Lesson 4: Building Credibility and Generating Referrals
Be credible and reliable so that others can recommend you whole-heartedly.
__________________________________
A lot of people run themselves ragged helping other people in the hopes that someday these people will return the favor.
By all means, help others out if you want to and whenever you can.
But helping others with the assumption and expectation that this will oblige them to help you is setting yourself up for disappointment.
Self-Assessment Quiz
Answer these questions to see where you stand in this regard:
- Do you often find yourself stretched too thin trying to help everyone in your network?
- Do you often agree to help someone out of a sense of obligation, even when you’re not sure that you’ll be able to follow through?
If you answered “yes” to either question, you’re wearing yourself out unnecessarily.
Networking Mistake #4
Believing that helping others will encourage or oblige them to recommend you or your business, is another common networking mistake people make.
Most people recommend you or your business to others because of two reasons:
- The main reason they recommend you is because they trust you and your work – not because you help them.
They may be thankful for your help, but if they don’t trust your work they may still not refer business to you.
- People refer business to you because you specifically ask them for what you want – so they know and understand exactly what you’re looking for.
Here too, these people follow through on recommending you to others because they trust you — not simply because you asked them.
How to Correct Mistake #4
We often over-extend ourselves unintentionally while trying to help out other people in our network. This is not just exhausting for ourselves, but can also erode our credibility.
Module 4 of the Effortless Networking self-study program teaches you (among other things) how to say “no” AND make a positive impression.
For right now, here are 2 questions to help you get to the heart of this issue:
- How often do you agree to do something for someone (e.g. make a referral), even when you’re not fully clear about what exactly the other person wants?
- What do you do when you realize that you won’t be able to do what you promised?
Focus on showing the quality of your work through what you say and do everyday. Follow through on what you promise.
Such actions will build your credibility and encourage people to recommend you whole-heartedly, when the opportunity arises.
And in the last and final lesson of this series:
Why “networking events” and Leads groups have very little to do with your business success.
Till then,
Sri Dasgupta
Phone: 1-650-704-5384
Links to all 5 online lessons:
5 Simple Ways to Network Successfully — Lesson 1
5 Simple Ways to Network Successfully — Lesson 2
5 Simple Ways to Network Successfully — Lesson 3
5 Simple Ways to Network Successfully — Lesson 4
