Holiday Networking - 5 Tips to Strengthen Your Relationships

The holiday season is an excellent time to connect with family, friends, colleagues and prospective clients if you take time to develop an effective plan of action. Now is the time to develop a tactical plan that incorporates a bit of marketing into your holiday activities. Here are five tips to get you started.

1.Send your holiday cards in time for the cards to arrive during the first week of December. Being early has three main benefits: (i) your cards will be ahead of the surge of holiday cards; (ii) your cards will likely reach the intended recipient before holiday travel plans are in action and (iii) your cards will receive maximum time for exposure in environments where holiday cards are displayed.

2.If you are business owner or are authorized to purchaser cards on behalf of your company, select a unique and creative card design that is likely to make an impression on the card's recipient. You can also do this for your personal cards. If you follow point one and get your cards out early, the investment in customized cards will be worth the impression made by your card.

3.Write a personal note in each holiday card. While writing personal notes is a lot of work, you will find that a personalized message will help leave an impression on the card recipient that may lead to a follow-up phone call.

4.Send a thoughtful gift to the top five or ten percent of your clients. The gift does not have to be fancy or expensive - just thoughtful. If you do not have time to select (or have your assistant select) thoughtful gifts, you can make this project easier by grouping your top clients into a few categories and purchase a type of gift for each grouping. For example, your categories may consist of (i) golfers, (ii) movie buffs, (iii) art lovers; and (iv) avid readers. Now, select a gift for each group to send to all members- for example, a golf gadget for golfers, AMC gift certificate for two for movie buffs, a set of beautiful postcards for art lovers and a magazine subscription for avid readers. If you aren't able to group your top clients into broad categories like the ones above, you should make time in 2008 to learn more about your clients. The more information you possess about clients, the better service you can provide them.

5.Pick up the phone and call colleagues and others with whom you have lost touch. You can always use the holiday season as a great reason to call. For example, telephone conversations can start with ... "I was just thinking about you during this holiday season. How are you?" You will be pleasantly surprised at the warm reception you are likely to receive from the person on the other side of the phone.

Once you have opened the lines of communication by employing the Upward Action steps above, make sure that you have a plan of action for continuing to stay in touch throughout the year. Creating such a plan is as easy as deciding what types of information will be most useful to your network base and setting up a schedule (e.g., quarterly) to get useful, relevant information to them that highlights your company or your services.

Remember, the holiday season is a great time to nurture your network if you plan and execute your plan early.