Over the years, one of my more common schticks when speaking to banker groups is explaining the way I think by saying, "Hey...I'm a Cajun."

I like making things as straightforward as possible to understand.

Too many people confuse complexity with sophistication.

But I believe simplicity is often the height of sophistication.

I found myself revisiting that line recently when I was asked to speak to bankers about improving their marketing and sales effectiveness.

To be honest, I was looking forward to that topic.

I often get to talk about big picture leadership, business development, and workplace culture.

But it had been a while since I'd spoken about some pretty basic philosophies and practices for getting and staying on potential customers' radars.

And yes, simply staying on a customer's radar is vital to success.

Some people seem to treat name recognition as though it's pretty much a given.

When customers are in shopping mode, they'll consider us right along with everyone else, right?

Uh...nope.

In an industry, and a world, with innumerable options, most people gravitate toward familiarity.

Plain and simple.

As I was putting that presentation together, I rediscovered a piece of research that always makes me smile because of its name.

It's hard to get much simpler than "The Mere Exposure Effect."

It was first identified by social psychologist Dr. Robert Zajonc in 1968.

The Mere Exposure Effect is the tendency for people to develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar with them.

Zajonc's research demonstrated that repeated exposure to a person, brand, logo, or name increases feelings of comfort, trust, and favorability, even when people have little or no additional information.

And his findings have only been strengthened by decades of subsequent research.

Branded tchotchkes, chalkboard messages, billboards, social media posts, civic sponsorships, radio and local TV spots, and handing out your business cards...none of this is complicated.

But staying top of mind may be one of the simplest competitive advantages you'll ever have.

How are you creating a little more mere exposure today?

My wife has told me for years that she has trouble understanding the on and off switch I seem to have in social settings.

I joke with her that I have enough friends. I don't have the bandwidth to maintain the friendships I already have.

Making new friends seems like malpractice toward the ones I already have.

Okay, I joke. I joke. Mostly.

Then, last week, an interaction in a place where I specifically do not go to talk to people had me smiling and laughing at myself.

I like to get to the gym in the early afternoon. That's when it's at its quietest.

Fewer waits for machines, fewer "influencers" filming themselves, just a better time for a guy my age who doesn't want to be there anyway.

I'm past the going-to-the-gym-to-look-good phase.

I'm now in the going-to-the-gym-so-you-can-still-get-up-if-you-fall phase.

Now, the one thing I do look forward to at our gym is the sauna.

I like that it's co-ed because it encourages a little more modesty. If you know, you know.

And I don't talk when I'm in there. Heck, I don't make eye contact.

Let me sweat and suffer in peace, thank you.

On my last visit, I was sitting there with my head down, earbuds in, completely in my own world.

Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. Well, that was a first.

I looked up to see a young man who quickly apologized. He had mistaken me for a friend.

I told him, "No problem, buddy. We're good."

He gave me his name and began talking about how there are so few places these days where guys his age can just meet people and make friends.

Midway through his commentary, an older guy sitting next to me chimed in.

That brought yet another guy into the conversation, and before I knew it, there we were...talking about all sorts of subjects and life in general.

Within minutes, I knew something about their jobs, where they were from, and their favorite and least favorite aspects of the gym.

I didn't tell them that one of my least favorite things was talking in the sauna.

Each guy eventually fist-bumped the others on his way out.

Against all my efforts, I guess I made three new friends.

Maybe that young man hadn't mistaken me for a friend, after all.

How many of your future friends are just one conversation away?

Don't sweat it. Make the introduction.