Up Your Networking Referrals

By Larry James

What is your commitment to giving business referrals to other members in your networking group?

OR… are you only in it for you?

Successful networking requires commitment. Hopefully you know by now that seldom does it work unless you are consistently meeting new people and making new friends. But that’s not all. It takes a commitment to do whatever you can to assist other members by providing others with business referrals.

I attend a lot of networking groups as a guest or special speaker and am often disappointed to hear that very few business referrals are given. Networking is more than just showing up at a meeting.

If you have a commitment to networking, it really only takes a few minutes each week to focus on a single member to give business referrals to. One of the top priorities of a networking group is to encourage member to participate fully by exchanging business referrals with other members.

Here is your assignment for the coming week: Single out at least one member that you have never given a referral to, call them and arrange a time to get together to discover how you can help each other. Once you find out what kind of business referrals they need, do everything you can to bring them at least one referral at the following meeting.

Commitment requires you to remember the reasons you are networking. Some people have admitted that they get so wrapped up in their daily activities that they don’t remember to look for referrals until they are on the way to the meeting. There are things you can do to help you remember.

Ever hear of PostIt® notes? How about a DayTimer®? If you can’t remember, I would question your commitment. When we are committed to something, we do everything we can to remember what is important to us. Write things down. Put notes everywhere. Put one on the rear view mirror of your car. When you are making your appointments, look for opportunities to help other members. I carry a business card holder with the cards of everyone I network with. Carrying it with me is a constant reminder to actively look for referrals for my friends.

If you want to Up Your Referrals… start giving more referrals. It’s just that simple!