SUCCESS

Networking or Relationship Building is often underestimated and ignored for the more immediate bottom-line adding strategies for companies, especially as we become more 'busy'. But keeping your networks 'hot' is a good idea as people in these challenging times are moving between company's and careers a lot more. So how do you rekindle your cold networking contacts?

"Rebuilding Your Network,” Darrell W. Gurney offers some tactical icebreakers to get past the potential awkwardness of reactivating a dormant contact. Among his suggestions:

1. Admit you lost touch: Don’t gloss over the fact that you haven’t been in contact; after all, communication is a two-way street, and people do tend to let contacts slide. Gurney recommends leading with an introduction like, “Gosh, it’s been ages. I don’t know if you’re like me, but I get so busy with all that’s going on with work and family that staying in touch with people that matter to me takes a back burner. It’s not right, and I intend to correct that moving forward because, as we both know, relationships are everything.”

2. Don’t make it all about YOU: Sure, you’re initiating the contact because you want to get your career moving. But make sure the conversation is an exchange, not just an appeal. Demonstrate interest in what your contact’s been up to since you last spoke to create “relationship equity.”

3. Have a research project: If you come straight at a long-lost connection with an appeal for a job, you’re likely to strike out, to your mutual embarrassment. Like other networking experts, Gurney recommends you approach the call as an informational one first; think about something you can learn from the person at the other side of the line and engage on that basis first.

4. Wait to be asked: Anybody who’s worth networking with knows the score, and blurting out a job request insults your contact’s intelligence. Let your newly reinvigorated network connection make the first move on this front. If you handle steps 1 through 3 right, Gurney writes, the other person will probably ask you if you’re in the market.

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