Take some time as you ring in 2015 and revisit your connections from 2014. When is the last time you went through your LinkedIn connections and connected? LinkedIn and your CRM system can be valuable tools in ringing in the New Year. Here is a simple list of things that you might want to consider:
1) A New Year’s greeting to your LinkedIn connects. Depending on how often someone visits LinkedIn they might not know what you have been up to lately. Why not let them know? They are your 1st connections. There are two ways to do this: Simply post a message and those who are LinkedIn regulars could possibly see it in their feeds and updates and you can also send personal email to everyone that’s a connection. LinkedIn will allow you to export your contacts’ email addresses into a database. Just a simple warning – some LinkedIn users use a personal email address as their log-in, so they might feel it’s a little big brother-ish to get your business email at home.
2) Take some time to endorse your connections. There is no better way to remind someone that you believe in what they are doing and their expertise then by taking the time to show it. You want to be authentic, so make sure you are endorsing for the qualifications you are aware of. If you met someone at a networking event once and do not know them well, try to recall the conversation and re-engage them by endorsing one or two skills and not 25. It’s overkill and they might feel that you are not genuine.
3) Make a resolution to put a weekly 30-minute appointment on your calendar to reach out to someone that is already a connection. As your connections grow you should be connecting and re-connecting regularly.
4) Finally, if you deal with clients on a regular basis, take the time to break out an annual touch base plan with them. We all get caught up in the day to day and some clients tend to fall through the cracks. Plot on your organizer your ABC’s:
“A” clients – you should touch base with them every 2-4 weeks
“B” clients – touch base with them every 6-8 weeks
“C” clients – touch base with them every 10-12 weeks
So before you ring in the new, ring in the old and you can get 2015 off to a great start.
– written by David Carberry, Founder and CEO. Contact [email protected].
