Think about the number of meaningful relationships you’ve had with clients over your career. There are likely hundreds. Now think about how many you’ve reached out to in the last year. Probably considerably fewer, and probably not enough—especially since they’re your best and easiest source of leads if you’re in a services business. Read on for a simple and important way around this relationship problem.

Image credit: Vinoth Chandar – Flickr

It’s been nearly six years since I wrote about easy ways to make time for business development (BD). I reprised my Top 10 list with a workshop group the other day and it occurred to me I should do the same here. While I’m at it, I’m merging what was two lists of five into one for easy access, and adding some prioritization that creates a dramatic lead-in to my favorite (#1).

Here are my top 10 tips for making time for BD:

This just in from a former workshop participant, and reprinted with permission. It’s a really great reminder that sometimes the reason we don’t hear back from clients has everything to do with them, and not you.

If I had to do it all over again, I’d rewrite the list of six risks to take to build trust to add a seventh: bring humor to your conversations. This Weekly Tip recounts a story told by a big accounting firm partner that perfectly illustrates why, and provides four ways you can use humor to connect with your clients.