Do you rate your clients?

When I was spending a lot of time networking, but not seeing any results of those efforts, I decided to create what I call the networking scorecard. It’s a very basic way of analyzing my connections and is based on six areas. I mark each area from one to five. One is low, five is high.

I start with trust. Do I trust them? Then I move on to, do I like them? Next, do I respect them? I then go on to connections. How well connected are they? Are they actually going to be worth the time I’m spending with them?

The next is probably the most millennial one — culture. For me and many millennials, it’s more about impact than making a quick buck. It’s vital that a client’s personal and company culture match mine.

And finally, follow up. Do they do what they say they’re going to do? There’s nothing worse than someone saying, “Oh, I’ll send you an email or I’ll give you a call” and then you never get anything.

Then I total all the answers up. For me to work with someone, they have to score 21 out of 30, as a minimum. And if they score a one in any of these boxes, I don’t work with them.

This got rid of 60% of the people I was networking with. I could now really focus on that top 40% who matched my values, and who I wanted to work with.

Get other people to use your scorecard too, so you’re being introduced to the right prospects in a quicker way, rather than having to spend time deciding whether or not you actually want to work with these people.

Tristan Karl Robert Hartey is a five-year MDRT member from Oswestry, England. Read more in the Round the Table article “5 ways to build your business.”