Coffee Perks

I’m a serial dater, a bona-fide serial coffee dater. It makes perfect sense. I mean I am the Sales Barista!

A while back I was challenged on an invitation I extended for a coffee date. Denied! I was told coffee is just that – “coffee” a pick-it-up-and-go or brew-it-at-home beverage. Oh how my heart was ripped out! For the love of coffee beans, it’s so much more!

So I forced myself into self-reflection: Why do I prefer coffee dates versus any other kind of meeting?

I boiled it down to one main reason: coffee creates connections.

In this technology-ridden world, it’s a brief time to turn away from the smartphones and focus, engage, and connect with a “smartperson” in a relaxed and welcoming environment. It’s not professionally stuffy, it’s not yoga-pants casual, but instead it is perfectly brewed friendly.

Here are the coffee house connections you can capitalize on:

1. Caffeine. The most popular “drug,” caffeine, boosts energy and alertness when consumed properly. One too many espressos and you may trigger the jitters. However, when you get the dosage just right, it can connect you to a heightened sense of focus and awareness, a huge asset when meeting with prospects, customers, or friends.

2. Conversations. This is the main reason I connect with people over coffee, is because it forces authentic and genuine conversations. If I ask you to coffee, I’m looking to talk, listen, share, collaborate, and communicate together. One-on-one. It’s that simple.

3. Concentration. Laser-sharp focus. Meet in an office, conference room, or a home, and you are subject to interruptions. Meet at your favorite coffee shop and post-order you are left to your own devices. Most coffeehouse-goers are very respectful of not bothering their other smart brew-sipping neighbors. This allows you to dive into deeper concentration and be more productive in less time.

4. Creativity. I also make coffee dates with myself. It’s my creativity haven. I have my very own “Cheers.” It’s called Cast Iron Waffles. My favorite barista, Elsa, knows me, knows my order, and knows to leave me alone once I sit down at my bar stool, open my MacBook Pro, and put in my ear buds. It’s the environment that invokes my most creative juices. I connect, like most other creative types, to the aroma, buzz, and personality of a coffee shop.

OK, OK, so for those of you who may not love coffee, hopefully you are still reading. You may not love coffee shops. You may hate them (GASP!). That’s ok. This is what works for me. What else would you expect from a Sales Barista? The point isn’t to force yourself to make coffee dates if you know it doesn’t work for you. The point is for you to find your own special place to plan professional, personal, and solo dates where you can communicate and concentrate more effectively.

Uncover your place and you will begin to create a calendar with dates you look forward to. Uncover your place and you will begin to be inspired to create deeper connections with others. Uncover your place and you will begin to connect with the person who matters most - YOU!

Stephanie Melish, one of the few, hand-selected, Gitomer-Certified Speakers is the ONLY Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista in the world! Stephanie trains, sells, and speaks to companies and associations all over the country. To book Stephanie for your next event, please visit www.GitomerCertified.com or contact the Michelle at Buy Gitomer via email at michelle@gitomer.com or by calling 704-333-1112.

Colorful Creativity

"Creativity is seeing an opportunity for more than what it appears to be."

This quote came to me as I was sitting in my favorite coffeehouse writing spot (Cast Iron Waffles), listening to the Coffeehouse satellite station (Into the Mystic by Van Morrison was playing), and working on an upcoming keynote.

I furiously typed it up hoping not to lose it before it leapt out of my mind unable to be remembered. Know what I mean?

I speak about creativity in my keynote presentations and I was trying to figure out how to wrap it up nice and neat with a bow to get an “aha” moment from the audience. I’ve learned while growing up and being earmarked as a “creative” person, that there are whole loads of people who don’t think they are creative beings.

Boy, are they WRONG! Everyone is creative (quit shaking your head – yes, YOU, are creative!) in some unique way - whether you are a chemist, engineer, farmer, marketer, or writer. But that’s another article. Right, Andy Horner?

Anyway, this quote came as a result of this story:

I wrote an article on Pinterest.

A man, Tony Frank, emailed me with three things: praise, a Pinterest request, and an offer:

“I own a small business that develops custom cartoons to market ideas, most specifically gift planning to non-profit fundraisers like myself. If you ever find yourself needing a cartoon to convey an idea, lemme know. We'll work one up for ya, no charge. (www.lanceandrew.com)”

Hmmm…I thought. And thought. And thought. For eight days before I replied:

“I just thought of a great way for you to help me.  I'm getting married in a few months and we are having an adult’s only reception EXCEPT for my fiancé’s 10 nieces and nephews. I had been planning on putting crayons and coloring books on their reception tables to keep them entertained. But you know what would be even cooler?  If you could draw a black and white cartoon of my fiancé and I for them to color in that day!  It would be something we could keep.”

And he did. And we used it. And it was a HIT!

Now most people would have only saw it for face value (a cartoon to use for my presentations) and stopped there. Most people think I have audacity for asking for more than the favor offered. Most people are followers. Not me.

I was presented an opportunity.

I thought about it.

I formed a vision.

I asked.

I received.

And they colored.

Do you think Tony is upset that I asked for something a little different than he originally presented to me? NO! He is now the inspiration of a quote, an article, and the colorful joy of ten children.

Here are the elements that I believe lead to creativity:

1. Think. Taking the time to view anything from another perspective can lead to a creative response. They don’t call it thinking outside the box for no reason. Just drop the box, that doesn’t matter, stretching your mind to think beyond the obvious, beyond what appears, is when the light bulbs get invented. What are you thinking about?

2. Environment. I think best in certain environments, usually coffeehouses. Shocker, I know! I’m creative in these places for two reasons; they make me happy and they eliminate distractions. The atmosphere boasts happiness: music, espresso machines, milk being steamed, and the aroma of coffee and specifically where I go, fresh baked liege waffles! The atmosphere omits distractions: television, John, Dunkin! The hardest element is figuring out what atmosphere you need to get your mind right for creative inspiration. Where is your distraction-free happy place?

3. Confidence. You must have the confidence and willingness to ask, to risk, and to open yourself up by sharing your ideas out loud. Many fear rejection more than they seek reward. I like reward. I’m confident in my thoughts and ideas REGARDLESS of others opinions of them. Some are nutty, some are pushy, some are bitchy, some are genius, and some are all of the above. I’m confident in asking for what I want (did you read Ask Kisser?) and I’m confident enough to risk my feelings in an effort to be creative. How confident are you in your ideas?

4. Experience. The more creative ideas you come up with the more they will continue to flow. Just like with any skill, the more you work at it and experience it, the more it will come naturally. If you hang around creative people they will rub off on you, they will inspire you and they will transform you. How are you experiencing creativity?

Shh…my very secret key to creativity is simple. Capture it! So often I don’t take the time to write ideas or thoughts down when they occur. And then, in a fleeting moment, they disappear. Thankfully, this one I caught and framed.

Want to see the fabulous cartoon by Lance Andrew? View it on my Sales Barista Facebook Page.

I’m your Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista. How may I help you help yourself?

Stephanie Melish, one of the few, hand-selected, Gitomer-Certified Speakers is the ONLY Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista in the world! Stephanie trains, sells, and speaks to companies and associations all over the country. To book Stephanie for your next event, please visit www.GitomerCertified.com or contact the friendly folks at Buy Gitomer via email or by calling 704-333-1112.