to a free- flowing, natural, good conversation that you and the person you are talking with will enjoy; when your starting point is about common things that you are both passionate about, you make the other person feel that you are genuinely interested in who they are and what they do, which will lead to a better, closer relationship or a potential friendship!

So how do you give a compliment without coming off as scheming or fake?

First of all, you have to be genuine; you can always pay a compliment even if you don't find something in common with the person you want to talk with; a compliment, whether about the physicality or just a general statement, is always a good way to start a conversation. 

Don't pay a compliment about, say, a person's shoes if you don't really find them nice; because once they engage you in a conversation about it and you won't be able to sustain it, you'll just come off as fake.

If you prefer to not start with words, I have another way: GIVE CANDY. 

YES! I USED TO DO THIS ALL THE TIME! I always brought candy in my bag to offer to people that I am meeting the first time; this usually puts a smile on their face and once I feel that they're finally more open, I then start engaging them.

No kidding guys, I love Mentos and their mint chewy candy is my favorite; this was my ice breaker in my previous business meetings. Good thing Mentos has this new packaging that has cool compliments printed on it (it's part of their awesome CompliMENTOS campaign!); if you're not that good with words and you prefer to not start talking in the beginning, a gesture is just as good!

But even if you're not into business, paying compliments is a good habit to develop; there's just so many negative, draining things that are happening in the world already so be a ray of sunshine in your own little way.

So...

How about you? Do you agree that giving compliments can help improve business or personal relations?

For more information about the CompliMENTOS campaign and the limited edition Mentos packaging, visit MENTOS PHILIPPINES on Facebook.