Question: What are some good ways to keep in touch with many people throughout the year?
I’m often asked how I am able to stay connected with a significant number of people throughout the year. Truth told, it can be difficult. There are only so many days in a year and only so many hours in a day. That means that we are often unable to see everyone we would wish to see in person on a regular basis. That said, there are many ways to maintain a personal connection. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Send birthday cards or messages. One thing is for sure – everyone has a birthday and it makes people feel good to receive personalized birthday greetings. Whether you send a Hallmark card, a text message, leave a “happy birthday” message on voicemail or wish someone a Happy Birthday on Facebook or LinkedIn, your contacts will love hearing from you! If you make it part of your routine, it will not be such a daunting task and people in your relationship base will enjoy hearing from you at least once a year. (In fact, today is my dad’s big day, so I’m dedicating this post to him – Happy, Happy Birthday, Daddy Max!)
- Host a happy hour. If you don’t have the time to get together one-on-one with everyone you want to see, host a group get together. Just select a date, time and location, then send the message to a few people or to many – you choose. You could even host several over the course of a year so that you get a nice mix of participants. And, when it comes to paying the bill, people don’t mind purchasing their own beverages (if you want to do something special for those who attend, consider purchasing the first round of appetizers).
- Say “Thanks!” Whether you send Thanksgiving cards to your best clients, offer a pecan pie to a few of your favorite people at the holiday season or send handwritten notes – sometimes just out of the blue – to thank people for their kindness, their business, their referrals, their friendship, et al, people love receiving your appreciation. Pick your favorite method and make it happen. Your effort and good wishes will be received with elation and admiration.
How you do you keep in touch with your people? Please take a moment to enlighten all of us in the CLC Community by commenting below.
I sometimes invite people to attend local events or conferences that I already plan to be at so we can talk briefly beforehand and go for coffee or food afterwards to talk more.
Great suggestion, Allison! I really like how you leverage events that are already on your calendar. Makes it easy to coordinate without additional travel time, etc. Appreciate you taking time to comment.