|
Some good comments and good replies, thank you. I have always stood in the "schmoozing is fake" crowd but I want to clarify my intent with 2 excellent examples of co-workers past. I used to be in sales as head of custom publishing at an IT magazine and therefore worked a lot with the print sales guys. Two of them, though both as successful and effective as the other, were polar opposites in schmoozing. One was as fake and backstabbing as you could be. The other was genuine, interesting and interested. He grew up blue collar like I did but you'd swear he had a lifetime of prep school. His gift is what I'm looking to develop.
My own perspective, I can lead a business meeting or a presentation with the best of them. Have taken a few "you've got 15 minutes" VC presentations to a few hours. My strength lies in being able to convey the passion for what I'm doing, which seems to come through as honest and genuine. When I was in sales, I never closed. Just explained what we could do and that seemed to work.
So why the thread? I've been doing boys clothing for over 6 years now. We're getting into infant and girls lines too. Growth is good. But starting with an idea I had about 10 years ago, combined with some recent developments, I think I could get into very high-end women's fashion, perhaps one of the most competitive industries in the world. The clothing and techniques would speak for themselves. But in fashion, you need to know the right people, and just as importantly, need to know what to say, when and to whom. For me, it's the exact opposite kind of world I'd want to be in, and if I failed, it would be because of me, not the clothing.
A brief snapshot.
__________________
Tru6 Restoration & Design
|