Making Connections

Making Connections…

Are you someone open to making new connections, whether business or personal, or do you feel you have your circle and you’re happy that way?

Many people get very comfortable with the circle of friends and associates they have. Life is busy and between extended family, the kids’ friends, neighbors and friends from your community, you may not feel you have the time to add to your network.

If you are in business, you know you always need to reach out and cultivate new connections. I have found that corporate folks have their circles which are related to their responsibilities and do not generally see a need to expand.

Unfortunately, when someone unexpectedly finds themselves in need of a new career opportunity, they do not have a wide circle and find themselves scrambling to make new connections at a time when they have a need and are not in the position of giving.

Giving is the best way to establish new connections. When it is a local connection you may help out with a donation to a charity, a ride for the kids to a game, a lift to the station when a car is being serviced or a meal when someone is feeling
poorly. These are great ways to feel good while doing good and broadening your
circle.

In the business world, the best way to give is to find out who the other person needs to meet and who besides a target client is a good connection. Connecting others with helpful people goes a long way toward spreading goodwill and staying top of mind with someone.

We all love to receive personal notes and in the current age of emails galore, it is really nice to receive an actual envelope with a few kind words penciled in. Someone just left me a package with a small gift and a hand-written note thanking me for a lunch I provided and some ideas on a non-profit auction. I was delighted by her thoughtfulness.

If you take the time to write 3 notes each workday, you will touch 720 people over the course of a year. It could be a birthday note, a thank you note, a get well note or just a note to say I am thinking of you. Keeping those notes going takes just a few minutes each day and makes a difference in people remembering you and your thoughtfulness.

Staying organized is critical to staying connected in the best way. If you attend a lot of functions and meet new people at each event, create a system. Take the
business card and make some quick notes on the back either at the event or
right afterwards. If you can remember something you spoke with a person about or something personal you discussed, make a note.

Once you have these cards and notes, make it a habit to enter them into a
system. Contact Relationship Management systems (CRM) are critical to manage a growing network in an organized fashion. Whether it is ACT, Red Tail,
Salesforce, Goldmine or another system, you should have a system and everyone
in your office should know how to utilize the system. Creating codes for people
is an easy way to stay organized. Codes can be created for types  of businesses, vendors, neighbors, coaches for the kids, business associates, etc.

Staying organized is not difficult if you make a habit of following a system.  Staying connected is simple if you can pull up a list and send everyone an invitation or an online note. Writing hand-written notecards is easier if you have everything in one place and can make an entry as to when you sent a note and when you want to follow up with a call or a lunch invitation.

Some of us are better than others at managing our circles but everyone can be connected to a wider circle by using these tips.