When you meet a new person you must do something, otherwise, you will have squandered the opportunity to create value from that encounter. You must prepare, organize, and act. To do this, most successful leaders insist on having a personal information contact management system, like PRISM. Without a system, you will be less effective in achieving successful networking outcomes. PRISM’s 5 Minute Methodology is based on the premise that if you allocate 5 focused minutes to every engagement (phone call, face to face encounter, or even text), you will have a better chance of deepening these relationships to achieve successful outcomes for you and this other person. Whether you are a PRISM user or not, this methodology can be brought into anyone’s networking practice.
When you meet someone new, here are the three steps you should take:
Step One: Enter the person into your contact management system. This action is completed in the BUILD stage in PRISM.
- You will need their email or mobile number.
- You either received their business card, or you caught enough information when you met them that you can find them on social media.
Step Two: Spend 5 focused minutes investigating them on the internet or Social Media. This action is part of the DISCOVER stage in PRISM.
- You should post the public URL of their Social Media pages you found on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram into your PRISM record for this individual.
- Often you can also learn much valuable information about their backgrounds, interests, families, and what you may have in common.
- Enter what you learn and tag them into categories in PRISM.
- Based on the categories you have tagged this person into, look through your PRISM and see if you have any connections that you should introduce this person to.
- You can make a note of them or make an introduction at this time.
Step Three: Set a follow-up. Take action!
- This action is completed in the CONNECT Stage in PRISM.
- Remember to send a brief email or text within 24 hours of meeting someone new, letting them know you enjoyed meeting.
- Remember to set a follow up within 7 days after each encounter.
- To learn more about relationships building…check out the PRISM Resource on The 24/7/30 Principle.
Reminder: Please be mindful that genuine relationship building is not transactional. This is just the “next” step in becoming known, valued, and trusted. You must establish trust before a person is willing to conduct business with you or introduce you deeper into their network.
