5 Hacks for Making Professional Introductions via Email
A Super Connector is a person who seems to know everyone and is always working to connect others. Oftentimes, it looks like they aren’t gaining much from this. Yet, with the traditional methods of networking — handing out business cards and adding on LinkedIn to increase the number of connections — super connectors have become priceless.
One of the main goals of a thoughtful super connector is making introductions. Taking two individuals with similar goals or complementary skills and connecting them can make great things happen. And by being in the center of this connection, a Super Connector gains a strong community of interacting, valuable individuals.
With the release of UpHabit’s new Introduction’s feature, anyone can become a Super Connector. UpHabit is a Personal CRM that provides all the tools you need to connect, create real relationships, and stay accountable to everyone.
We’ve compiled a list of 5 ways to supercharge your professional introductions to help you become a thoughtful Super Connector.
1. Choose the Right Individuals
Introductions are all about bringing together people that can add value to each other. To make sure your intros are successful, it’s important to pick the right people, with the right skills, values, beliefs, and behaviors.
Lynn Gaertner-Johnston, an author and business writing expert, recommends finding people in your community that have common interests and goals and are in a similar position in their careers. By doing so, you’re setting yourself up for a successful intro and hopefully adding value to your community in the future.
2. Get Buy-in from both Parties
One of the worst mistakes we can make when doing a surprise introduction is providing no out for the two parties. Even with the best intentions, some introductions aren’t meant to be. Without an out, both parties are left in an awkward position.
To make sure this situation doesn’t happen and your network isn’t hurt by poor introductions, make sure to provide both parties with an out. Author David Burkus recommends practicing “permission introductions,” in which both parties “double opt-in” to the intro. Speaking to each individual prior to an intro will allow them to decide whether they want an introduction and make sure no awkward situations arise down the road.
Luckily, UpHabit Introductions is built to make this effortless.
3. Create Templates
Being a Super Connector often isn’t a full-time job, but the time and effort it takes can seem that way. Building, maintaining, and connecting your networks and communities requires work. Therefore, it’s important to try to save yourself time with simple shortcuts.
One of these shortcuts, as explained by executive coach Patrick Ewers, is to create templates. More times than not, the emails we send for introductions are very similar. The same structure and format, with slight changes to wording and names.
By creating preset email templates for every step of the introduction process, you save yourself valuable time that you can use for more productive tasks, such as reaching out to weak connections. But, never forget to personalize each email, even when using a template. Set the right names and change the wording to better reflect the individuals.
UpHabit Introductions helps make this easy with a range of preset and customizable templates. Not sure how you should structure your first intro? Use a preset, professional template provided by UpHabit. Once you get the hang of Intros, or if you’re a pro already, customizable and duplicatable templates will help you save time and connect even more individuals.
4. Follow-up
Once we make an introduction, it’s easy to forget about it and think our job as a Super Connector is done. But it’s your actions after an introduction that separates exceptional, thoughtful super connectors and the rest.
Founder and Author Darrah Brunstein recommends you “close the loop” when introducing your contacts with each other. Ideally, each individual should reach out to you within a day. But, it’s up to you to follow up after the fact and make sure your introduction was a success.
To make sure you don’t forget, it’s important to set reminders for each of your introductions. UpHabit makes it easy with quick-to-schedule Reminders for each contact. These Reminders ensure you stay at the center of every community and add value to each connection within it.
UpHabit Introductions also offers the opportunity to get feedback from everyone with easy thumbs-up surveys. These surveys, which are quick and simple, allow recipients to let the connector know whether their introductions were good, so-so, or bad. With feedback, you can learn what works, what doesn’t, and become an even better Super Connector.
5. Use Introductions
With UpHabit Introductions, everything you need to make amazing introductions and become a Super Connector is in the palm of your hand. From building the right connections to following up with each contact and everything in between, Introductions makes connecting others easy.
Start off by developing real relationships with the base UpHabit features, including Reminders, Notes, and Tags. By staying accountable for each connection, you’ll have a solid community to build and make introductions from.
UpHabit Introductions adds everything else you need. Preset and custom intro templates save you time, feedback from recipients via surveys help you grow as a connector, reminders make sure you always follow up, and the upcoming double opt-in feature ensures you only send the best introductions to the right people.
By using these simple hacks and tools, it’s possible for anyone to become a thoughtful Super Connector. We all have networks, no matter how small. Starting with one simple introduction can snowball into great things, with you in the center of it all.
About UpHabit
UpHabit is an easy-to-use app that takes the heavy lifting out of reaching out, following up, and building an effective professional network. Build a stronger network with UpHabit, an app for Thoughtful Super Connectors! Download now on iOS, Android, and macOS.
