Why Take Your Employees and Customers Fishing
Take a Fishing Trip to Develop Trust
 Editor’s Note: Business doesn’t have to only be conducted in boardrooms. You can transfer information about new products and services, strengthen relationships and build a strong sales team while on a charter boat fishing off Alabama’s Gulf Coast.
If you’ve ever fished offshore, you know you’ll have sitting-around time between stops at various fishing spots, leaving plenty of time for informal discussions. The team building comes from cheering on one another when a big red snapper or an amberjack has a rod bent to the point of breaking, when you’re helping hold the rod if a colleague has on a fish too big to land by himself or herself and being a part of a team with similar goals and objectives, including having fun while doing business. Even in more-formal classroom settings, educators have learned that breaks give students time to absorb and process information. On an offshore fishing trip, you can reel-in a red snapper or a king mackerel during that break time, and in the process, get a breath of fresh air and some exercise. When the break ends, the participants will feel good and will be ready to talk business again.
Business relationships basically build on two-important elements – easy access to each other and trust. When conducting  business with a company or an individual, you have to communicate easily with them. Text messages, emails and voicemails can leave business associates and customers feeling disconnected. However, after individuals have fished together, they have more than a customer-client relationship. They’re also fishing buddies. Too, the lines of communication grow stronger, and access to each other becomes much easier, faster and more personal. When you’re on a fishing trip with someone, you develop a degree of trust through helping each other land fish, making sure your buddy has bait, sharing meals together, learning about each other and sharing personal insights you rarely will share with a business client. When doing business with a company or an individual, you want to know you can trust that person to keep confidences and deliver the product that meets your needs. You can use a fishing trip to begin to develop that type of trust, resulting in a good working relationship.
To learn more about fishing with Captain Bobby Walker on the “Summer Breeze II,” call 251-981-6159 or 251-747-3575, visit www.bobbywalker.com, or email captainbobbywalker@yahoo.com. For more information on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, visit www.orangebeach.com, or call 1-800-745-SAND (7263). For one of the best places on the beach to stay that has nice amenities, check out Perdido Beach Resort. Go to www.perdidobeachresort.com, or call 800-634-8001.
Tomorrow: A Company’s Take on a Corporate Fishing Trip |
