I have always kept contact names and the names of their companies. When my contact moved to another company I kept my records up to date by adding their new company to my list.
Of course, years ago we didn’t have our databases on computers as most people do today. I had notebooks overflowing with business cards.
Occasionally my secretary would organize my lists, usually during the holidays when we would send out some sort of greeting. My notebooks have grown considerably over the years.
I usually kept in contact with the people I knew at the companies I worked with. These contacts brought me a lot of repeat business. When a person moved to a new company they would usually hire me to do product development when it was needed.
When you have a business that depends on other people to get new business, these contacts can be invaluable.
You probably have hundreds of names already that you have not contacted.
Maybe you did a job for someone early in your career. You have that person’s name on a business card. Does he or she know what you are doing now? Do they know what kind of service or product you offer that might be of benefit to them?
It’s not up to you to decide what other people need. It is up to you to inform people what you have to offer them.
I’ll bet you have hundreds – if not thousands – of names in your database of contacts that you haven’t touched since you put them there who knows how long ago.
We all do the same thing by partitioning people into groups. These are service people, these are contractors, these are accountants, etc. But people move on, they know other people and you are missing out on valuable contacts if you don’t inform the people on your lists – and often – what you are doing.
Even if half of the people on these lists were unavailable, you still would have a valuable resource list.
Recently a friend of mine went through his list and started calling people he hadn’t talked to in years. Through those phone calls, he learned of important contacts for his fundraising efforts.
After months of cold calling people from research my friend had done on the Internet, he was able to find just what he needed by calling people he already knew!
As you do business you will, of course, make new contacts to add to your list. There are also contacts available through the Internet and e-mail.
In today’s business just about everyone uses some sort of contact management software like ACT or Outlook to keep track of everyone they meet instead of the notebooks I used to use. Whatever means you use, I want to stress that maintaining personal contact is still important.
Article – Copyright 2001 Stanley I. Mason. Syndicated by Paradigm News, Inc.
