Over the coming weeks you will find yourself at various holiday gatherings, either as a guest or a host. The social calendar will be busier than usual, affording an opportunity to connect with clients and referral sources you may not have seen in a while. But it’s unlikely that you can reconnect with all of your key relationships, and those who you happen to see at an event may be too busy (or too drunk) to catch up meaningfully. So use the holiday season as an opportunity to proactively connect with the people on your short list. Invite them to join you for a holiday drink or for an intimate gathering of three or four people after work. Clients and prospects who would normally ignore a happy hour invitation from you may be more open to it during this time of the year simply because the holidays put them in a social mood. ’Tis the season, after all. Leverage it for all it’s worth.

Authored by David Ackert