I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date. I have no time, hello, goodbye...
Who among us does NOT feel this way? And, yet, we must make time to say hello, goodbye and quite a lot in between, if we are to grow our network.
Professional organizers will share with you that it's all about systems and strategies. You'll need to put systems in place to get yourself organized and then you need to have strategies in place to actually USE the systems that you've created.
Today, I want to share with you a concept that you can build a system and strategy around. The system is one for follow up and for building relationships.
Take a moment to sit down and do a year end inventory of your most important relationships. And for the sake of direction ... let's list out 10 of your current, primary, relative and important relationships. You should know instinctively and without much prodding who these 10 important relationships/contacts are. Go ahead and write them down.
Now, in looking over that list, take an inventory of your "staying in contact strategies" with each one. When was the last time you talked to each person on your list? When was the last time you sent them a card, an article, a referral? When was the last time you visited their blog or website? When was the last time you commented on their blog or website? Do they have a social media presence? Have you left them a testimonial or a comment?
With just these two simple exercises, you will have identified the people who are important to you and you will have identified the ways you are (or aren't) staying in contact with them.
What do you need to change? What do you need to add? What can you do to strengthen the ties between you and these 10?
When you answer these questions, you will be refining your goals and then you can put systems in place to map out your strategy toward achieving those goals.
Tune in again soon for a follow up post that will showcase one way to tie this all together!
