Media

Mike is managing director of Global Business Café and enjoys interacting with people trying to gain access to senior-level executives for presentations to build their business. Mike has experience of being on television and radio shows along with live audience presentations. Mike is managing director of Global Business Café and enjoys interacting with people trying to gain access to senior-level executives for presentations to build their business. Mike has experience of being on television and radio shows along with live audience presentations.

Sample Questions Interviewers Ask

I like to keep the conversation “light” and fun so…

1. What is one of the funniest methods you have seen from someone trying to communicate with a decision maker? (I have several funny stories to share, but this is one story that stands out.)

 One man who was having problems reaching senior-level executives for a product presentation came up with the idea of sending a wedding invitation to each person “inviting” them to meet for no longer than 20 minutes for a sales presentation.

 When this man started to follow-up on the notes he mailed, he was getting these kinds of responses… “I’m sorry, but my boss will be unable to come to your wedding.” “Do I know you?”  “Where are you registered (for wedding gifts)?”

 Needless to say, this “wedding invitation” idea did not work, but funny, nonetheless.

 

2. What are some of the differences in the way different generations present to senior-level executives today?

The younger generation is married to their phone. I have observed that people, usually over 40, are not as glued to their phone and prefer a more personable approach to creating a business connection. I see a shift today in the younger generation of businesspeople, though, relying less on their phone than in previous years.

 Another difference in the generations is often how the younger generation dresses for business compared with the more “seasoned” businessperson. Younger businesspeople are often quite casual, and the “seasoned” businesspeople usually go from golf course attire to business suits.

3. What attracted you to pursue a career in the business development field?

When I was younger, I struggled with making my thoughts clear to others…always seemed to mess up when it came to communicating the message I wanted to get across. This motivated me to research how successful people in society were communicating…their language, tone of their voice, body language…everything to do with making their thoughts easy to understand by other people. Over the years, I have noted many methods that work and many methods that “bomb” when it comes to connecting with and making presentations to senior-level executives.

 4. After years of seeing what works and what does not work with business development in business, what is one key takeaway?

“Be Professional and Unique.”  These two words together can result in success. If you are too professional, you come across as stuffy or unapproachable. If you are too unique, you come across as being weird and not desirable to associate with. Being professional AND unique sets you apart in a positive way from the masses in executive presentations.

For example, when I want to meet a senior-level executive in person, I will send a nice, personalized Hallmark note in an A2 envelope (not #10 envelope) with the outside of the envelope typewritten and the note highly customized to that individual. This approach consistently works.

 

5. Has the evolution of business dress code affected communication today?

Most definitely it has. In short, dress to match the person with whom you will be meeting or to whom you will be making a presentation. This point has been lost too many times in recent years and those who do not follow this rule wonder why the other person does not respond in a desirable manner.

When businesspeople meet, there are MANY nonverbal messages being exchanged. One big message is how each person is dressed compared to the other people in attendance.

Many people need to be cognizant of dressing nicer in a business environment. My mentor told me that you have weekday dress standards and weekend dress standards and the two should not coincide, meaning one is professional, and the other is casual. There are exceptions but this is a good rule to always consider.

 

 

 

Radio, Speaking and Television I’ve Been on

I enjoy interacting with audiences on television, radio and face-to-face because I enjoy being with people and it keeps my content current. A few of the shows I’ve participated in include:

WOAI-TV – San Antonio, TX

On this live show, there was a reporter “in the field” asking people questions that I would respond to from the studio. Wonderful experience.

 

WSM – Nashville, TN

 

Y100-FM – San Antonio, TX

 

WFAE-FM – Charlotte, NC

 

KFI – Los Angeles, CA

 

KQED – San Francisco, CA

 

Fresh Air with Terry Gross (NPR syndicated show from WHYY Philadelphia)

 

America in the Morning – Westwood One – Washington, D.C.

 

Southern Women’s Show – Raleigh, NC

 

National Association of Health Underwriters – Baltimore, MD

 

Future of Connecting with Senior-Level Executives

 

What I see for the future of executive connections are the tight connection between technology, productivity and collaboration using digital programs with, hopefully, a human touch.

Artificial intelligence is the “elephant in the room” that will lead the way to changing much of how we build our business. AI should be just one resource to help businesspeople relate to each other better, not the “end all solution.”

Hot on the heels of AI is the increasing acceptance of robots to perform everyday business tasks. So, we are going to have to learn to communicate effectively with these new helpers.

The rise of mobile-centric applications will give employees more freedom to communicate from wherever there is a phone or Internet connection, opening the door even wider for employees to be from anywhere in the world working remotely.

Unified-Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) now enables people to collaborate across platforms offering voice, messaging, and conferencing in one cloud-based platform. Cloud-based communication is coming on strong.

Customer service has been progressively moving toward chat, chatbots and self-service, removing much of the “human touch” in communicating with people outside the company. I constantly hear the frustration people have with this lack of ‘human interaction, so it will be necessary for a company to have a “human interaction” option so as to not alienate prospects and customers.

We are now embroiled in a tug-of-war between interaction with technology and “the human touch.”  Look for this conflict to continue because there are some things relating to connecting with senior-level executives that silicon chips just cannot match with the good old human touch.