11 Simple ways to REALLY get to know your people.

The average person knows at least 100 people in their life.

The problem is we don't really know them. We know of them, we know they exist.

Can you make a list of 100 people right now off the top of your head? Pull out a pen and paper and just jot down 100 names. See how far you can get without looking at your contacts. Once you are exhausted look at the top ten and ask yourself, what do I know about these 10 people?

The problem is we don't really know them. We know of them, we know they exist.

You will be surprised how much you know and how much more you can know about them so that you can have a better relationship.

Here are 11 ideas of things you should know about all your 100 people.

1, Full Name: You might have someone in your network named Beck or Web, what is there real name? You should really know their real name because that is the most important thing to a person. I have a dear friend who goes by JP but I never realized that its stands for something, I just called him JP, when I learned what it stood for and why he was named that, it really took our relationship to the next level. It's hard to remember all the details about every contact so make an effort to document this information.

Your name is the most important word that anyone can use.

2, Number One Hobby: Everyone has a number one obsession or hobby, it could be golf football or it could be their kids or their business. Make sure you know each one of your contacts, number one hobby because it will allow you to create synergies that you never imagined possible. Memory is by association, if you think Wine, who comes to mind? Im sure that you have 3 - 5 people in your network that love wine more than anything else. What will you do when you get invited to a wine tasting, who do you invite with you? Now you have them top of mind. Same goes for sports and other interests.

Know their hobbies and you know how they spend their time.

3, Relationship Status: Are they married? Divorced? Dating? You need to get in there and understand their situation. Do they have a great relationship or do they have a complicated one. It's helpful to know how they are doing which sheds light into how you communicate with them. When you get to know someone's relationship, you get to know a lot more than you think about them.

A persons relationship status says a lot about them.

4, Communication Preference: Are they a texting person, do they like when you just call them up? Some people just want you to email them others hate when you email them and they want you to contact them on social media. Make sure you fully understand this person's communication philosophy. It's important to know what they like and what they dislike so you know how to contact them most effectively.

5, Professional History: What special skills does this person have from their past. Its really helpful to understand what people have done in the past so you can understand how they can help you and how they can help people in your network. I recently found out that one of my dear friends is a professional skater and was an instructor. They helped me buy new skates and introduced me a bunch of other skaters. That reignited my passion for ice skating and created a deeper bond.

7, Origins: Imagine you are taking a trip to south africa for a vacation and you have a question to ask, would it not be helpful to speak to the three people that grew up there and still have most of their family there? Imagine you knew where 100 people were from originally. That would give you so many new resources and valuable information.

8, Family Situation: Do they have kids? Do they have parents? Are they close with their siblings? It's important to understand how important family is to your contact. Have much they value family and what part of their family they value the most. Someone's you learn that someone might have a child that is the same age as your child and you can learn things from them or you can learn that a family member that they are close to is a great potential client. Its very important to learn about your contacts family.

9, Member Organizations: Find out what organizations they are part of, what boards they represent and what clubs they frequent. This is especially important if your contact is a distinguished business professional. They might be sitting on a board for a company you are pitching. They might be part of a club that you always wanted to go visit.

10, Best Friends: Understanding who your contacts best friend is can really enhance your relationship with them. If you like this person, you will like their best friend. Imagine you just doubled your contact list by learning about your contacts most important contact. When you value your friends best friend you value them. Everyone has one person they spend the most time with and they communicate most frequently with, find out who this person is.

11, Value: This one is a bit hard, because many people don't really know what they value. If you can find out what your contact values most, you can really keep this relationship blossoming for the rest of your life. Your values don't change so getting to know what they value is super important. If you can't find out what their values are, find out what is important to them. Is it eating healthy? Exercise? Having a great morning routine? Do they value going for long walks? Podcasts? reading books? Do they value their religion? family? When you find out someone's priorities you really get to know them.

There are hundreds of things you can learn about your contacts but if you take the time to learn these ten things you will really understand who the people in your life are. Do you know these things about your employees? Do you know these things about your own family?

Be careful, you don't want to send them a questionnaire and start interrogating people. Make a conscious effort to meet with them once a month for 15 minutes and come prepared with one of these questions. Ask it to them in a casual way and then document it in your contacts. This way you won't forget.

Who is in for setting a goal to do this for their top 10 people in 2016? Go ahead and commit in the comments below!

Let's take our connections to the next level.

BIO: Joe Apfelbaum is the CEO and co-founder of digital marketing agency Ajax Union. He is a public speaker, certified Google Trainer, and published business author. Joe enjoys speaking and writing about a broad range of business topics in his seminars, webinars and articles. Joe is a member of the Board of Directors of the Entrepreneurs Organization in Brooklyn, a group with over 11,000 CEO’s and a contributing member of the Business Owners Council, a community of the fastest growing companies in the United States. Joe is proud of all his accomplishments, but most of all he is proud of his successful foodie wife and beautiful four kids.