Written by Jonathan Dunnett
Are they worth another meeting?
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Why would I want to meet him again?”
I recently had a chat with someone who asked me that question. As she described the dynamics of the situation, I suggested she likely knew the answer: spoiler – she didn’t want to meet him again.
Now, thankfully, she hadn’t wasted a lot of time on this person.
She got a quick read on the situation and established another meeting had little to no benefit for her.
I had another situation recently where I did some background research on someone, connecting with others that knew of them.
Bullet dodged.
This person was not worth the reputational risk for me.
When we’re networking, we’re always looking to understand the context and understand if we should proceed with someone.
Of course, I’ve learned this the hard way: some people are easy to spot… some are not. I once had someone effectively use me (which I didn’t realize until much later). How did I know? I did a presentation for them, and then? WHOOSH! Vanished… gone… I’ve never heard from them again. Beware the charmers!
How do you de-risk a contact
1. Do you know someone that knows them? Ideally, multiple perspectives is good. What’s the story? This might help you decide to move forward, slow play, or stop entirely.
2. When you’re meeting with someone, listen and watch. Is it all about them? What is your Spidey sense telling you?
A note of caution: I had another conversation recently with a very smart entrepreneur who said that usually in 10 minutes they can make a judgement call: “I want to know if they’re a dick!”
Even the brightest people in the world can be wrong about someone, especially in 10 minutes. The thing to remember here is that only in very few circumstances do you need to make a snap judgement about someone. Based your judgement in the decision that you’re trying to make about that person and in the context of the situation.
3. Behaviour is a language. So is what comes next.
After you meet with someone, see how they respond to you. What did they say? What are they asking for?
Again, beware of snap judgements, but every interaction is an opportunity for more data and information.
If you’re not liking the story of what’s coming your way, you might want to close that book!
Happy connecting!
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