Good Connect
We are all in the business of networking and that means not just meeting and greeting people. The idea is to ultimately make business happen and business happens when connects convert and set the cash registers ringing. In other words, a good connect is like an arranged marriage, and you are the matchmaker. Your job ain’t done until the wedding bells toll.
?This means, as a giver or good connector, you need to match the needy to his/her ask and follow-up with them until they hit it off and decide to translate the need into a tangible exchange of goods or services. A good connect should not be limited to only getting a foot in the door, it must go beyond that preliminary handshake and should lead to productive engagement in the least, if not immediate business.
?A good connect also means that the entire onus needn’t always fall on the connector. The member with the need or the ask also has a role to play in ensuring that s/he receives a good connect. For this, one must be extremely thoughtful, cautious and specific about what one seeks. Remember the adage, “Ask and you shall Receive.” Well, it holds true ?not just spiritually but practically as well.
?Therefore, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it. What this means is: always moderate and qualify your ask, try and pin it down to the exact person, location or company that you seek. Even better would be to have the name, designation and the company name of the person you seek. The easier you make your ask for all the people who could be your potential connectors, the simpler it is for them to connect the two of you.
?As a connector, you must keep in mind that you aren’t playing the part of just a postman, passing on messages from the seeker to the giver. Yours is a much greater role. You hold the potential of creating what could translate into a lifetime relationship. You must therefore, play your cards carefully. Based on your description, the connect makes up his/her mind, whether they’d like to connect with the seeker or not.
领英推荐
?For you, therefore, it is critical that you know a few things well in advance. You should be well versed in the seeker’s business offerings, his/her pricing structures and if possible delivery schedules too. But more than any of this, you must know for sure what value s/he can add to the connect. If the value proposition is strong, it makes your job that much easier to convince the connect. So in order to pass a good referral, you must know the person you’re connecting and their business as intimately as possible.
?Finally, once you’ve understood your seeker’s need and his value proposition, you’ve even written him up admirably to the connect, remember your work doesn’t end there. If you know the connect personally, take along your seeker and introduce him/her to the connect personally. Make your connect an offer he can’t refuse and fasten both parties well enough so as to create a lasting bond.
?Making a good connect, is not a matter of chance, it needs to be continually worked at. But if worked at well, it can be immensely rewarding and the goodwill you shall derive from 2 well-connected parties is priceless. It shall hold you in good stead forever.