People hint at what they need in passing. Capture their "ask" after every conversation and offer help before they think to request it.
The idea
Most people don't announce their needs. They hint at them. "Things have been crazy with my mom's health stuff lately" is an ask hiding in plain sight. A friend of mine is building a whole platform around this: we have great connections, little idea what they actually need, and when we do find out, we forget to write it down. Capture it, and you can show up with help nobody had to request.
How to do it
In every conversation, listen for the need under the small talk: a family challenge, a vendor they're hunting for, someone who could use a check-in.
Right after, capture it in whatever way fits you: a "their ask" field in your notes, a voice memo, or at minimum, just noticing.
Before your next touch, reread it and offer something specific.
While you're at it, write your own ask in one sentence. Same muscle.
Example
At an executive summit in California where transactional talk was off-limits, I met Linda, who ran a company we'd long wanted to work with. She mentioned, in passing, that she wanted to write a book and had no idea where to start. She knew me as a software guy, with no clue I was secretly writing my own book and had an excellent editor. I wrote it down. Later, without being asked, I offered to introduce her. She jumped at it, and she's still thankful.
Watch out for
I normally counsel people against asking "How can I help you?", because we're so bad at answering it.
Have Your Ask Ready: Prepare a one-line, specific answer to "what would be most valuable for you?" and put it in your signature and bios.
Don't Ask, Know: Instead of asking how to help, review their goals, industry, hiring, life events and news, then show up with something specific.
Capture, Summarize, Act: Capture next steps and personal details, condense them soon after, delete the rest, then act on the next steps and file the keepers.
Better Than "Anything I Can Help With?": Retire "How can I help?" and "What's up?" Ask about their biggest challenge, what you'll celebrate a year from now, or who they want to meet.