Make It A Habit

Returning to the dancing analogy for a moment, consider your dance card. Ideally, you don’t want to have any blank spaces on it, but neither do you want the same partner for each dance. It’s absolutely true what they say about ‘having all your eggs in one basket’. If you drop it, all you get is an omelette.

Balancing existing business relationships with finding new ones which you need to grow and nurture is a constant dilemma for anyone who wishes to progress. Some people find it almost impossible to free up the time required among other work priorities. To do justice to the importance of it, you must adopt a systematic and consistent approach.

What you are trying to avoid here is a ‘feast and famine’ scenario in your business where you either have too much to do or not enough. Business connections used wisely should alleviate the possibilities of this happening.

Another factor most people dread is ‘cold prospecting’. If you nurture your contacts you should not have to tackle cold leads. All your connections – even the newest you are following – should be warm, if not actually hot.

If your plan is to provide a regular supply of interesting new projects, then the activity required to produce this stream of work should be carried out regularly and proactively. Make sure it is strategic and fits with your company’s business development plans. New contacts are the lifeblood of most businesses, so make your first rule to be continually on the look out for new opportunities and connections; be systematic and persistent.

Creating A Method

Whether you are looking for new business, information, or you’re researching ideas, using one business contact to lead to another is a great way to continue to increase your sphere of influence.

One way of making this work is to ask your business contacts who else they would recommend you to talk to about the matter under discussion. You can ask them if you can mention their name. Provided you offer them something in return, they will most likely be generous in giving you the information.

Ask them who among your contacts it would be useful for them to meet, and make a point of following up on that request. Send them the information, invite them to the appropriate function, fix the next meeting, or introduce them to the third party at the next opportunity.

Centres Of Influence

There are people and organisations with whom you have made contact on a regular basis who have the power to influence or recommend. These could be trade and professional bodies, chambers of commerce, associations, financial institutions and other professional service firms.

By offering them some help or service, you will ensure they are reminded of what you do and are up to date on your company’s activities.

Make a note of any business contact you have who could lead you to a number of other influential business people. If this reciprocal relationship is successful it is a most cost-effective and worthwhile way of increasing your network.

You can always win friends and influence people by offering to do some ‘pro bono’ work. This could be volunteering to give some of your professional expertise to a favourite charity or not-for-profit organisation, or to help fund-raise for a specific project.

Anything that emphasises your willingness to be a ‘giver’ rather than a ‘taker’ will get you noticed and remembered.

Chance Contacts

Create opportunities by being observant. This sounds obvious but is often easily overlooked.

Scan your local paper, trade press, journals or professional publications. If you’ve recently read something about one of your business contacts, get in touch with them and say how pleased you were to see them mentioned in the news.

It could be that one of your contacts has just raised some money for a local hospital or charity. Maybe they, or their company, have won an award or a significant piece of new business. They will be flattered and remember that you took the time to call them.

Don’t ignore office gossip. You never know what you might learn! Maybe someone you know has moved into new premises across the road, or to the office suite on the floor above you. If they are on your contacts list, make a point of calling in to say hello.

Anything you can do to establish yourself in their mind will be helpful when trying to develop your business relationships.