by Jonathan Gilliam, Interim Sales Executive

I recently found myself on the receiving end of a pitch from a potential ‘referral-friend’ at a coffee shop and, though I liked the guys, they spent very little time getting to know me, instantly relegating them in my mind to “Vendor I Know” rather than a trusted advisor whom I would feel comfortable sending to my clients. They even sparked up some slides (Uh…more coffee please!?)

In fairness, they were new to networking and the “give-and-give” of modern business relationship-building. They just went at it as if they had a lot of information to spew and little time to spew it in.

Most successful executives understand the value of “karmatic goodness”. They tend to have highly evolved empathic skills and seek out ways to help others in business. Thus they are generally more successful than those who merely seek out opportunity. (Ironically, opportunists wind up with fewer opportunities.)

Before (or preferably, instead of) launching into a pitch, here are three good questions you should ask potential referral partners:

1: “How exactly do you provide value to your customers?”

2. “Who (title, company type) is your ideal target customer?”

3. “How can I help you?”

To step it up a notch, come up with one prospect/lead for the person and help make a meeting happen. Though it may feel funny at first to help business people when “they’ve never done anything for you”, but rest assured, more likely than not they will eagerly reciprocate if they know what’s good for them. Conversely, you are almost guaranteed a wasted meeting if you trust that just because someone knows who you are they will refer leads to you.

Nothing builds a relationship faster than true service coupled with energetic follow-through. Make serving others your number one priority and you will find karma to be very kind to your business.

Jonathan Gilliam is a interim sales executive for OneAccord and is based in the Austin area. Jonathan has a deep background in business development, market analysis, opportunity development, relationship management and C-level sales. Mr. Gilliam welcomes questions at 512.775.7566 or Jonathan.Gilliam(at)OneAccordCorp.com. Jonathan also blogs at Business Developments.

Photo by Ruth Bruin