Check Mate

On a recent Delta flight I stumbled over two advertisements in their SKY magazine of Dating Services or introduction services as they were called in my active days as a matchmaker in Ireland. One concentrates on lunch dating. You’ve found “your very own wing-woman” when you entrust them with scheduling your dates over “informal” lunches. Their clients appreciate to best optimize their dating lives by hiring an expert; experts who shine some light on today’s’ complicated dating scene by giving advice on how to meet people successfully. Knowing how difficult it is for true professionals to find time for lunch this sounds like killing two birds with one stone.
The other company prides itself in its selective search. Their commercial is very persuasive. How can one resist a company that claims it has a proven Meet your Future process which is a registered trademark? They have taken their search to high-caliber, commitment-minded singles and have a proven success rate, or so they say. Every dating/introduction/matchmaking company worth its money has been claiming just that since I was in the business. The accent in our advertising was always “discerning, busy, professional”. It still seems to be. This one is even a “boutique style” matchmaker. I grew up with boutiques, learned what boutique hotels are but have never seen this label applied to a matchmaker although I hail from a country that has a century old history of matchmaking. The comparison with an executive recruitment service specializing in headhunting is not new. We used that line effectively to open skeptical doors of customers and media representatives alike.
So they still do exist, these personalized services whereas everybody else seems to be happily dating online -- or maybe not so happily. Numbers worldwide are alleged to have reached over 60 million cyber date junkies. In spite of this, there still seems to be a need for what distinguished our service from online dating agencies: the personal touch. This, in fact, was our major selling point over the competition.
I knew my new business had gained extra credibility and respectability when we were featured in the City Jet’s Full Flight Magazine: Check Mate.