A few months ago my business coach asked me to make a list of strategic business partners. I used my contact database to evaluate who I knew in my local area that could be a good referral source for my business as well as my ability to refer business back to them. The criteria I used was based on the type of service they provide along with my perception of their professionalism and quality of work. I suspect we all do this during the process of referrals.

Our impression of someone is not always right. Sometimes we make judgments about people before we really get a chance to know them. Sometimes we might even change our perception of someone based on either a really good or really bad experience either directly or indirectly.

The other day I offered to make an introduction between two people, I’ll call them Bob and Sally. Sally discounted the possibility of a quality business relationship with Bob. Sally gave me a list of reasons of why Bob wouldn’t be a valuable referral for her without knowing anything about Bob or his business. Bob happens to be the type of professional that Sally targets for strategic business relationships. I shared with Bob that I was going to introduce him to Sally and how she discounted him without knowing anything about him or his client base. Bob laughed and stated that he could send her more business than she would probably ever send him. Sally made a huge networking mistake.

From my point of view, it never hurts to have a cup of coffee or a short phone conversation to see if there is synergy between two businesses. You might find that the person/business is not a good fit, but at least you took the time to find out. Or you could determine the two businesses are perfectly aligned to create a strategic relationship. Sometimes it is not a matter of who you know, but who knows you. In Sally’s case, Bob doesn’t know her and therefore will never send her any business. Too bad for Sally. Don’t be a Sally.