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We have all heard the saying, “It’s not what you know,
it’s who you know,” and it’s often very true. Personal
relationships of trust and confidence are the building blocks of
business.
Building relationships early in business is critical and asking
your friends, family, and business acquaintances for an
introduction to someone in their networking sphere could lead to an
important connection. All rainmakers and serious players understand
that to win in business, you must cultivate the art of networking,
trust, and relationships. Until the matrix takes over, business is
transacted between people, and relationships are personal.
In the world of business, upon meeting someone new, you’ll
go through a quick review of mutual connections. When we add to our
network, the new person also becomes a first-degree connection,
linked to dozens of other potential connections –in other words,
new possible connections. We’ve all heard of the concept of
this connection on LinkedIn.
Whether you are at a small hangout amongst friends and
acquaintances, or you are a delegate at a large industry conference
and want to meet someone, or you’re conducting some business
development, most of us depend on introductions from people we
already know to expand our networks. As industry conferences have
become digital or hybrid events, it’s increasingly difficult to
meet new people and make a personal connection. While
well-conceived cold outreach (increasingly enabled by digital
conferencing technology) can lead to a new connection, a warm
introduction from someone that is mutually known and trusted
dramatically increases your chances of success and accelerates the
speed of transacting.
It is essential to carefully craft your
“ask”, which often means writing atargeted and
polite introduction request. Be clear about why you’re asking
for in an introduction. It is also important to give the person an
“out” to say no without feeling badly.
Here are some other practical tips for asking for a
connection:
Be clear about how you know the person who will
introduce you. You’ll usually be asking a colleague or
friend. However, sometimes you may ask for an introduction from
someone you don’t know very well. If so, make it easy on them;
you don’t want to make the recipient of your request guess who
you are. Your message could start with something simple: “We
met last year at the Pegasus conference during the financial
modeling breakout session. I enjoyed our conversation about big
data.”
Be as specific about why you’re asking for the
introduction. Discuss why connecting to the particular
person could help you reach your goals and why you decided to ask
the person receiving your request.
Make it easy. Write a draft of the introduction
for them. For example, if you’d like an
introduction to a venture capitalist, craft an email that your
contact can easily forward to that investor. When asking for the
intro, include information you want that person to be aware of,
such as information about the company, or attach an investor
deck.Your email should be clear, quick to your point, and say,
“Hi John, I know you are close with the team at XXX. I would
appreciate the opportunity to be introduced. Here are some details
of what my company does, and I have also attached my deck. Thank
you, Your helpis most appreciated.”
Be brief. Make it Personal. Make your email
short, to the point, and personalize it soonce it has been
forwarded, there is an interest in taking the intro to the next
step.Each introduction should be personalized and different with
the name of the person or the company. Include a line of why you
want to connect with them and the importance of this relationship
to you.This will increase the chances of them agreeing to take the
intro. For example: “Hi, Susan. From your LinkedIn profile, I
see you know the team at HighFly. I also work in the Data world and
would enjoy meeting John. He would be invaluable to my company. May
I ask you to intro?”
Give your subject line some thought. It is the first
thing someone sees. Subject lines can increase the chances
your email gets opened. The email’s subject should be direct,
“Requesting an Introduction to John.” Additional details
in your email should include the name of your company and the
purpose of the intro. So, when someone forwards your email to their
contact asking her permission to make that intro, they’ll see
the subject, your name, and you want to meet.
Rule of double-blind. When requesting, making
and receiving requests for introductions, the rule of double-blind
should be observed. That is, the person seeking the introduction
should understand that the recipient needs to ask the target first
whether they are open to receiving a direct introduction before
making it. Sometimes the target will not respond or will decline
the introduction. All you can expect is that the recipient
receiving your request will reach out to the target and make the
ask.
How many? If you are asking the same person to
make more than two introductions for the same purpose, be wary of
becoming a nuisance. Do not abuse the generosity of the person you
are asking to make an introduction. If you are asking for more than
three introductions, consider whether you should ask that person
first to be your company’s advisor and whether you should offer
to compensate them with stock options for the privilege of
attempting to monetize the value of their network. This will
position you to ask for more…
Once you’ve sent the request, detach yourself from the
outcome. Your connection may or may not know the other person well
or feel uncomfortable doing so. They may not respond. Failure to
respond or silence is a pass – it means no, it means that for
whatever reason, either the recipient or the target is not
available. Perseverating about it is wasted energy. Good business
people will forward a request for an introduction. If you do not
get a response, you should trust that there is a valid reason not
to proceed and not to take it personally or read too much into
it.
But they might respond with some advice. Be grateful for
whatever help you receive.
Once you get a response back, show your appreciation. Regardless
of the outcome, thank your contact for their time and effort in
considering your request. End the conversation on a positive
note.
At a time when business happens between people who have never
met in person, the value of a personal introduction from a trusted
source, properly asked for and enthusiastically given, has never
been higher. Following these simple rules of the road can help
smoothen the ride.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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