Power of Relationships (cont'd)

POWER OF RELATIONSHIPS (WED)
Now that you’ve collected those 5 or 6 business cards, what do you do with them?
More often than not, we collect business cards and they don’t make it home safely or they never even make it to the computer. In other words, we have no proper SYSTEM in place to manage and organise business cards, so they’re easily misplaced. As previously posted, systems make your operations more productive, more efficient and make your entire institution more successful and therefore more profitable. So instead of having your business cards strewn all over your desk or maybe tucked away in different coat pockets or left in your handbag, you should definitely get yourself a Rolodex. This is an exceptionally great organizational tool and it can help you keep track of important numbers and contacts. If you’re a very serious business builder, your list of contacts will be growing constantly and you will have no choice but to find a system to keep everything organised.
So now your business cards are in good order and retrieval is easy and simple. Why do you need to be able to retrieve them easily? You have to embark on a course of communicating and re-connecting with all of the people you have just met at the networking event. It is very important to make some form of contact WITHIN A WEEK of initial contact with these people because your meeting would be fresh in their minds and they may remember outstanding aspects of that first conversation with you. Again you want to keep it simple and don’t “pitch” to these people. People do not like being sold anything so just keep it simple. A short phone call to see how they are doing can be more touching than you can imagine. This first contact after the initial meeting establishes a level of respect and sincere care between the two parties involved. Put yourself in their position and ponder on this,”We had a good chat the other night and he actually calls me a few days later to see how I’m doing (or how’s business), then he must really think something of me.” That’s just an example of the message conveyed by a simple phone call. You can send an email or a letter but I focus on a phone call because the person can hear the sound of your voice and they instantly remember what your laugh was like “the other night” and they hear and feel your conviction and sincerity. This is another point to keep in mind as well; People respond to people who take a sincere interest in them. Do NOT be a phony. You must have sincere care that emanates from deep within your being and people can feel that. Being in business, it is extremely important to build relationships because relationships help you to leverage your time and your resources.
On Friday, I’ll take relationships to a personal level with respect to my own business and outline how it is helping me along with over 400,000 people who have “seen the light” as I have.