Corrina Gordon

Be authentic. There’s no point in coming across as anyone other than who you really are, otherwise you’re setting yourself up for fake connections.

Listen more than you talk. Tap into your genuine interest in others and get curious about what this person’s needs are. This will enable you to know whether you, or someone you know, can genuinely help them.

Be the person who knows people. Join dots, link others. Trust that they’ll do the same for you.

Follow up as soon as possible, while conversations are still fresh in your mind.

Make it easy for people to stay connected to you. Give them a tangible next step. e.g. ‘Would you like me to add you to my mailing list?’ or ‘Shall we meet on Wednesday, 3pm, for a coffee?’

Under promise, over deliver. Say you’ll send the email tomorrow and send it today instead. Price your product at 20 and when they agree that price, throw in an extra bonus goodie. You become known as the person who delivers above and beyond. And do this with yourself, as well as with your customers. Say you’ll do 3 items on your ‘to-do list’ and then if you compete these, you can see the 4th action as an added extra. Before I applied this maxim, I constantly felt I was rushing to keep up with my promises to myself and others. Now I feel there’s a lot more room to breathe. I feel I can trust my word and this translates out into others knowing me to be reliable too.