What did you tell your mom the last time she got upset about that unreturned phone call or unanswered email?

Chances are it was something like, “I’m sorry, Mom. Life gets busy.”

We’ve all been there before – sacrificing our personal relationships to maintain our competitive edge at work or to keep our families running smoothly (both in many cases).

But can’t the same be said for our business relationships? How many members are we losing touch with every day?

Technology may be to blame for much of this. After all, it’s largely the reason behind our society’s “available 24 x 7” expectations.

But it can also be a tremendous help to us in our quest to “keep in touch.”

Take Google Alerts, for example. By signing up for a Google account, anyone can track news headlines, blog posts, forum notes and other new and traditional media outlets for anything – and anyone – they want.

By setting up an alert for your most valued members, you will receive an email anytime anything even remotely newsworthy occurs in your “keyword’s” selection – giving you the perfect excuse to get in touch with a congratulations, a “hey, saw you in the news,” or even better – a solution to their problem.

Give it a try. There are several options for searching, including how often you want to be notified. Here’s a great article on how to get started.

Life gets busy. But with technology like Google Alerts, we might be able to slow it down just enough to keep our relationships in tact.