We assume friends and colleagues remember to pass along information about pending opportunities.
Why? - Because their our friends, of course.
Reality - they are busy and probably don't really know what a good opportunity looks like for you.
Remedy - make it easy.
- Build trust and an interest to help. How? By helping them first. If you show sincere interest and take initiative to help someone else they feel compelled by the "law of reciprocity."
- Describe specific criteria, for example: "I'm looking for a company with more than 100 employees, growing and working in old furniture." When you paint a target people remember and automatically begin to see opportunities they didn't before. Psychologists actually have a word for this; "selective awareness."
- Tell a story that captures what you do and how you are different. People remember stories - they don't remember details.
- When someone provides a lead express appreciation. It takes effort to break out of the momentum of the day to help someone else.
- Finally, provide feedback so the person knows if it met your criteria or not. I work with some phenomenal brokers and each of them immediately follows up on the information I provide and lets me know if it was useful, why and how I can improve it next time. I love it because I want to look out for and find those sweet opportunities.
It's simple - just not easy.
