Financial Marketing

1. Have a plan of action before you go. If you can, find out in advance who will be attending the event. Do some research online and on social networking sites like LinkedIn to learn about attendees and give yourself some connection points with these individuals. (You may even want to consider asking the host for a guest list.) Pick five people that you definitely want to talk to while you are there, and don’t avoid the big names. Challenge yourself by making an effort to connect with the most powerful person in the room.

2. Let them do the talking (You ask the questions)! As you meet new people this holiday season, be sure to have more in your arsenal than small talk. But instead of worrying about what you will say – just be ready to ask good questions and listen. Here are a few to get the conversation going:

Once the conversation is flowing freely, ask questions that lead to definitive answers:

3. Be prepared to describe yourself in fifteen seconds. It’s no doubt that you have a lot of qualifications and experience. So much that you could probably go on for hours about yourself. But the hard reality is that most people would rather talk about themselves more than listen to you. When you’re meeting new people at this season’s holiday parties, resist the urge to give them a ten-minute introduction about yourself. Instead, prepare a short, fifteen-second description that hits on a few memorable points. Think about what’s unique about what you have done and what will be remembered in a room full of people. Check out the next article for examples of 15 second introductions (email yours to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

4. The party may end, but your connection shouldn’t. Following an event - be proactive. Spend 10 minutes cementing your connections by entering people into your database. Include reminders to yourself of interesting or remarkable things people said so that you won’t forget them and can refer back to them in later conversations. And be sure to use social media to keep in touch.  Invite people you’ve met to connect with you on LinkedIn or other social networking sites and share something the person said to you at the event that you remember to make it personal. And if you can, give them a referral.  You will start connections that may turn out to be the best gifts you can give YOURSELF this season.

About the Author:

Maribeth Kuzmeski, MBA is author of The Connectors: How the World's Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life  (Wiley, September 2009). And creating strong business relationships is the focus of Kuzmeski’s newest book, The Connectors. It’s packed full of tools and techniques aimed at helping readers develop better, more profitable connections—tools and techniques proven effective by some of the world’s most successful professionals. The book even includes a special chapter devoted specifically to helping financial advisors build strong business relationships with their clients. www.TheConnectorsBook.com.