Why I Make Introductions

Growing up I remember my dad seemed to know everyone. No matter where we went, he always was shaking hands and saying hello. As a little girl I can remember thinking – I want to be just like that, someone everyone is happy to see when they walk into a room. My father was a connector. He never met a person he didn’t like, he had a story for every occasion, and he always knew someone you had to meet. When he passed away a few years back – his box of business cards was overflowing, and he was semi-retired!

Making introductions is a great way to help parties grow their respective businesses, support mutual interests which will benefit from the connections, or just simply do a little good will in the world. Ultimately if you help someone out, you will find that they are likely to ask if they can reciprocate, and over time you may find that you build up a referral partnership – which can be of great value. Even if an introduction is just a one-time nicety – so what, helping people out is just the right thing to do.

When making a referral – I suggest the following:

1) Send an email to both people with and subject line of: introductions

2) In the body of the email include a brief note to each person about the other as to why you want them to meet, a little edification of the other person, and how you feel their connecting will be of benefit

3) If appropriate, suggest a time line for connecting and when you might follow-up with them

4) thank them for accepting your introduction

NOTE: I will not provide a phone number to a referral without asking permission from the other person.  I am very appreciative of my networks’ trust, and don’t want to abuse it. I don’t offer to connect dozens of people each week, and trust my referrals not to spam my colleagues – so I don’t check before I make email introductions. However, if you have someone you know to be very private with their email as well, it may be best to check with them first.

Happy connecting – let me know how it goes for you.

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