How to Prevent & Fix Stalled Introductions

by Bill Cates

May 13, 2020

Has this ever happened to you?

A client said they are willing to introduce you to a friend, a family member, a colleague.

They said they were going to reach out to that person, yet it hasn’t happened or you’re not sure if it’s happened.

How do you go back to them to make sure they make the introduction? You don’t want to push them too hard, I get that. You also don’t want to look needy, I get that too. So, what do you do? And how do you prevent this from happening in the future?

Prefer to watch than read? Check out the video below.

Preventive Maintenance

To prevent this sort of thing from happening, you want to make sure that whenever you do talk about introductions, that you create a time frame; you get a sense of expectations of when they’re going to shoot that email over to their friend and that they’ll CC you. Or when they’re going to have a chance to talk to their friends so you can follow up appropriately at the right time frame.

You also want to make sure you talk to them about what they’re going to say to the referral prospect and how they think this person might react.

This preparation conversation will help your client become clearer about what to say, as well as give them a bit more courage to make the introduction.

Fixing a Stalled Introduction

Let’s say you either did all of that – or didn’t. How do you take things from here?

You want to reach back out to your client and say something like this:

George, you mentioned you were willing to recommend me to your old business partner, Burt. I didn’t see an email come through; I hope I didn’t miss it. I was just wondering if we could revisit this to see what needs to be done from here. Would you be okay with that?

It’s as simple as that. Put it on yourself a little bit by saying, “Maybe I missed your email. I’m sorry, I want to just make sure I get connected to Burt.”

It’s best never to let too much time go by, but if you do – let’s say six months, you can say something like this:

George, when we talked six months ago, you mentioned that you were going to introduce me to your former business partner, Burt. I certainly appreciate that, and I wonder if we could revisit this topic – to see if we can make that introduction happen.

What do you think you need to say to him to get him willing to take my call and at least peak his interest in hearing from me?

There is no need for you to be reticent to reach back to your client. This client said they’d be willing to introduce you.

It stalled. It happens.

Are they having second thoughts?

Sometimes a referral source will change their mind. You can always say something like this:

I know that you said you were willing to introduce me to your former business partner. I’m just wondering if you’ve had second thoughts, maybe for whatever reason you decided you don’t want to do that.

The last thing I want to do is ask you to do something that doesn’t feel comfortable.

They will say one of two things. Either:

No, no, no, I really meant to do it, I’m sorry, let’s do it now. Or…

Yeah, as a matter of fact I am having second thoughts. Let’s discuss it.

[YOU] Sure, tell me more about that. What sort of introduction would feel most comfortable to you and to Burt?

Some introductions fall by the wayside. Will they get stuck in a ditch by the side of the road? Yeah, it happens, but in most cases, you can get them going again.