Читать книгу How to Win Client Business When You Don't Know Where to Start - Tom McMakin, Doug Fletcher - Страница 45

Pathway 6 is when you're prospecting with someone to whom you've been introduced, and represents 10% of new clients according to our survey data. The prospective client hasn't asked for help, and she may not be actively in the market for your service. But based upon your research, you feel you can help her.

You have a friend or colleague who knows the prospective client, and you've been kindly offered an introduction. Warm introductions are a form of currency shared among friends and colleagues in the business world. And they grease the skids of commerce in a karmic, pay‐it‐forward kind of way.

When appropriately used, warm introductions help break down barriers of human resistance. When we're introduced by a mutual friend, we're much more likely to get to spend some time with a prospective client. For many, accepting a warm introduction is a social courtesy that we extend to a mutual friend.

Mark lives in San Diego and is a senior director for a company that provides services to law, accounting, and financial firms. Mark and I worked together about 20 years ago and have kept in touch over the years as we progressed through our careers.

Mark and his team have been researching Bank of America for several months, and feel they are a good fit. His firm does similar work for several large banks in New York. Over beers one warm evening in La Hoya, Mark asks me, “Do you know anyone at Bank of America?”

I tell him, “Yes, actually, one of my college friends is a senior vice president in their Atlanta office.” And, because I respect and trust Mark, I am happy to provide an introduction.

Six weeks later, Mark and my college friend at Bank of America have dinner together at the Buckhead Diner in Atlanta. Maybe they will end up doing business together, or maybe not. Time will tell. But it would have been much harder for Mark if it weren't for the warm introduction I provided. An introduction from a mutual friend serves as a social bridge between two strangers. This bridge helps to break down barriers that often exist between two people who have never met.