So besides my complete and utter recommendation that you visit Dralion for yourself, this is supposed to be a business blog, so I’ll get back on track.

As I watched the show, I started thinking about the circus as a metaphor for a business. You have a team of people with various skills, gathered together to achieve the object of performing for a crowd. That’s not so different from the average business or company. You have your workspace, teams of people, experts, act-leaders, and an overall ringmaster. Noone is successful completely by themselves, and when the chemistry between the folks is right, it’s SO right.

The key thing I was thinking about, was how important it is to be surrounded by a team who you respect and trust. To achieve that triple-barrelled somersault off a spinning wheel, you need to trust the guy who is holding the wheel. To pull off a key presentation to a client you also need backup. And not just your immediate team, but each performer needs to trust those both ‘above’ and ‘below’ him. The ringmaster (manager) telling him where to stand, the guys who prepared the props (admin) and a belief in the system, so he can demonstrate his skills without reinventing his wheel. There is trust even the audience (client) to some extent, that they are ready to accept what you have to show off, and are worth building a relationship with.

It’s also important that the whole team are aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses so help can be given when needed. A great CEO knows what all his staff do in their everyday roles, but leaves them to do what they’re best at. So too, the guy who passes the juggler his balls has some juggle skills himself, but leaves the expert – the juggler, to take centre stage.

A circus and a business both need good leaders, team players, experts, and customers. And, well, I guess clowns will always be clowns!

Now, there are a few things that must be mastered before embarking on a café-style business rendezvous. I quickly learned that there exists a very strict etiquette:

-    Firstly, there is the issue of identification. You must be able to actually recognise the other person, which is tricky when you’ve never met, and trickier still when the café you are meeting in is full of lone coffee drinkers, waiting for their other businesslike half to arrive.
-    After accosting a few of the wrong people and figuring out who you are there to see, then you must work out who is buying who the drinks. There is no clearcut on this one I’m afraid, but upsizing your order right after your companion offers to pay, is a definite no-go.
-    And when that’s sorted, there’s the choice of beverage. You can’t have just anything you know, it is strictly tea, coffee or juice. You can’t have a hot chocolate or expect to be taken seriously with a milkshake, and apparently a triple vodka and lemon isn’t a goer either.

Anyway, I mention all of this because I’m in Auckland this week for meetings. Some are in coffee shops, others in fancy-schmancy offices. But it’s always the same protocol. One thing I’m becoming accustomed to is that in Auckland the cafes are never within walking distance of one another – there is a lot of drive-park-walk involved, which is making me consistently later than I even usually am.

Last week I avoided the potential to be late almost entirely. I had six meetings, one after the other. (I would have said ‘back-to-back’ but when I tweeted about this, Vaughn Davis of Y&R promptly replied, recommending me to schedule them ‘front-to-front’ instead, so we could see each other’s faces. If you know me well, you’ll know this joke would please me greatly. Anyway, I digress.)

I had to see six people for different things, and so made times for all six at the same café, to meet them all in a row.  The waitress was starting to give me funny looks by the end of the stream, and I had to make several toilet breaks to cope with all the appropriately-selected drinks I was consuming, but I considered it a success. It’s not often you can fit that many into one (long) afternoon.

So though I don’t actually drink coffee, I do like the business-café-culture here. It sort of levels everybody, gathered in a warm room, surrounded by harried waiters, trying to be heard above the din of a room talking business. Where do you do business outside the office? Are you more fancy than me, and have graduated to client dinners rather than just paltry coffee? Any tips of your own?

Sales. I think you either have it, or you don’t. We all know people who are excellent at it. I’m thinking of a very particular person – walk out of a meeting with him and you’ll find you’ve sold your soul for a kitkat, and are absolutely rapt at the deal.

By contrast, I’m the first to admit I’m a terrible salesperson. Give me something I’m excited about, and I’ll be able to pass on some info to people. But ask me to head out and sell something and I’ll hate it. And fail.

I’m writing this from the Bizzone Small Business Expo, which is at the TSB Bank Arena at the moment. It has been a bit quiet due to the torrential rain, which has given me plenty of time to observe the transactions going on around me.

I’ve seen a few different methods in action today. There are people taking the ‘pouncing’ approach, resulting in potential customers dashing through the stands like it’s a gauntlet. There are people taking the ‘stand and stare’ approach, which can be intimidating.  And then there’s the ‘over-the-top’ and ‘slightly crazy’ display of energy, which makes for great entertainment if nothing else.

There’s a fine line between appearing unfriendly, and just allowing people to absorb information in their own time. I felt like some stands had the mix exactly right, where others maybe missed out on opportunities by taking the wrong approach. But I guess every person is different, and what works for me isn’t necessarily the only answer.

For example, I thought Vero Insurance’s stand was great. They had a flashy game with prizes, they didn’t want anything from me bar a little interaction, and I walked away with a prize and pack which I actually did read later. Their objective was to make people aware of what Vero does, and because the game was based around different types of insurance policy, mission accomplished. They also had a guy in a shiny vest – essential element I reckon.

The expo environment is sales in a pressure cooker – everything is far more intensified, and everyone is making a real effort. But I think that, like with everything, psychology is the most useful tool. After watching and listening to the people around me (even those that didn’t have tons of money to spend on guys in shiny vests) the ones that did the best just used some old-fashioned psychology, and talked genuinely with people.

Approaching a stranger is a tricky thing, and some did it very well today. It sort of gives me hope that maybe it’s not just something you either do or don’t have, but that maybe I can still learn…

I still have a pile of tickets high enough to build a fort out of, so if you want to head along, let me know before the end of the day and I’ll drop you a double pass. And have a read of Jennifer Looman’s take on the Bizzone experience – from the expo-goer’s point of view.

1 - It’s indescribably therapeutic. Have a problem? Blog about it. Several of mine have reaped results, and it’s better than keeping it bottled now isn’t it..?

2 - It’s a neat timeline of things that happen in your life. Unless you already write in a diary or have a similar practice going on, you can’t look back easily over a record of how you were feeling. I can scroll back through my twitter and already there’s stuff in there I’d forgotten. And if someone sends you something/inspires you/suggests something you can go back and find whatever it was, and it’s in a lovely little timeline for you.

That’s all. I did promise to keep you updated on how my social media is going, so there’s an update. 

Slightly off-topic, but here’s something neat that I want.. I would boogie through the cleaning!