Networking Nuggets

Hi I'm Keith and welcome to Networking Nuggets. Let's start with a bit of a truth bomb. Just because you're networking doesn't mean you're building referrals. You see you can attend events, you can meet lots of people, you can have some great conversations and still get very few referrals. Now a common reaction when that happens is people think networking doesn't work.

These groups aren't very good but most of the time that's not the real issue. But you see the real issue is this people don't understand you well enough to refer you or they simply don't trust you enough yet. It just trust takes time to build. You're not unless something really really rare happens going to refer someone you only met in Networking for the first time last week. You need to build that trust because when they think about it what referral actually is when someone refers you it's not just you it's their reputation that they're putting on the line because they're vouching for you.

They're saying I trust this person and that's not a small thing. And even if they do trust you, if they're not 100% clear on what you do, on who you help or on how you help they won't refer you. Not because they don't like you, not because they don't trust you, they simply unsure whether you can do it or not. Because this is where most people struggle. They explain what they do in a way that is either too vague, too complex or simply too forgettable.

So people leave thinking they seem nice but I'm not sure exactly what they do. Now you might guess that producing this podcast producing a newsletter and for the forthcoming book which will be out soon From Awkward to Connected all which are produced by me. I do a lot of networking but I can say hand on heart there are some people who I've probably met 10 times with Networking and if you ask me I'm still not exactly sure what they do. In fact I can think of one person who is no longer networking but who was for probably a year and they always seem to be really busy but I never actually understood what they did. Even though I had a one to one with them I still did not understand what they did.

Now that might be my fault that might be me being thick if you like just to what they did but I think it's more likely they weren't good at explaining what they did. So with that in mind the first fix to this is simple get clearer in your explanation of what you do. Make it easy for people to say I know exactly who to introduce you to. The second is have those one to ones. Don't just have surface level relationships.

If all your interactions are twitch chats just those ten minute one to ones you might have within the networking meeting Although just basic conversations that you have whilst you're chewing for a coffee that's not enough for referrals. This is where I introduce what I call the golden hour because this is where things like one to ones and those deeper conversations become really important. Because that's where you build trust, that's where you grow understanding, you understand more about what they do and crucially as well of course they understand more about what you do. And the third factor is give it time because referrals don't happen instantly. Referrals are a slow burn.

You build relationships, you show up consistently, you help people and over time you become the person people think of. So instead of asking why am I not getting referrals try asking have I made it easy for people to refer me? Because referrals come from clarity, referrals come from trust and referrals come from consistency. They don't come just from showing up. Because it's often said that networking builds relationships.

That's true but referrals they come from what you do with those relationships. If you found this week's episode useful make sure you follow or subscribe and if you want more check out Networking Nuggets on LinkedIn it's my weekly newsletter where I share deeper insights every Wednesday. Until next time keep connecting. Networking Nuggets is a Think of Something Publishing production.