We have now reached the fourth blog post of my adventure. In the meantime, I have already had various client appointments and was also at my very first networking event at the Swiss Chamber of Commerce.
You can always prepare very well for customer appointments in advance, but in the end it never turns out the way you planned. I had my difficulties with that, because you have to take the time to analyze the client and use that to create a presentation of the company. Therefore, you always have to remain flexible and be prepared for changes at such meetings.
After each customer appointment comes the follow-up work. I write a client report for each meeting, mentioning the people who attended, the topics discussed and other information. I then share the finished report with the other salespeople. They then look at their location to see if the same company is also represented there and contact them if necessary. This increases the chance that we can close more deals.
The aforementioned networking event of the Swiss Chamber of Commerce was very exciting for me. People from various professional sectors are present at this event and the atmosphere is very relaxed. At the beginning of the event, I was a bit nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. However, the nervousness disappeared very quickly because the members are all very nice and open. At such events, the interest in the other person’s profession is also very great, so I was able to tell a lot about my profession and the company and hear and learn a few things from other sectors. For example, I met a woman who works in the private jet industry or other people who are employed in the management of major banks. At another event organized by the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce, a total of 16 different chambers of commerce from other countries were represented.
I was already in Macau over the weekend and met my parents there again before they travelled back to Switzerland. Macau is about an hour by ferry from Hong Kong and is known for its many casinos and fine food.
I was also allowed to organize a first event of my own. On 28 April, we had a small, guided tour of Hong Kong harbour, then we visited a client’s warehouse and had lunch at an Italian restaurant at the end. It was not only interesting for the clients and partners to see a different side of Hong Kong, but also for me and my colleagues.
