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?
- 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.
- 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