Supporting Fulham can be good for business too....

[jarv]

I have my own business, sell football kit and equipment in Massachusetts. Yesterday I had a meeting with a new prospective customer. Turns out when we talked socially, he worked in London for 3 years, lived in Fulham and had an office right by Putney bridge. When I asked him if he ever went to Craven cottage, he replied "often". He took his oldest (his youngest was born in London) so we had a pleasant chat about the joys of the area. I think the bit that cemented the deal was when he volunteered that he went to Stamford Bridge once, thought it was a horrible experience and never went back. I said, me too and that was 40 years ago. Nothing changes at Chelsea. :tom:
He, like many Americans, follows Fulham and Dempsey quite regularly on tv.
I wrote a good order and made a nice chunk of change yesterday. He even paid for the coffee.

[Nick the Swede]

Great story Jarv! 
 
I have similar experiences over here in Sweden, most often I have a FFC Sweden pin or a Fulham pin on my jacket or suit when I meet with customers and partners. More often than not it is the main ice breaker, even if the person I deal with is not Fulham I mainly get credit for following such a nice club etc. etc. 
 
When I still lived in Stockholm and was a season ticket holder at my Swedish team I quite often went to games in any of my Fulham tops. One day me and my sister are on our way to the local derby away to AIK. We're standing on the platform "in enemy country" with lots of fans to both teams around us. The atmosphere was tense as there had been quite a lot of fighting going on outside the tube station. Standing there, minding our own business I can see a guy wearing the black and gold of our rivals (i.e. QPR of Sweden), he look at me, says something to the girl next to him and points at me and promptly walks over to us.   
 
It turns out that he (and his wife) are also Fulham and just had to say hi when they saw my top as they hadn't meet any other Swedish Fulham fans since they moved back home from London. Despite his poor choice in his Swedish team, I now consider him and his wife very good friends and he is actually a vital part of www.FFCSweden.se as our webmaster  :003:     

[Tktd]

I thought it was the mark of a good businessman to do your research on an individual before going for a meeting and either bring up a subject you knew they were passionate about or wear something which showed a passion for it.

A guy I know once rang up the PA asking to speak to the guy he was going to meet only to find out he was on safari - he found out the guy loved elephants and so went out and bought an elephant tie. Stroke of genius and everything else fell into place because of it.

[Burt]

I am on the Fulham group on LinkedIn so football frequently proves to be the icebreaker before things get down to business.