In the world of sales, or life for that matter, your connections matter. Connections lead to relationships and solid relationships are the key to happiness. In fact, the Harvard Grant Study which looked at data for participants over a 75-year period concluded that the more areas in your life you can make connections, the better.
George Vaillant, the Harvard psychiatrist who directed the research concluded: The study found strong relationships to be far and away the strongest predictor of life satisfaction. And in terms of career satisfaction, too, feeling connected to one’s work was far more important than making money or achieving traditional success. The conclusion of the study, not in a medical but in a psychological sense, is that connection is the whole shooting match.
So I was meeting with a group of salespeople in Indianapolis this week. Whenever I present to a group, one of my key objectives is to give them a host of things they can start doing right away that will have an immediate impact on their success. One of the challenges that I gave them was what I call the “Reach Out & Touch Someone” Exercise.
The idea is simple and it’s so easy to do. But few people take the time to do it. At the beginning or end of each day, write a note to someone. I prefer a handwritten note card, but it could be done in the form of an email or text as well. The reason I prefer a note card is that it appears more personal and causes me to be a bit more thoughtful in what I write which is the whole point of this exercise.
The goal is to send a note to someone that you want to stay connected to and to share something of value, to show appreciation to that person, or to simply encourage someone. It should be authentic, sincere and come from your heart.
If you’re thinking, “I don’t know what to say?” Don’t overcomplicate it. What is it that you really enjoy about this person? What are the strengths and talents they bring to the table? What is it about this person that makes you smile or happy that you are doing business together? Compliments are powerful. In fact, in one study respondents indicated that they love compliments more than money or sex.
There’s a totally selfish reason to do this as well. Showing gratitude is one of the most powerful happiness boosters. So not only will it strengthen your relationships, it will make you feel better. When it comes to happiness, frequency beats intensity. In other words, the more we enjoy the day-to-day moments, the happier we are. The “Reach Out & Touch Someone” Exercise that I had challenged my clients to implement hits the trifecta for happiness – as it incorporates gratitude, relationships and frequency (you can do it every day).
If you’re using this strategy for business development, you can send your notes to clients, prospects, mentors, referral sources, or colleagues. You can expand this list to friends and family if you want to enrich your personal life as well. My recommendation is to send one a day, Monday through Friday, to business connections and to send one on Saturday and one on Sunday to personal connections.
Let’s look at the potential impact of this. If you do this all year long, you will have 365 deeper, richer connections. Now let’s just say that you are not quite that ambitious. Let’s look at doing this 5 days a week for 50 weeks throughout the year. That’s 250 connections! Would that deepen your relationships and impact your results
