Becoming a Resource.

Have you ever had the feeling that you were being “sold?” It’s not a nice feeling is it?

Well I strive to be of utility for someone just by that person knowing me. I try to help someone no matter what it is that he or she needs. The key, however, is not doing everything yourself. If I don’t have the skill set or time to assist I’ll identify someone else who can help. Now, what have I done? I have become a resource for that person.

I recently read a study that concluded that referring a contact to someone else won’t decrease the likelihood that that person would come back to you again. In other words, you won’t lose your future contact with that person just because you’ve referred them to someone else. As a matter of fact, you actually increase the likelihood that someone will come back and ask you for assistance in the future. Here’s a story that happened to me that will demonstrate this example. We were hosting a business networking event at a regional Marriott. There ended up being a booking conflict of conference rooms and we had to be bumped. Rather than just giving us the bad news, my contact called another hotel (a semi-competitor mind you) and made the same arrangement for our needs and then called me. I was informed that we were bumped but that someone else at another hotel had the same availability and was awaiting my call. Now talk about service! We ended up having a successful event even though we had to make the adjustment. I still connect with this contact on a regular basis when I have various needs because this person went above and beyond to make sure that my need was satisfied and that I had a good experience.

Keeping an eye out in the media is important for being resourceful as well. I try to take every email newsletter, press release or news article that I receive and put it to good use. I typically scan it for information for myself while also thinking about people who I know. Forwarding articles or newsletters to contacts of yours will strengthen your connection with them. You always want to keep them in mind so that when they come across something that would be of interest to you that they would forward it back to you.

It goes along the lines of “giver’s gain” or “give to get” or “pay it forward.” You do something nice for someone; someone will do something nice for you. It’s like creating good karma for you.

Remember, being a resource for others will strengthen your own resources as well as deepen relationships with your contacts.

Please feel free to post comments on my blog at http://powernetworking.blogspot.com/

Suggested reading:

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Miracles at Work: Building your Business from the Soul Up by John Adams

The Game by Sarano Kelley