Name-Dropping: Yay or Nay?

If you ask me, name-dropping is a huge no-no.

When I present this to a sales team, I’m often asked, “But Katie, is it name-dropping if I actually know the person? Isn’t that a good thing that I have an internal person referring me?”

Sadly, there are some shady characters out there, and they’ve given us “good guys” a bad name. These days, customers just assume it’s not genuine and that we’re name-dropping if we start our conversation with this. In fact, this exact phrase came up multiple times in my research during the question about pet peeves. They said, “Stop Name-Dropping.”

So, how can you still get to take advantage out of having an internal referral? If you DO know someone, and they recommend you reach out to Jane Smith, for example, ask them politely, “I know it’s a lot of trouble, but would you mind doing an email introduction? I want to make sure they know it’s a legitimate intro, and that I’m not just name-dropping.”

This will mean SO much more coming from the internal contact. In my research, 9 customers out of 10 said they would give a recommendation if asked, but they hardly ever get asked. 

Don’t be shy. Ask for that referral.