I’m a big fan of speaking (and typing) to clients as if you’re old friends.

Formality has always been the go-to for professionals, but can sometimes feel inauthentic or robotic (am I the only one who is so grossed out by website bios written in third person? You’re not being interviewed by a magazine for pete’s sake, that’s you on the keyboard!)

So when it comes to gathering necessary information, like email, phone number, payment method etc, I send an eQuestionnaire, but I always add a fun question in. That “fun question” is arguably the most important one because it acts as a sort of ice breaker.

 

For example, you could ask:

• What’s your spirit animal?
• If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
• What TV character is most like you?
• Which TV family is your family most like?
• What’s your favorite song to sing in the shower?

On my questionnaire, I ask them their favorite show to binge watch. I LOVE this question because not only does it provide a lot of insight into their personality, but it gives me something to connect with them on. Oftentimes they name a show I watch too, which enables me to write back to their email and geek out over shared interests. This is huge for helping people feel comfortable and build trust.

So whatever business you’re in, my advice would be to always “add sprinkles” to your formal business-y stuff. Think about everything as if you were the client receiving it, and a great way to have authentic, genuine interaction is to show interest in an answer they provided.

Do you do this? If so, what are some questions you ask to get the party started?