On Managing Relationships

The most successful consultants I know have frantically “systemized” their existing networks and relationships.

You probably frowned as you read the word systemized. People picture themselves as robots, whose goal is to turn all of their relationships into transactions. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

A system doesn’t need to be cold and automated. What we want from one is simply to increase efficiency, clarity, consistency, control. It turns out that a systemized network is easier to nurture, and doing that leads to deeper and healthier relationships.

This activity is key to building a strong marketing strategy and will allow you to increase your visibility and consistently generate opportunities at a relatively low cost. It’s not a surprise I aggressively promote this practice among clients and friends. When done right it has virtually no downside, and it works:

• You have an updated database of current and previous clients, prospects, collaborators, friends, and centers of influence in your space.
• You can quickly find and activate this network to cross-introduce contacts, invite them to join your trust-building initiatives, and explore opportunities.
• You consistently stay top-of-mind by sharing your unique content, the latest trends and insights in their space, and learnings from recent projects.

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