Kevin Willett says the more specific you are the more business you can get.

This sounds pretty easy and straight forward, but often when I ask someone who a great referral would be for them, they tell me anyone with a pulse. My friends, we’re back in the epic fail category. If you tell me financial planners and CPAs are great contacts for you, I can start helping you right away. There’s an expression in networking that “everyone turns into no one simply because people don’t know where to start.” Here’s an example. If you’re a CPA and you tell me everyone is a potential client, I’ll agree with you, but I probably won’t ever give you a referral. If you tell me you specialize in helping people and businesses that have tax issues, then I’ll know to refer you whenever I hear of someone with that issue. Remember, the more specific you are, the easier it is to refer you. I have a friend who’s a painter. If you ask who a good referral is, he’ll tell you the exact size and type of the house he wants to paint, including how many windows the house has. His description makes you visualize this house. If he said anyone who needs painting done, would that make you visualize anything? If it would, it’s probably not too pretty.

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Kevin Willett is the Author of One Connection How you can grow your business  (and change the world) one connection at a time. The business networking book is available on Amazon. Purchase One Connection on Amazon

Kevin is also the CEO of the Friends of Kevin Networking Group  and the New England B2B Networking Group. Please connect with him on social media to hear about his upcoming business networking events.