How many business contacts do you have? How many of those do you speak to on a regular basis?
Networking and making connections is one thing, and if you’re really good it, you’ll build meaningful relationships with the people you meet. However, too often, these relationships grow stale and you eventually lose touch.
But never fear! We have created a simple 3 step plan to help you rekindle your stale business relationships...
1. Join the conversation on social media
Social media is a great way to spark up a conversation with someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, as it gives you the opportunity to jump into a conversation without being invited!
Twitter is a great example. Chances are, your contact will post something on Twitter that interests you, sparks a question or reminds you of a related piece of content you could share with them. Use this opportunity to get back in touch.
If you’re not already connected with your contacts on Twitter or LinkedIn, go and do that now. Yes, right now. Just by following John on Twitter, you’ve shown him that you’re thinking about him and taken the first step in rekindling that old relationship.
Once you’re following your contacts, make sure you are listening to them. Business and entrepreneurship writer Neil Fogarty believes listening is one of the best ways to build valuable business relationships...
“I really do hate this phrase but its true you have two ears and one mouth use them in that proportion. The more you listen, the more you will learn! Ask open questions; show interest; encourage them to talk.”
Once you’ve found and followed your contacts on social media, read their updates, find out what they’re up to and what they’re in need of. Then you can move onto step 2...
2. Offer something of value
You’ve been out of touch for a while, but now you’ve been paying attention to your contacts on social networks, you should be building up an idea of what is currently going on in their personal or professional lives (or both!). Now you’re ready to offer something of value…
Many people think that offering something of value means giving away your goods or services for free, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Say your contact posts a link on Twitter to a news story they read. You could reply with a related post from a different angle. If they ask for help with a service you don’t know anything about, you might be able to point them in the direction of someone who does.
Small business authority Newtek believe that the more value you can offer a client or contact, the more they come to depend on you, but be careful...
“Don’t hesitate to share information clients may find useful, whether or not it benefits you in any way. In the same respect, refrain from bombarding them with irrelevant news or gossip, and don’t bother them with offers you know won’t likely interest them.”
Now you have opened conversation with a contact, it’s time to get serious...
3. Make a date
Social media makes it possible for you to form business relationships with people all around the world, but to form the closest relationships, most experts recommend meeting face to face if possible.
Karen Leland, author of Time Management in a Day finds that spending even just an hour with her contacts can help her better understand them and learn how she can communicate better with them in the future...
“After spending just an hour with my clients, I had a significantly deeper sense of who they were, how they operated and their personalities. All of which will make me more productive in working with them in the future. Besides, when I email them now, or speak to them on the phone, I can see their faces in my mind’s eye.”
Steven J. Thompson of John Hopkins Medicine International believes that trusting relationships are a result not of what you say necessarily, but how you say it...
“Much, and probably most, of what you need to communicate to build relationships is based not on the words you speak, but in the precise moment-to-moment changes in the tone of your voice, your pauses, tiny shifts of your eyes, the slightest hint of a smile or frown, the way you shift your body. These subtle communication channels carry emotional information that is absolutely critical to the charisma leaders need to change the way people think, and to making deep connections with people.”
Asking a business contact out for a coffee or lunch will give you the chance to chat about a range of topics and get to know each other in a relaxed setting. Don’t forget, not everyone has time to meet for a catch-up so try to gauge how busy your contact is and what they like doing. That way, you can invite them to something they’ll actually want to go to and build a meaningful business relationship that will actually last.
**How do you rekindle business relationships when they go stale? **