Traveling for Work Part 3: the Art of Schmooze

You have all heard the phrase, "You snooze, you lose." Well, I think that the final installment in this series of Traveling for Work needs to include one of the most important parts of being successful and enjoying your travel for work; it is learning the art of schmooze. As the common saying goes, "You snooze, you lose." I believe that if you don't schmooze, you lose.

The art of schmooze is one of the oldest tricks to the trade. It requires great listening skills, genuine interest, good presence in a room, and well a little lesson from one of my favorite references, How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

Here is an excerpt of his keypoints or "In a Nutshell", which I believe can be used to schmooze.

Six Ways to Make People Like You:

1) Become genuinely interested in other people.

2) Smile.

3) Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

4) Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

5) Talk in terms of the other person's interests.

6) Make the other person feel important-and do it sincerely.

Now that you have the 6 tips from a world renowned author...here are an additional 6 survival and success tips from Ms. Traveling Pants:

1) Be up on your current events. Know what is going on in the news both real news and gossip. There is always room for more Paris Hilton, A. Rod, or other stories.

2) Not all events are cocktail receptions, so if you have a chance to sit down. Sit at a table where many people already seated and close to the front of the room to make eye contact with the speaker and other VIPs that may be making introductions.

3) Always have business cards. Extending your business card will lead to getting someone else's business card almost without asking. This goes for airplane time too. Make sure you introduce yourself to your neighbor. You don't have to talk the entire flight, but make polite conversation and at the end of flight extend your business card. You never know who that contact from the plane knows. It is a small world.

4) If you are going to a networking cocktail function, they are particularly tough for everyone, but even a little worse for women as most dresses, pant suits, and women's attire do not allow for pockets. At a cocktail reception, you need to eat, drink, shake hands, and pass business cards all with 2 hands, one of which is almost always holding the drink. Strategy to remember...try to get to the nearest cocktail table or even place yourself next to the bar's edge. This is a great place to meet new people as it is the most trafficked area in the reception.

5) Before going ahead to other tasks, after leaving the event, write on the back of the card the date of the meeting and anything interesting that sticks out in your mind (kids, where he/she lives, common interests, or your need to send information about your product or something that you discussed). This will help in entering it into your outlook or other contact manager.

6) Hang out at the event. If the event is held at a hotel, make sure to spend time in the lobby checking your email instead of in your hotel room, check out the gym in the morning, and either get there early for coffee or stay late for a cocktail at the event. You know the old rule that more business gets done away from the office than in the office.

Now get out there and schmooze.
Remember if you don't schmooze, you lose.

Traveling for Work Part 2

As a continuation of my last post, I thought I would share a more complete list of my travel for work tips....

1) Always get an aisle seat on the plane (plenty of leg room, no need to disturb others to go to the bathroom, but you made have a bruised elbow or stubbed toes by the end of the flight.)

2) Pack snacks like peanuts, dried fruit, and crackers. The plane food is always chicken or beef. I have tried both. They are both let downs. The chicken always comes with buttery veggies that are never seasoned and mashed potatoes that seem to be instant. The beef option is typically pasta or a lasagna.

3) Get to the gate early and scope out the outlets for your laptop and phone. After the majority of the people are there, you will have no chance. Look for outlets around the pillars and even outside of the gate area like by the telephones. There is no shame in camping by an outlet to get connected. I have sat on many an airport floor.

4) Use your plane time wisely. Although the in-flight entertainment may seem fun as it is re-run sitcoms or a movie you haven’t seen, you can catch up on unread documents, write blogs, and draft proposals while killing time.

5) Never allow someone to switch your aisle for a middle seat and certainly do not allow your neighbor to convince you to lift the armrest.

6) You need an overhead baggage strategy. With every company charging for additional features previously included like baggage, people are now bringing on gigantic bags and rushing aboard to claim their overhead space. Don’t worry if above your seat there is no room, but you must start thinking a couple of rows ahead. Plus, this will help upon exiting the plane as well as your bag is ahead of your row to move the deplaning process forward quickly. It is a different strategy for Southwest which has a "cattle call" for the seats. There is no strategy except check in early early early AND fight for your place in line. If you are traveling with friends, there is strength in numbers.

7) Even if you don’t like the peanuts or chips they give you on the plane, save them. Sometimes your flight gets in late or you don’t have time to eat a proper meal while at an industry expo or event, those pretzels and peanuts will be your way to survival that is until you get back to the hotel and order room service. There will always be a club sandwich on the menu if you are skittish of other items.

Do you have other additional tips? I would love to add them to my repertoire.

Sincerely,

Ms. Traveling Pants

Traveling for Work Part 1

For the past year and a half, I have been traveling the world from Washington D.C., Berlin, Paris, New Orleans, Costa Rica, Mexico City, New York City, Las Vegas, Orlando, L.A., London, and Chicago. They often use the expression, “Road warrior” but I would consider my experience to be the Air warrior.

Always a great packer and savvy at how to maneuver through an airport certainly came in handy over the past months. I have come to terms that traveling at least once or twice a month does NOT warrant unpacking my carry-on. I have converted this rollable bag into my everyday, work bag which at all times carries my business cards, cell phone charger, camera, pens, marketing materials, and international electricity convertors.

Over this time, I have seen transportation strikes in Berlin, the co-founder of Apple speak in L.A., toured the bunker of Churchill in London, zip-lined through the Central Park of San Jose Costa Rica, listened to Jazz on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, and did a drive-by viewing of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.

It all sounds quite glamorous that is until your body is doing the traveling. This is especially true if you are traveling in coach which seems more and more like flying a la carte everyday (Would you like a blanket with that, a second checked bag, or a soft drink?). 

I can tell you already Newark has a great foot spa that gives foot massages for a reasonable price and without the need of spending a lot of time for a full pedicure. Las Vegas allows you on the way in and the way out to win the big bucks with slots at the airport. And, well the rest have blended together as I have either been jet-lagged, too tired from flying weird hours, or well they are just banks of chairs, fast food restaurants, and the same mechanical announcement via the loud speakers whether in French, Spanish, German, etc.

I have already shared with you my tip for my work bag/carry-on, but over the year, I have also acquired a few other tricks of the trade..that is the trade of business travel. 

Stay tuned...for Traveling for Work Part 2 and my list of tips.