I was meeting with someone last week who was thinking about joining a networking group, and she asked my advice. I knew the group well, and I said, “I don’t think it’s going to work for you. The people in that group aren’t going to need your services, and I think you’ll be frustrated.”

She very correctly called me on my statement and said, “But I thought the point was to work through them to their referrals, not make them clients.”

Of course I agree with her, but that wasn’t quite my point. As you network, you need to know your audience and your product or service. Some groups are made up of more savvy networkers than others. This group isn’t one of the savvy ones.

Some people can envision how they would refer someone, even if the service is something they will never use. For example, I personally have no use for someone who does corporate mediation. But I know the kinds of people who would need that service, and I can refer it.

Some people can’t make that leap. They are generally the smaller business owners who are new to the concept of business by referral. When they are still trying to get their message right to generate referrals and keep in mind easy to refer businesses, they aren’t quite able to get their heads around more complicated to refer businesses.

You need to keep this in mind when joining a networking group. Is your business something the members of the group will understand and use, even if they don’t use you? If so, you’ll have an easy time educating them on how to refer you. If not, you’ll have a bigger challenge.

Am I saying you shouldn’t join such a group? No, I’m just warning you that you’ll have to work harder than say, someone who sells gift baskets. Everyone can see how to refer that business. Everyone may not instantly see how to refer you.

That’s the “bad news.” The good news is that next week I’m going to write about how you can educate anyone about how to refer your business, even if you fall into the “hard to refer” category.

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