A perfect example of how NOT to get referrals… Post 1 of 3.

September 13, 2009  |   Posted in business networking, first impressions, referrals   |   View Comments  

I’m not sure if it’s a result of the dog-eat-dog society we are in but I’ve had several experiences recently that are perfect examples of how NOT to get business referrals..

Example 1 – Person that I had met BRIEFLY… in APRIL… calls me out of the blue in August, and calls and calls and calls… And starts leaving messages on my voicemail point blank asking me to promote her services to my business woman’s group… She continued to call over the next week until she caught me on the phone. I politely let her know that there were already several people in my network that provided the same services and that if I was going to refer anyone for that, it would be to them..

And then, she had the nerve to try to convince me why she was the better candidate to give the referrals to.

Now, this woman has never attended one of our meetings, never made an effort to get to know me or minimally ask me how could SHE help me… and was very offensive in that she had horrible breath and terrible gas when I sat next to her…

Morals of the story:

1 – PERSONAL HYGIENE is not optional – I meet WAY too many people with breath issues in networking. Let me tell you , I never forget it and have a hard time getting over it.

2 – Before having the gall to try to flat out solicit business referrals from someone, at least make SOME sort of an effort to get to know them… Minimally ask them what kind of referrals are they looking for and try to engage them before expecting them to refer you.

3 – Never try to convince someone to refer you when they have been so blunt as to say that they have other people they will refer to. It’s just rude and comes across as inconsiderate and desperate.

I have several other true shocking referral-solicitation examples to share so stay tuned for the next post on Monday!

Have you ever experienced something like this?