Learn why it’s important to network deep instead of wide to build those relationships!

Have you ever asked someone for a referral or introduction to one of their business contacts only to be put off or not introduced at all?  Did you wonder why?  You might be surprised to know that your referral source did not have the same level of credibility as the level referral you were asking for.

I once had a referral partner who boasted a very large database of contacts in their network.  We decided to sit down one day and do a little identifying of each others database.  He had great contacts in his database, but when we began to rate the level of referrals that I was looking for against the level of relationships he had with the contact, there was a great disparity.

He quickly realized that his network was wide, but not very deep and he had some work to do to build higher levels of credibility with some of  the people in his database.  Once he had done some of that work, be became a much better referral partner.  Most people spend a lot of time adding to their network instead of building lasting relationships with their network.  They are always collecting cards and adding them to their list, but they take little time to go deep and develop strong credibility with the right people.

The reality is for most of us, we already know all the people we really need to know to accomplish the things that we want to accomplish.  Get to know the people you already have in your network.  Spend time building credibility with them before you go adding more people to your network.