You should set aside time each week to conduct your Recons. I make two calls on a Monday morning to arrange two meetings for two weeks' time. This allows ample planning and ensures that Recons are very rarely cancelled or rescheduled.
Prepare a priority list of the people you want to meet with. If you do a Recon with the same person twice in the same week, it tends to blur the two meetings together, and the information exchange is not as effective. I plan to have at least a one-week gap between meeting someone and having them come to see me. This way, the information they have given me has time to sink in.
I aim to do one Recon directly following our weekly meeting on a Tuesday morning and one at 1 pm on a Friday. By knowing when I am doing this, my staff can also plan meetings with me and other activities I may be needed for. This also focuses me on the activity of the Recon itself, as they are set parts of my working week. This doesn’t mean I don’t meet with other members at other times; I am very flexible to meet the needs of my fellow members.
Remember that playing golf or going to a BBQ at a member’s house is not a Recon Meeting. While it is true that you may talk a lot about business, these social activities are just that—social.
If you look at the speakers’ programme of your group, they never plan more than six to eight weeks ahead. This allows for new members to be added to the list. If you take a similar approach to planning your Recons, you will find it easy to slot new members into your schedule, so you can learn about them and educate them about you early in their membership.
Click here for a downloadable Recon Record sheet that will allow you to track your Recon Meetings effectively.
A Recon is only complete when you have had two meetings with the same person: one where you learn, and one where you teach. The dilemma of whether to go first is easy—you should always offer to visit the other member first for the first Recon of the pair.
Carry your Recon plan card with you so that if someone asks you at the meeting or any other time if they can do a Recon with you, you always have your schedule with you and can fix a date and time there and then. Remember to book both halves of the dance at the same time.
In the early days of your membership, you need to meet with as many other members as you can, as often as you can, but I would suggest no more than four in a week. Any more than this, and you might find meetings blurring, experiencing Déjà vu, which could lead to missing vital information or not delivering your message effectively.
As with all things in networking and business, you must not leave it to chance. Plan your Recons effectively to strike a good balance between forging strategic partnerships with closely allied members and gaining a good general knowledge of all members of the group, while accommodating new members as they join.