There is a saying “words are cheap” but in business networking they can prove very expensive.
I was recently working with someone to help them get more quality referrals from business networking. I had worked through all the normal things that get results with people such as clarifying his target audience, specialising, getting his stories right, making sure he nurtures his relationships and being clear on what to ask for. However, it was still not working for him. I couldn’t understand why he was not getting results.
I had noticed that this guy had been promising a lot when we spoke but rarely following through on the commitments he made. It occurred to me that perhaps he was like that with others. Some discreet enquiries confirmed the case. Suddenly I had the answer!
Despite getting everything else right and having a big network of people who liked him, he was not getting much business because people could not trust him to do what he said he would. They had, in effect, stopped listening.
People do business with people they know, like, and trust. The same goes for word of mouth referrals. If people cannot trust us to follow through on the small things then they will certainly not trust us with the big things.
This guy was not dishonest. He just liked to please people and he had a habit of telling people what he thought they wanted to hear. He had to learn that promising things in the moment and not following through does not please or, indeed, impress people. It is better to avoid committing than to promise something and fail to follow through. Fortunately it is easily fixable over time but, as you can imagine, it takes more than just words!
Phil is an Internationally sought after, keynote speaker, who speaks regularly on the subjects of Presenting and Networking effectively.
Andy Bounds is an award-winning consultant and conference speaker. To sign-up for his free weekly advice on communication/sales best practices, visit www.andybounds.com/tips
Rob Brown is an in-demand networking coach and speaker on business networking, LinkedIn, referrals, trust and likeability. If you want to make more money, win more business or accelerate your career through networking, go to www.therobbrown.com
Sandra runs BNI(Business Network International) in 19 counties of Ireland. BNI is Ireland’s leading business referral organisation, she is also BNI’s Director of European Affairs
Charlie Lawson – BNI National Director and Word of Mouth marketing expert, whose passion is to see BNI members succeed in their businesses.
Labelled ‘Mr Network’ by The Sun, Andy Lopata was called ‘one of Europe’s leading business networking strategists’ by the Financial Times.
Penny Power has dedicated her life for the past 13 years to the potential of the internet and digital tools for SME’s by helping them connect through and understand the ‘social web’. In 1998 Penny founded Ecademy, the UK’s first social network for business. 
Ewan helps business people grow their contacts by “word of mouth marketing” and is a key note speaker at conferences on the subject of referral marketing.
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Iain Whyte is an international Keynote Speaker, and published Author. Considered an expert in relationship-building, networking and word of mouth marketing.
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