How to Professional Network at a Funeral

While I was writing the current blog it reminded me of the funny story which I thought I would share with you all. It was some time ago, back in 2011, I took some time off work to usher my mother to a Funeral of a very special lady within the community. So along we go together my mother and I, it was the second time I had been to this parlor within the year and I was becoming familiar with the environment. After the ceremony I began exploring the room and displays which were in the reception area. Whilst reviewing a menu of the services available, I suddenly noticed from the corner of my right eye a well dressed, confident, professional looking gentleman who sported a gold name badge, as I looked up I realised the gentleman had just walked out of an office where there was another gold label however this time it was on the door in bold capitals the word "Manager". Great opportunity right here, another potential lead.

So with my friendly, bubbly, gigantic smile and professional appearance, I lock eyes with the gentleman and proceed to make a confident and assertive B line in his direction, three steps later and I was face to face with the gentleman. I extend my arm as a gesture to shake the gentleman's hand, it was with a firm handshake and a silent nod of the head, I proclaim, "Such a wonderful service and an amazing venue you have here, it's been the second time this year I have attended the property and they have both been wonderful, I love the flowers they are beautiful. After a quick rapport building moment, through small talk, I then casually enquire "Are you the Manager here?" The gentleman went on to reply and informed me he was actually the Area Manager, "Excellent" I proclaimed before continuing on and introducing myself, who I worked for and how we could both benefit from the JSA services. By this time I notice mum out the corner of my eye and finalised the conversation with the manager, before turning to mum who was looking suspicious, I could imagine what her thoughts could have been. Mum reluctantly asked me what I was doing speaking to the businessman, to her complete and utter SHOCK HORROR, I was reverse marketing my client to the Area Manager of the Funeral Directors which happened to take place at one of her friends funerals. End of the day, the early bird gets the worm, the second mouse gets the cheese, I say just jump in the deep end, you will either sink or float and if you prepare yourself correctly you would have invested in a life jacket, at which point you would be floating all the way. Not to mention, you will be amazed at what skills and abilities you equip yourself with along the way, whilst the rewarding accolades of self achievement and fulfilment from overcoming barriers and achieving success is the best motivator, I once heard a quote "Sometimes you take a chance and a bad thing might happen or you can take a chance and a good thing might happen, but if you do not take a chance nothing will happen". This rings so true with the amount of anxiety, depression, and paranoia relating to ourselves and others, if we let this affect us nothing will happen. Having long term mental health issues which I have overcome through persistence and hard work, this used to prevent me from doing many things until I learnt to take a different approach, which was the sink or swim method. It's only normal to feel anxiety when you are experiencing a new environment or situation you are not used to, the key words here are YOU ARE NOT USED TO. So at every new experience within your life, you would have experienced this anxiety however engaging in the activity or task repetitively provided you with the skills and abilities, increasing your confidence and success, just like learning to ride a bicycle, it is no different with job searching. You have heard it time and time again, cold canvas, I like to suggest getting out the phone and yellow pages and start calling, however let me guess, you do not think you can call and upsell yourself? Or you're not a people person? however should I say that biologically and psychologically our main function is to communicate, as humans we a social animal, therefore the insecurities, fears and paranoia people are encountering when thinking about cold canvassing is COMPLETELY normal! What is not normal is to allow these negative thoughts to prevent us from achieving success. Therefore the best way to overcome these feelings is to research, prepare and jump. Being passionate about your industry allows your mind to seek out and attract opportunities that would otherwise not be seen.