I Broke One of the Cardinal Rules of Networking

25 Aug I Broke One of the Cardinal Rules of Networking

Today I received a call from a client that went like this:
Him:  “I thought you would have called me.”
Me: “Ummm…. I know how busy you are.  Was I supposed to call you?”
Him: “Well, congratulations on landing that new account I referred to you.”

I had nothing to say. Absolutely nothing. I knew the referral came from him. I signed the agreement last week with the new client. I totally forgot to pick up the phone and say thank you — which is SOP at the very least!  I spent the next 60 seconds thanking him profusely — then I spent the next ten minutes penning a handwritten thank you card to put in the mail. After that, I’ve spent the last hour thinking I should send a gift basket of thanks, as well. It’s not that this referral is a million dollar client. It’s not that this referral is going to be a “favorite client of all times” (although she may turn out to be.) It’s not anything other than I screwed up. Truthfully, no matter what I do at this point, my client who referred us to our new client is always going to remember that I didn’t call and thank him— seriously. I could go to the ends of the earth at this point, and it would be appreciated and he would say “Oh, I know you appreciate it” and he may even refer more business to us in the future — but in the back of his mind (like all of us) he is going to remember that I forgot.

This is just a reminder to not be like me….. Don’t forget to thank your referral sources and if you need a reminder, you can always email me for a free copy of Fast Track Networking.   I’m sending them for free as an atonement today. That is, after I re-read it.