Recently I had to pack the family up and drive over 3 hours into another state to attend funeral services for a family member. It was a very stressful time for all of us. But one simple act made all the difference in the world to me that day.

I had made reservations to the closest hotel I could find a Holiday Inn Express, certainly not a 5 star hotel. The day we left I called to ask if we could have an early check in. I explained the situation to Alicia who answered the phone. She said we could definitely check in early although the room might not be totally ready for us.

5 star service is about building relationships not about room service.

Fake till you make it! We’ve all heard that one before and in some ways I think it’s true. I’m an introvert and it’s taken a while for me to break out of my shell. However I’ve learned a few things along the way that can help you if you are an introvert.

You need too be able work with a team and even if you work solo you will still have to present your work at some point.

It was not long ago that I didn’t have a game plan for cracking out of my introvert shell. And it’s been a struggle for me. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it and trying new ways to be more of an extrovert.

Whether you know it or not you are sending out micro messages all the time. Clients will key in on this. If you are just selling widgets than you can really just rely on the widgets. But for the rest of us who are selling a service you need to connect with the client.

Here’s some tips on how to break out of your shell:

• Accept praise – When someone compliments you or your design pause for a moment and say thank you. This will help make a connection to them.
• Have a story – When you are headed into a new situation have a story ready to tell. This is were practice makes perfect. Have a couple stories ready to go. When someone asks you what did you do this past weekend you’ll have a story that you can share. People always ask how are things going? Nows your chance don’t be shy give them an answer
• Say hello and introduce yourself– When you are at a conference or seminar say hi to the people sitting next to you. At a recent seminar I attended we had to solve a design problem as a group. It’s so much easier to work together when you know peoples names.
• Connect with someone everyday – It could be in or out of your office. But make an effort to talk to someone. Try to start the conversation.

It’s far too easy for “creative people” to just sit in front of their computers and forget about connecting with those around us. You must make a conscience effort to do this.

Are you an introvert or extrovert? Let me know on Twitter.