When people think about the way their memory affects their career, the first thing that usually comes to mind is remembering names and faces. After all, who hasn’t had the feeling of dread that comes with meeting an important client, key executive, or new coworker and finding that you’ve forgotten their name just a few minutes later?

Mastering the skill of putting names and faces together – which is easier than you might think, by the way – is certainly something that can help you at every step of your career. By enhancing your memory through simple techniques, however, there are a lot of other great benefits you can enjoy, as well.

Here are just a few of the ways a better memory can make your working life easier:

It helps you build better business relationships. While remembering names and faces is a good first step towards building a professional relationship, it also helps if you can recall things like a spouse’s name, a person’s favorite interests, or even things you have spoken about together in the past. Being able to remember these things and use them in everyday conversations makes other people feel special, which in turn makes you more likable.

It gives you more confidence and credibility. When you can remember more than names and faces, like key details (like product names, prices, phone numbers, etc.), you can be more confident in the way you deal with other people. It also enhances your personal credibility, since people tend to think of those with a good memory as being “sharp” or “attentive.” Building your own confidence, and your reputation in the eyes of others, is easily one of the fastest ways to improve your career prospects.

It saves you lots of time. Time management experts will tell you that professionals and executives spend up to 30 minutes a day looking up various items they may have already seen or stored in the past. The less time you have to spend digging around for papers and computer files, the more time you have to focus on things that are truly important. For that reason, having a great memory is one of the most underrated productivity tools around – why waste all that potential on only names and faces?

In truth, I could go on and on. The fact of the matter is that being able to remember things like names and faces, numbers, and other details is something that can help you in virtually every part of your working life. And best of all, it’s much easier to do than you might think – just ask someone who has been to one of my keynotes or seminars!

Why not book Bob Gray – the author and memory speaker – for your next event today?