It’s time to climb out from under the rock! If you haven’t already started, begin reconnecting with people. In the past 15 months, there has been a decided change in how we stayed in touch with people who matter to us. During this month of June, we’re going to explore how you can relaunch these connections.
Today’s focus is on how to get started. Of course, you can randomly reach out to people, but after a few weeks the randomness will keep you from making progress. Make a list of 20 people and commit to reaching out to an average of five people a week for this month.
When you successfully get into the flow of this, you’ll want to continue. You can expect to reach three of the five people on your weekly list, but don’t forget about the other two. Follow up in successive weeks, which demonstrates that your outreach was not just a random act.
After you have completed four weeks, hopefully you’ll continue with another 20 people and keep the process going. By the way, the people on your list can be clients, former clients, friends, professional colleagues, etc. The common theme is that you have not been in touch.
Your first contact is about just that, making contact. It’s NOT a business development outreach. The purpose is to find out how the person is doing and to hear a few highlights that occurred while you were out of touch. Be prepared to share a few highlights of your own. Keep your comments interesting, but concise.
Do not talk about how awful you’ve felt or how you badly your life is going. The goal is to reconnect, have a positive interaction, and to determine if you want to delve deeper in the short term. This is then the time to set up calls or coffees (yay – finally!). Listen for how you can help and offer it when appropriate.
After you’re back in the flow of doing this, you’ll be more comfortable with each successive outreach. If you’re feeling reticent, remember that people like to be remembered. They’ll be happy to hear from you.
