I’d Like to Introduce You to: The Power of Recommendations

What’s in a name? According to Juliet Capulet, not too much. “That which we call a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet,” she argues. She may be right. But what’s in having a name? A name attached to you, that is?

Especially for smaller firms (although certainly not limited to them), client referrals generate a large percentage of their business. On an individual level, having personal connections within a company or even just having someone to speak on your behalf can take you from another sheet of paper on a pile to a viable candidate. Yet people still tend to take for granted the weight of a recommendation.

There used to be a stigma attached to getting your foot in the door with the figurative help of a foot that was already in said door. Personal competencies were prized above all else, and connections were seen as “cheating” or as a substitute for actual skill. Hand shaking, scotch sharing, all of that seemed a shady means of keeping the privileged privileged and the plebeian plebeian. It wasn’t a strategy; it was a side door.

Times, however, are a’changing. Recommendations and referrals no longer function as a replacement for abilities but rather as a means to get your abilities noticed. How do you differentiate yourself and your contributions when, especially in this economy, there are a large number of highly qualified applicants vying for a very limited set of opportunities? How do you get your name out as an independent consulting firm when these firms are becoming ubiquitous? The answer, if you haven’t divined by now, is having someone speak on your behalf.

LinkedIn has an entire section dedicated to recommendations. Start here. Get classmates, coworkers, anyone willing to speak on your work. It increases the visibility of your page and in so doing, increases your online presence. If you can drive traffic to your professional profile, that’s a solid start. Same can be said for your business. Ask clients to write a letter or statement on your behalf after finishing an assignment that you can place on your website so that prospective clients can get an idea of how you work, and how well you do so.

When beginning to reach out to individuals to refer you to others, my adviser gave me a piece of advice that has taken me very far: never end the conversation without asking, who do you know? Who else should I be talking to, given what you now know about my experience and my aspirations? Most people are more than willing to introduce you to someone they know that can help you, and whether or not they can get you hired is not the important part. The important part is to build up enough of a professional network so as to be referred through a cadre of individuals. Eventually, you could land on a position in a firm that you’d never even heard of, all through harnessing your immediate contacts, and having them do the same.

Whether it be a referral, recommendation, or a simple introduction, getting connected is an important part of getting where you want to go. Name-dropping shouldn’t carry the same ignominy as it once did; in fact, those that can do it effectively should be heralded. One can only ponder: if Romeo had references, would the family contempt even have existed?

To our readers: what are some other ways that recommendations can work on your behalf? What are the biggest obstacles to you reaching out?