If I am repeating myself here, it’s because this message is essential and worth another nudge.

  • Let’s say you get a referral. And you sit on it for a few days, a week, a month. And suddenly you come across it. “Oh sh!t,” you exclaim to yourself, “I missed this.”
  • And you make us an excuse for the time lag in your reply. And you thank the referrer long after their effort to help you.
  • Or you reply immediately that you are too busy and you will get back to them in a few days/a week/month(s) when your busi-ness dies back and you can concentrate on this. Better late than never?

Revisit those three bullet points now. Your response may never actually occur because you lost momentum and focused on something newer, shinier, hungrier.

  • How do you look? How do you sound if you even replied with a delay?
  • How does your potential new prospect feel about you for the potential (although quickly fading) relationship?
  • How does the person who referred you think of you for any future referral? If ever.

Don’t create the aura of being too busy or being unorganized or absent.

Here’s what I wish more people would do:

  • Review the target’s LinkedIn profile, then jump on a referral. Within an hour of receiving it and offer to meet or call or zoom or something personal. Use cues from their LinkedIn profile to show you absorbed and recognize higher levels of synchronicity, the essence of the referral.
  • Then, having made that good first impression by being in the moment, ask them for look at their calendar for a few days and times to set up a zoom that will work for both of you.
  • Or use Calendly (or similar) to offer them timeslots to coordinate into their calendar. While I am not a huge fan of the impersonality of Calendly, it works to keep both the referred and the refer-ee on target to meet and find common ground for a budding relationship.
  • Follow up with the target of they do not respond within a few days. That’s usually, not always, but a bad sign, especially if a respected colleague is arranging this between you and the other person. Persevere. That’s not a sign of weakness, but a sign of maturity.
  • Prepare for the meeting. Think of questions to open dialog and reinforce points to leave them with.
  • Be on time to the meetup. Or better, a few minutes early. Keep no one waiting for you. In that deadtime they are wondering, “do I need to waste my time like this on this person, even though I prepared for this meeting?”

Who knows what magic may ensue if you make yourself look optimistic and open to new prospects? You actually hit paydirt.

Impossible? Not at all! Unlikely? Not really.

First impressions count. Don’t leave a poor one to initialize a relationship. Take every immediate, in-the-moment, opportunity to show yourself well.

Stay focused on the near-term prize: you and them, as a new relationship, a prospect, a client. It’s a process. Don’t screw it up from the get-go.