How to Meet Them Where They're At
I don’t think I fully understood the meaning of “meet them where they’re at” until somebody “met me where I was at.” Let me explain.
Office workers have a tendency to accumulate electronic equipment over the years. An extra monitor that’s no longer in use gets tucked behind the door. An old keyboard, mouse, phone and even laptop computer are shoved into a desk drawer. Headsets, microphones, and tons of cables get jammed into a box never to see the light of day again.
Happens all the time and to most people. Definitely happened to me. I had accumulated about two desk drawers’ worth of unused stuff over the years. It was just taking up space and not serving any purpose. I guess it could have been returned back to the IT Service Department, but that was all the way down in the basement and at the end of a hall!
Then I saw the sign.
According to an announcement posted in the elevator, tables were set up throughout the building for the purpose of gathering up unused equipment. I read the sign a couple of times on my way in and out of the building, began to notice the tables, and watched people putting stuff on the tables. Lots of stuff. Monitors, keyboards, wires, cables, phones, headsets. You name it, it was there. Now, all I had to do was gather mine up, walk the ten steps outside my office, anonymously leave it on a table, and quickly walk away.
“Not getting the results or response you need? Ask yourself if you are meeting your customers, colleagues, or clients where they are at.”
And I did just that. Why? Because they met me where I was. They made it easy for me to do what they wanted me to do for years, and bring my unused stuff back to them.
Do you do the same in your business? Not getting the results or response you need? Ask yourself if you are meeting your customers, colleagues, or clients where they are. If not, make it easy for them to engage and do business with you and put the equivalent of a “reclamation table” outside of their office. They’ll appreciate the simplicity and convenience, and you’ll enjoy another loyal customer.
