Someone in the middle of a decision, or just through a life event like a job change, move or new baby, jumps to the top of your list.
The idea
A relationship's priority has two parts: how much it matters to you in general, and whether something is happening right now. Someone actively making a buying decision outranks everything else on your list. The same goes for anyone who just crossed an inciting event: they finished a transaction with you, expressed interest, sent you a referral, you just met, you're trying to hire them (or just did), they changed jobs, got married or divorced, or had a baby. Capture these moments when they happen and you can act on them now, or weeks later, with real context.
How to do it
Capture the event the moment you learn about it, with the date.
Bump that person up for now, even if they're normally a B or C.
Reach out while it's fresh, then plan a later touch (a month on, a year on).
When someone sends you an unprompted intro or referral, promote them in your database.
Example
Some of our biggest sales at Contactually came from an intro email nobody asked for, landing around 5 p.m. one Thursday, with no ask, cold call or pitch behind it. You'd better believe that intro quickly made the person who sent it a champion in my database.
Watch out for
A deal that just closed may need less attention than one that's in motion. Match effort to the stage.
Relatable: Relatable's job-change suggestions flag one of the most common inciting events, and a note on the contact captures the rest. How-to: Someone changed jobs, Know who to reach out to next.
Related frameworks
Event-Driven Outreach: Use moments in their life, from new jobs and kids' milestones to illness and loss, as reasons to reach out between your regular check-ins.
The Job-Change Campaign: A prebuilt sequence for when someone changes jobs: congrats at day 5, check-in at day 30, look for intros, then 'happy one year' at month 12.
CAPITAL: Timely Engagement: The T in CAPITAL. Give each group of people a fallback rhythm, then react to events, so prioritized relationships never quietly fade.
CAPITAL: Prioritize: The P in CAPITAL - decide who matters most right now and focus there, because you can't give everyone in your database equal time.