Focusing on Contacts

Are you one of those people who make a big deal out of acquiring business cards? That’s a good start! It means that you know the value of getting contacts. On the other hand, if you’re not into getting the phone numbers of people you meet in conferences, you should start changing that now. Each and every contact that you get is representative of a valuable link to your expanding network, and it is especially important among executive jobs.

It is best to follow up with contacts while you’re still fresh in their memories, such as a day after a conference. Otherwise, what promised to be a valuable relationship may be tossed in the garbage. A lot of executives make the mistake of stopping at getting the contact details, when in fact it should only be the commencement of connecting with a contact.

So how can you start? By sending a follow-up email to your contact. Here are some tips to help you craft an effective email that will solidify the connection between you and a contact, whether you’re looking for accounting jobs or sales jobs:

• Establish the connection. When you follow up with contacts, your email should start with a reminder about how and where you met. This is crucial, because if you don’t establish this, the person reading your email may not make sense of anything you say in the rest of your message. To strengthen the recall, mention something that has to do with the interaction you had with each other, such as a topic that you talked about or a joke that one of you cracked. With fingers crossed, hope that they will remember your name and your face.
• Give something in return. To build a solid connection between you and a contact, offer or give something in exchange of what you are after. One of the biggest turn-offs is simply asking for a favor and not extending help in any way. Why not refer a potential client? If your contact sees that it is worth to build a relationship with you, he will exert the same effort as you do.
• Give more information. If you left a topic hanging after your initial meeting, give follow-up information in your email. This will show that you were paying attention in your conversation and that you care about the pieces of information that you exchanged.

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