Effortless Networking

Here’s a story about what NOT to do, when it comes to business networking.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about asking my network for names of Executive recruiters to give to a client of mine.

Although I only asked people I trusted for these references, I decided to follow up with some of the names that I got. I just wanted to make sure that they were a good match for my client.

Well, I’m glad I did! I was able to not only give my client a good quality list of recruiters, I also got a real-life anecdote for you about how a very simple action (or inaction) can affect your credibility.

So here’s the story:

One particular colleague emailed me the name of a recruiter, recommending him highly. My colleague also copied the recruiter on this email, to alert him that a potential referral (i.e. me) was coming his way.

Very well handled. I was impressed.

So I contacted the recruiter by phone, mentioning that I was referred to him by my colleague. I didn’t get a call back.

A week later, I decided to follow up with an email. Still no response.

Hmmm. I decided to contact my colleague to see if could help me get in touch with this recruiter. He said he’d follow up with the recruiter and get back to me.

The next day, I got an email from a staff member at the recruiting company, saying that she was following up on behalf of the recruiter (who was the owner of the company).

I was unimpressed.

The fact that this recruiter didn’t take the time to send me a quick email, saying that he got my message and so-and-so from his company would follow up with me, made me lose all respect for him and the way he conducted business.

His behavior seemed to imply that he didn’t particularly care about getting *my* business.

This meant that I would never refer anyone to his company.

Further, this action (or non-action) on his part also made my colleague look bad, since he’d spoken so highly of this man. It called into question my colleague’s judgment.

So what’s the moral of the story?

1. Maintain the trust of the people who refer you or your business to others, by treating every referral with respect and attention, whether or not you end up doing business with them.
2. On the other side of the coin, refer people with care. Make sure the people you refer will treat others the same way they treat you. (And I assume you only refer business to people who treat you well.)

Now that I’ve told you what NOT to do, here’s a book that’ll tell you what TO do: Referral of a Lifetime, by Tim Templeton.

It’s a parable-type book, which I don’t usually like. But I like this one because it summarizes the principles along with examples of how to apply them in the appendix. Just this makes the book very useful. Enjoy!

Till next time,
– Sri

A few weeks ago I wrote about reciprocating — how best to give back to your network. Here’s another way to give back, and one that I use myself.

Often, my past clients and customers refer my products and services to their friends and associate. And I’ve always expressed my appreciation by sending them a personal thank you note.

However, a year ago, I decided to survey all my clients and customers to see how else I could show my appreciation, that would also be useful to them.

I got a lot of great information!

I found out that “one size doesn’t fit all”. Some people were interested in getting discounts off my products and services, others preferred a referral fee, and yet others were quite happy with a simple thank you note from me.

Using this feedback, I created a referral program (also known as Affiliate program), for my comprehensive “Effortless Networking” product.

I designed it to be open, so that anyone can participate in this program by signing up online. So people other than my clients and customers can also participate.

Those who actually have a copy of this program are obviously better able to explain to people why they’re recommending this product to them.

However, those who don’t own the product are still able to send me good quality referrals because they may have worked with me in another capacity, or may have experienced what I offer in another way (such as, through my articles, free Q&A calls, workshops, etc.).

In any case, I am able to thank each person who refers this product to others, by giving them a commission on the price of the product. And having found out that many people appreciate getting a referral fee, I give a generous 50% commission.

Of course, people can — and do — refer me business without participating in this program. However, this is *their* choice.

As I mentioned earlier, different people value different things, and I always want to offer them one or more options.

So if you haven’t done so already, ask people in general, and your sources of referrals in particular, how they want to be thanked or rewarded when they help you out.

Then use the information to build a program or system to regularly and consistently thank them — in a way that’s useful and valuable for them.

By the way, if you want more details about my referral program, click here.

Till next week,
– Sri

“No time to network!” Is this something you grapple with?

I can certainly relate to not having enough time in the day to do everything I want to. Soon, with a toddler and an infant, ALL my time will be spoken for — for a while, at least. Still, I’m fairly confident that I’ll continue to network.

How can I say that?!

Before I answer the question, let me ask you this: do you consider “networking” to be a distinct and separate activity (like an item on your “to do” list)?

That could be part of the problem.

Well, here are two ways you can network, even when you “don’t have time”.

First, integrate “networking” in your normal day.

People “network” all the time. You too. Except, you may not think of what you’re doing as “networking”.

Here is an example of what I mean:

Let’s say you’re looking for a landscape maintenance company, that will take care of your yard year round. Mowing the grass in the summer, raking the leaves in the fall, clearing the snow in the winter. But perhaps you’re new to the area, or maybe you know the area but are a new homeowner, and you don’t know how best to find someone who is reliable, affordable and does good work.

So what do you do? Chances are, you probably ask people you know who are homeowners, for information, recommendations and references.

This is networking.

And as I said, you probably do this kind of thing without thinking.

Now, if you consciously applied the same concept to your business needs, you wouldn’t need to carve out extra time for “networking”. It would become integrated into your normal day and how you did business.

Second, leverage technology whenever you can.

In this day and age, it’s possible to get to know and work with someone without ever meeting them in person. In my previous career, I successfully built and led a team, whose members were located in 4 different continents.

How did we work successfully without ever meeting each other? We simply used technology (nothing fancy — common stuff like phone and email) to get to know each other, keep in touch and coordinate our work.

You can do the same in networking.

Here are a couple of examples of how you can use technology to your advantage when networking:

A client of mine asked me once if I could recommend some Executive recruiters to him. I didn’t have this information. However, I did belong to several online groups that had people who could provide me with this information.

So I posted a question on a few of these lists, describing exactly what I was looking for. Within a couple of days I got a list of Executive recruiters from people I trusted. And I passed this information on to my client.

Note a couple of things here though. First, this information came from “people I trusted”. Even though I’d never met many of them in person, I knew them (or got to know them) through email and/or phone conversations. Second, I posted my question on *some* lists — I chose only those lists whose members I thought would be best able to help me find this information.

In terms of generating referrals for my own business, here is one way I leverage technology to help me with this:

I regularly ask my customers and subscribers, especially those who find my articles and products useful, to refer people to me.

Specifically, I ask them to tell their friends and associates about these resources, and provide an online form to help facilitate this. I ask for referrals (and present this form) during key interactions, such as when someone requests the free self-paced program, or buys one of my products.

My point is, even when I’m unable to ask for referrals in person, using technology I am still able to ask.

If you’re interested in checking out the product I use to ask for referrals online, click here.

And if you want more information on how to integrate “networking” into your normal day, check out Clarify your networking goals and get results” (module 1 of the Effortless Networking home-study program). The worksheet that comes with the program goes into detail about the “how to”.

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Till next week,
– Sri