Getting organized before a meeting:
Steve Harper is the author of The Ripple Effect: Maximizing The Power of Relationships For Your Life and Business (second edition releases October 2009). Prior to meeting a person one-on-one, he does his homework. Here are some of his favorite preparation questions:
- Who is this person?
- What is this person all about?
- Why is this person important to me?
- What ways I can add value to this person?
Taking a few minutes to organize your thoughts means you'll be prepared for the meeting and shows that you care.
I would also add that I have a mental checklist of things I bring with me to a meeting: business cards and other marketing materials, my Blackberry or other calendar, and a notepad and pen. Sometimes I also bring a small token gift of one of my books or products.
Staying organized during the meeting:
Steve tries to guide the conversation with these points:
- What's the latest? What's going on?
- What are the challenges you are currently facing? How can I help you with those?
- What are any actions we both should take after the meeting?
I like taking notes during a meeting using my Blackberry to send myself an email for action items, or using Evernote for reference information. I also like using Jott with my phone to get a transcribed email sent to me with any further thoughts that occur to me on the drive home.
Organizing after a meeting:
Patti DeNucci is a business connections expert and writer, currently working on a book and putting out some great content on her DeNotations blog. Patti and Steve both will tell you that a good contact management system is crucial to managing your relationships. I am personally a big fan of CardScan, a business card scanner that allows you to easily grab the valuable information from that stack of business cards you have been building up in your desk drawer.
Patti adds, “When you bring business cards home from an event, go through them and cull out the ones from people with whom you really connected. Out of a stack of twenty you may only have two or three and that's okay. Follow up with those first. Don't be afraid to toss out or store cards from people who just didn't impress or resonate with you. My belief is if you're meant to know or do business with them, they'll show up again.”
“Along similar lines, databases need a good decluttering from time to time. I go through mine a few times a year to: a) remove people I've not seen or heard from in more than two years, b) re- categorize those I've gotten to know better, or c) update changing information.”
My third networking expert friend, Thom Singer, is the author of The ABCs of Networking and many other great books. He reminds us that a contact management system loses some of its significance if you don't also have a good follow-up system. You'll want to make sure you take action on those items you discussed during your meetings with people. You can use your calendar, task list, and even a more sophisticated system like ACT! or Salesforce.com to move your relationships further down the path.
I've linked each of my friends' names to their Twitter accounts here so you can follow them for more great networking tips and thoughts. What are your favorite organizing systems for staying connected? Share in the comments!
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Great tips!
My advice is to make sure you use ONE address book. I find people tend to scatter their contacts info and business cards across too many solutions. Outlook, Phone, address book.
That way when you need info on one of your contacts you know immediately where it is.