You are all set with your meeting with Joe. But you can’t remember his wife’s name. Ah no big deal you say. However Joe asked about you wife and mentions her name and then proceeds to ask about your children by name. You feel a little embarrassed because you can’t recall a single details about Joe’s personal life. I’ve got a simple technique that can help you.

If you are going to have a business a long term  relationship with someone you need to get personal with them.

I’m always impressed when someone takes the time to remember personal facts about me. I struggled with this in the past myself.

I wondered how they did it.

I developed a system to track and recall  personal information. It’s simple and very effective. The more you follow this system the better off you will be.

The system has three parts.

Part 1 – Collect the information you want to remember. I use the action method products and write this info down in the back burner section.

• Spouse’s name.
• Children’s name.
• A sibling they take a lot about.
• Parent name.
• Any pets? Get a name.
• Hometown.
• Any significant stories they have mentioned.

Part 2 – Enter the information. I’ve tried many systems for keeping track of this information. I used complicated CRM software but I found one simple system that works, and works well, it’s using the notes section in my contacts. I happen to use Gmail.

• Review your notes from the meeting and note any information that should be entered into the system.
• I open up my contact and add the information to the notes section. I list the information separately for easy scanning later.
• Develop a dossier on that person.

Part 3 – Review the information. This is where it all comes together as a system.

• Before a meeting open up your contacts on your phone.
• Search for the name of the person you are meeting with.
• Review the notes a=on that person.

If all this sounds like it’s very intentional and calculated – well it is!

Don’t mistake this as not being genuine or fake. I’m really interested in you. In fact, I’m so interested that I’m making notes and reviewing them prior to meeting with you.

Try this the next time you are meeting with a client. I bet you find it easy to do. I also bet the next time you have a tough decision for your client to make it will be easier if you make a personal connection with them first.

I’m always available on Twitter.