🙈 Should You Think Like an Introvert?
Hundreds of association executives want to increase engagement among their members.
This was my assignment for a recent keynote presentation. (see them all)
I gave them some specific advice, but my primary counsel I'll share here:
Maybe Your Customers DON'T Want to Engage the Way You Want Them to Engage?
Some of this is generational:
Half of all Millennial B2B buyers want to purchase without any help from a salesperson whatsoever.
My own Gen Z children would rather eat worms than join groups that require going to in-person meetings and networking.
Some of this is technological:
We learned to be facile with Zoom, Slack, online banking, Venmo, Uber and the rest. Is it any wonder that it can be more comfortable clicking buttons from afar versus interacting face-to-face?
Maybe, instead of trying to jam increasingly square pegs into the traditional, round holes of in-person interaction and "engagement" we should consider thinking like an introvert and leaning into the art of leaning away?
I'm starting to see evidence of this trend. Perhaps you are, as well?
My son just moved to New York City. He lives in a giant apartment building. When you move in, you get matched up randomly with 2 roommates. It's a dormitory for single adults.
When I was that age, if you had a problem with a roommate you'd say something about it. Or at least make your passive aggressiveness so obvious, they'd eventually ask you what was wrong.
Not now. In his building, you can use the mobile app (natch) to write up a trouble ticket about your roommate(s), and the building management will contact them via direct message, to intermediate.
I discovered an even more striking example of embracing the introvert to deliver a positive customer experience, in a pizza pub in
Colorado.
