Yesterday, an MD of a major FM company told me how difficult they find it to remember not just the names of their ever-growing team, but also their clients and those oh-so-important details about them all:
- their family, childrens’ names etc
- where they were going on holiday
- what they enjoy outside work
- their specialisms within work etc etc
Why are these things so important? Because people feel we care if we take an interest in them as a person.
Here’s one way to improve your memory….
Take an index card box and write one card for every single person you meet – you can group them by site, contract, dept, whatever works for you.
Each time you talk to that person, make some brief notes (beware of the Data Protection Act, and simply write facts)
Before you talk to them next time, refer to the card and hey presto – you go armed with relevant and important information. So you don’t need to launch straight into ‘business talk’, you can enquire about their family, holiday, football team – watch how quickly this builds the rapport between you.
Give it a go and let me know.