Building a network before you need it

The worst time to build a network is when you need an intro. By then, every ask feels like a favor from a stranger.

Build it when you don't need anything, and the intros show up when you do.

Why it matters in services

Services deals are big and slow, and buyers pick people they trust. A warm intro from someone the buyer respects puts you ahead of every cold note in their inbox.

But warm intros need a network. Someone has to know the buyer and know you well enough to vouch. That relationship took years to form, and it can't be rushed in the quarter you need pipeline.

After 25 years selling services, the pattern I've seen is plain. The sellers with the easiest pipeline weren't the best at cold outreach. They were the ones who'd been quietly helpful to a lot of people for a long time.

Start with who you already know

Your network is bigger than you think. Former colleagues, former clients, people you went to school with, people from your delivery teams, people you met at events and liked.

You haven't talked to many of them in years. That's fine. Reconnecting is easier than connecting.

Pick ten people a month. Send each a short note with no ask. Something you read that made you think of them. A congratulations on a new role that names something specific about it. A question about their work you're genuinely curious about.

That's it. No pitch. No "let's grab coffee and catch up" if you don't mean it.

Be useful first

The strongest networks run on generosity. Make intros for other people. Answer the cold note from someone just starting out. Share a job post with someone you know is looking. Send a former client a candidate for the role they're struggling to fill.

None of that sells anything. All of it builds the kind of goodwill that turns into intros years later.

And keep it honest. Don't help people as a calculation of what they'll do for you. People can tell. Help the way you'd want someone to help you.

Stay visible without being loud

You don't have to post every day. But people should see your name now and then and remember what you know.

Write a few honest posts a year about problems you've seen solved. Comment on posts from people you respect with something that adds to the conversation. Show up to a couple of events where your buyers actually go.

The goal isn't followers. It's being the person someone thinks of when a friend says "I need help with a messy ERP consolidation."

Keep track lightly

You can't keep a network alive by memory alone once it gets big. But you don't need a complex system either.

Keep a short list of the people who matter most. Former champions, people now in buying seats, people who know lots of buyers. Note when you last spoke and what they're working on.

Check it once a month. Who haven't you talked to in a long time? Who just changed jobs? Who might need a hand right now? The approach in keeping score without keeping score covers how to do this without it feeling transactional.

When you finally need it

Say a target account names a new CIO, and you'd love an intro. You look at who you know there and find a former colleague who's now a director on the CIO's team.

If you've stayed in touch with that colleague, the ask is easy. A short note, a forwardable message and a real chance of a yes. If you haven't spoken in five years, the ask is awkward, and they might not feel right vouching for you.

Same person. Very different odds. The difference is what you did before you needed them. And when it's time to ask, asking a former colleague for an intro covers the mechanics.

A network is built in the quiet months. Put in a little every week, and the warm paths are there when the account finally moves.