If you’re like me and have a problem remembering the names of everyone you meet, then I have a tip for you.

In my line of work I meet a LOT of new people every week.

When on stage, I have literally hundreds of people looking at me, all knowing my full name while I know none of theirs.

Since I started using a personal data assistant (remember the Palm Pilot – we called them PDAs then), I have kept the contact details of the people I have met in the one place.

Beyond just the bare details, I always use the notes section to add something about where or why I met them. It has paid dividends many times and allowed me to renew communications sometimes years later with the context of where and how we met.

Once such instance was when Jason Jercinovic and I met again after a 10 year absence. He arranged to meet me at an IBM conference in Orlando in 2014.

As I entered the room I sensed I was being tested when he said “we’ve met before”.

Using my tip above, I searched my contact record for Jason before we met and up popped that we had met in 2004 in Sydney when he was a tutor at a marketing course where I was a guest lecturer.

He was impressed I had “remembered”, when in fact it was diligent record keeping.

How do you record business and personal contacts?