42 Knock Out

I closed a credit card yesterday and today decided it would be better for my credit score to keep the card open. I called to see if they could re-open the card but they said no. It is a chase credit card, I have good credit (but I recently bought a house). I usually do not keep a balance on this card. I spend a couple hundred dollars on it every 4-5 months. What reasons do credit card companies have for not allowing me to re-open my card?

What happens to one’s credit when the person’s sole credit card is taken and used illegally? We’re not sure how this will affect efforts to refinance, as this is my wife’s only credit card. She will be receiving a replacement in the next week and will have an affidavit indicating that the charges were not hers.

Any suggested approaches to ensuring that her credit info is considered before the card was stolen and the account closed?

The night before her first day of high school, Sam stopped in his daughter’s bedroom to see how she was feeling. Sitting on the edge of her bed, Sam watched Sara set her clothes out for the next day.

“Ready for tomorrow?” He asked. Without looking up, Sara shrugged, “I guess.” Sensing how nervous she was, Sam assured her that the classes wouldn’t be too hard, but Sara cut him off.

“Dad,” she said, lifting her big, hazel eyes, “I’m afraid people won’t like me.”

Sam smiled, “Getting people to like you is easy. You just have to genuinely like them first.”

Sam explained to his daughter how easy it is to make friends when you don’t waste time worrying about getting in with the “right” crowd. She could have many friendships if she started off liking everybody, instead of limiting herself to those who were just like her.

Sam’s advice is more than just a way to survive high school; it is a great rule of thumb for the adult and business worlds. Too often businesspeople are so concerned with aligning themselves with the “right” group of people that they end up shutting more doors of opportunity than they open.

Every year, businesspeople spend thousands of dollars trying to get new customers and develop new ideas, yet they ignore or avoid conversations with people who may lead them to the solution. They would rather stay in their business clique until their ideas dry up and their network grows stagnant.

The same petty social rules that consume the high school world do not have to be present in the business world. Building your network of business contacts shouldn’t be a selfish scavenger hunt, so stop qualifying and categorizing everybody you meet. Put aside your personality differences and try to genuinely care about the other person and their interests.

Forget about building power teams, master alliances, and ideal referral partners. It’s not about finding people just like you or only making deals with those who can do something for you. Just focus on meeting people, making friendships, and opening up as many doors as you can.

Whether you sell copiers, advertising, or temporary staffing, the nuts and bolts of your business is in getting others to like you. Therefore, your biggest challenge is to get out into the community and become liked by as many people as you can.

Don’t be afraid to leave your comfort zone to go to new places and have coffee with fresh faces. Forcing yourself to network and associate with new people allows you to hear new ideas and see new perspectives of your business. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll learn and the sizable network you will make.

Opportunities don’t knock on closed doors, including those that you, yourself, have closed. Now is the time to scan your mental Rolodex and reconsider opening doors you may have shut in the past. Don’t let what could be a profitable opened door close for insignificant reasons. Be the bigger person. Pick up the phone to schedule coffee with somebody who isn’t expecting your phone call. You have nothing to lose by enjoying coffee with a former customer, nagging salesperson, or even a competitor.

As you begin to know the people in your community well, you will become well-known. As you make the effort to genuinely like everybody in your community, you will become well-liked. When you know and like more people than your competition, more people will know and like you more than your competition.

See how many doors you can open by stepping out of your comfort zone and getting to meet as many fresh faces as you can. New people mean new ideas and a strong, profitable network of contacts. All you have to do to get them to like you is to genuinely like them first.