Getting Back in Touch

All of us have people in our lives who have slipped through the “keeping in touch with cracks.” It’s really normal as time passes and our circumstances and locations evolve.

However, there are so many reasons to rekindle these relationships many of which go far beyond the business opportunities that may be triggered.

For myself, I often think of friends from earlier firms where we worked and leaders who have impacted me and my life. I’ve been blessed with a series of people who in reflection qualify as “mentors” who while out of touch are never out of mind.

I’ll never forget a “reconnect” I made over 30 years ago with one of my first bosses who rightly fired me 20 years earlier as I was failing in the role as a new life insurance sales agent. So here, 20 years later, I learned he had progressed to be the CEO of one of the largest insurance companies in the world. 

After reaching out and getting reconnected (meaning past his gatekeepers), we re-met on the 60th floor of his office building in Boston. By then, I had achieved enormous success in my first company and I wanted to thank him for the lessons he taught me 20 years earlier… even in letting me go. 

This “reconnect” was a honoring reunion for us both, helped me re-engage with him and his firm in a new way and led to my company doing even more business with his firm just for making the personal effort.  

Now an important tool you might consider in every reconnection action that you initiate is to consider taking on the responsibility for letting the communications fade or stop and even apologizing for letting that happen. You’ll find the apology you make is always accepted and more often dismissed as unnecessary. Yet an apology can trigger a reciprocal response leading to the fresh start you’re seeking.

Take a good look at the people who you’ve been engaged with over say the last five years. These could include previous clients, suppliers, members of groups you were a part of, influencers and others. Create a small list and start a “reconnect campaign” and enjoy the results of the relationship bridge being rebuilt. 

Its interesting, in a reconnection conversation how natural it is for both parties to “bring each other up-to-date” with what they’re doing or looking for… and this can trigger so many great referral/introduction opportunities for both of you.