Speed Up Your Business With One Question

If you have read any of my articles, you know by now that I am all about finding new and better ways to do things that will give me a better return on my time and energy. 

About a year ago now, I listened to a High Performance Academy coaching call led by Brendan Burchard, author of The Charge.  He discussed productivity and how he starts his day out by asking the question, “Who do I need to reach out to today that will help me progress forward?”

He applies this question to all of his businesses, and I now apply this question to my college program and to recruiting. For example, what club coach can I reach out to today and develop a better relationship with that could potentially help me with recruiting quality student-athletes to my program? What person on campus could I introduce myself to? Who could I thank for helping me? 

Answering and acting on this one question has single-handedly changed the quality of recruits we get to look at and commit to my program.  

How could you apply this to what you do for a living?

Here is how I do it. On my way into work I think about who I can reach out to, whether that be a coach of a team I saw over the weekend, a parent of one of my top recruits, a local business owner, a faculty member on campus, etc. As soon as I get into the office, I turn on my computer and crank out a quick email to whomever I’m thinking of. I usually only write to one person a day and only give myself 10 minutes to build a relationship with whatever person I am writing to. I also do it first thing in the morning because I find that if I leave it until later in the day, there is a good chance that it won’t get done. 

I didn’t notice much of a difference at first, but over the course of the last year, spending the first 10 minutes reaching out to one person a day has really started to pay off. These coaches help us get in contact with recruits faster and even talk to recruits on our behalf. This helps to get recruits serious about us sooner, and it has helped us narrow down our recruiting pool because of the insights we now receive.  

All of this and more is the result of consistently reaching out to one person a day first thing when I get to the office in the morning. There is always somebody who you can reach out to. Be thoughtful and strategic about it. Like I said earlier, just this one question has helped to speed up the recruiting process for me. If you apply this to what you are trying to accomplish at work or with the group you are working with, I know it can do the same for you.