Your Net Worth Is In Your Network

It is true that people not only do business with those they know like and trust, they also refer business to those they knew like and trust. AND they make judgements about the quality of those referrals.

Whether those introductions are for direct business or opportunity. Even though it’s a warm introduction and connection there is an expectation that the connector and those they refer are bringing their A Game.

If that doesn’t happen, reputations can be tarnished, damaged and thousands of dollars could be lost.

Here’s what happened recently, and how years of good will could have vanished.

I have a very trusted colleague who knew I was looking to make more connections and expand my reach with guest blogging and being interviewed on podcasts and internet radio. We agreed that we’d keep our eyes open for opportunities that might be a fit for the other.

Soon, she made a brilliant email introduction between me and a woman who had just interviewed her and was clear with how we could both benefit by this powerful introduction. I thanked my colleague and the host of the program, we will call her Amy, and I hopped online to get to know one another and immediately knew my area of expertise with cash flow and profitability was a perfect fit for her growing community.

We did the interview like a coupla pros. After we were done, I asked how else I could support her and if she was looking for more experts to interview and on what topics? She had given me the great opportunity to expand my reach, and I made my audience aware of her timely program.

Pro Tip - Always ask at the end of a meeting or interview how you can support someone in business.

She gave me 4 topics she wanted to cover and I had 3 recommendations. All people I knew well and all who I knew did great interviews in their area. I told her I’d make email introductions the next day. (If you don’t know how to make a good email intro, here’s a blog post on that topic.)

ProTip - When you get a mutual introduction it’s good manners to say, “thank you and we’ll take it from here.”

Weeks went by and I never knew what happened from the host. Whether everyone connected. Whether it wasn’t a fit. Nothing. Boo.

Until last week when I received this email from one of my colleagues who I had introduced, we’ll call her Leslie, and here’s what she had to share about her experience;

“Thanks for connecting me with Amy about her show - I attempted to schedule a spot with her, but because of back and forth it isn’t working out.

She started out looking GREAT - and then things quickly devolved into one liner emails sent from her phone…which clearly indicated that she hadn’t really read my email in the first place…which meant that I had to fart around and figure out if what she was offering would work…which lead to me gracefully backing out (plus suggesting she use something like Acuity for her scheduling).

YOU don’t need to talk to her about this - I handled it - and was super nice and friendly and all that good stuff.”

Here’s what Leslie said next that you MUST pay attention to:

“The reason I’m telling you this is because her lack of attention and messiness makes YOU look not-great. I don’t think I need to connect the dots, right? Let me know if I do.

And, because I know you and like you and trust you, it hasn’t impacted OUR relationship - but it might impact your relationship with someone who doesn’t know you as well.

So, I thought you should know.”

Pro Tip - If a connection does not go well be sure to let the person who made the connection know so they can determine if they are going to provide feedback or just put it in the “good to know file.”

I am SO grateful that I have developed a solid relationship with Leslie through the years, that she gave the feedback and approached it so directly with me.

Have you ever had an introduction that went sideways? How did you or the person on the other end handle it? Come tell me all about it in the Women’s Business Profit Lab, it's a FREE online community for cash conscious women business owners.