I had the great fortune of meeting Larry Benet, known as “the Connector” at Blog World, where he was the opening keynote. A few days later I heard Larry speak at Peak Potentials Training’s Master of Influence seminar. There, Larry shared some strategies which landed him a meeting with Larry King among many other high profile people of influence. I have summarized those strategies here.
The main objective with Connectology is to turn contacts into relationships.
Following are some of the ideas that Larry shared with the audience:
A key to wealth is to provide more value with more solutions. Always seek out the problems those you wish to connect with are experiencing and make it your chief objective to solve those problems.
Get in the mode of giving. Sincerely give of your time, connections and ideas. You will find that you will certainly receive 10 fold in return.
When you meet someone always ask: How can I help you? How can I be a resource? What do you do for fun when not working? These questions will allow you to uncover that persons problems. When it comes time to thank that person, knowing what they like to do for fun will allow you to provide a gift that makes a powerful impact.
Masters of connectology are action oriented and decisive. Have your contact list ready and be willing to utilize those relationships immediately. Don’t fall for the, “I’ll e-mail you the information later” trap. Be decisive and make the call right now and bring the idea to action.
Prepare your verbal business card which serves as your elevator speech. Ask yourself what you would say if you had 15 seconds to talk to a key contact that could change your life. For example, the pitch I use is that I help people optimize their life using technology.
You need to develop a relationship strategy for your top relationships. This can include some type of CRM software and scheduling system. One such system would be a happy birthday and anniversary system, which allows you to automatically send greeting cards. Another strategy is to send thank you cards each day.
Always snap photos when you can. You can use these to send personalized messages.
Keep in touch with video messages and send relevant articles to key contacts. If one of your contacts is mentioned in the press, get a copy and send it along with a message of congratulations.
Send small gifts like Starbucks gift cards to the key administrative staff members of your valuable contacts.
What methods do you use to turn your contacts into relationships?
