Networking is harder than ever, especially now that the lines between personal relationships and business interactions are blurring.
This blog examines how to navigate this complexity with clarity and strengthen your referral flow through your network. It breaks down five practical insights that keep your brand top-of-mind whenever someone in your circle needs what you offer.
Key Takeaways:
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1. Consistent touch with an ‘intention twist’
This is no rocket science—the same age-old ‘stay in touch consistently’ ground rule. But here’s the twist: don’t do it with the sole agenda of extracting business from them someday. That kind of energy pushes people away.
Instead, stay in touch with curiosity. Show genuine interest in staying connected. This intention radiates warmth and makes people naturally reciprocate that curiosity toward your business.
For example, instead of asking “Did you check the PDF?”, you could make it a habit to check in regularly, starting with what’s brewing for Christmas.
Be consistent with this. Curiosity paired with consistency does the magic.
Wondering how to underplay the business intention? You don’t have to. Just make sure you don’t act from that impulse. Let those intentions take a back seat.
2. Resourcefulness with relevance
Be resourceful to your network, not as an investment, but from genuine interest. Offer free value through insights, resources, tools, and guidance, making sure it’s always relevant.
Wondering how to crack the relevance code? Here’s a simple hack:
Think about your business:
What do you offer?
What does it revolve around?
Think about your network:
What do they need right now?
What does “help” mean to them?
Relevance lies at the intersection of the two. Showing up there consistently positions you as their go-to person. In practice, it looks like sending a simple year-end planner template during the year-end rush, far more useful than announcing your services.
3. The mannequin marketing technique
Here’s a truth bomb: your network doesn’t naturally care about your business, what you offer, or how good you are at it. Only you want them to know that.
What does that mean? If you share promotional content with your network just because they are on your broadcast list, it often lands as an unsolicited opinion.
Here’s the helpful way to do it:
The pressure to consume or engage with your promotional content repels people. Let your promotions sit on display—like a mannequin wearing a designer sweatshirt. Until a passerby likes it and asks the salesman for details, there is no business talk.
How this works in real life:
Adopt a storytelling style. People love stories. Share life updates, business milestones, their intersections, customer testimonials, and success stories—not as promotions, but as stories. Let them inspire your network in the background. Occasionally, post offers or referral incentives in a “giving back to the community” tone.
Practicing this builds a strong long-term reputation, for you as a person and the value your brand brings.
4. ‘Timing’ is the secret sauce
The importance of strategic timing is often overlooked. Effective networking is about pacing your communication wisely:
Not too frequent to feel spammy
Not too random to feel irrelevant
Here’s how to get this right:
Choose the timing that works for your network, not what works for you. Some people welcome frequent interactions, while others appreciate distance. Personalize the rhythm by observing their responses.
Then, interact with context. Even if you message often, context keeps it meaningful. So the real secret sauce is: their comfortable pace + context + gentle energy = a well-timed message.
For instance, a weekly check-in might sound repetitive. Instead, anchor it in context, one week using cues from their weekend Instagram stories, the next something as simple as the weather. Timing plus context keeps the conversation alive.
5. Replace traditional CRM thinking with relationship intelligence
Now you know:
How to engage
How not to engage
And when to engage with your network.
But as your network widens, it becomes humanly impossible to do all of this manually and with laser-precision accuracy.
Traditional CRM tools are great at tracking referrals and handling large-volume interactions. But networking is a different ball game. This is where a mindset shift helps:
Stop thinking in terms of managing contacts. Start thinking in terms of supporting relationships.
The goal isn’t to ‘convert’ more. It’s to engage better in a way that feels natural, not forced. When relationships are nurtured this way, referrals follow quietly, without nudges or pressure.
So, the bottom line is…
Be friendly—not just a friendly salesman.
When you engage your network with relationship intelligence, referrals stop feeling like outcomes you chase. They become a by product of how you show up.
If you’re curious to explore this approach at scale, you can take a look at how Regards works. It removes the complexity of traditional CRMs and helps you drive referrals through your network with ease and grace.
Introducing: The Realtor's Network Multiplier
A strategic guide to referrals, relationships, and revenue
✅ The exact touchpoint calendar to use
✅ 25 non-salesy reasons to reach out to past clients
✅ Scripts for asking for referrals without feeling weird
✅ How to get to your Top 100 relationships
✅ Monthly action plans and accountability tools
Sign up now for early access and get the complete handbook delivered as soon as it drops.
Why we built Regards
I’m bad at staying in touch. Not because I don’t value people. Its a lot of work, and I didn’t have a system. This started as my fix. A quiet assistant that helped me nurture relationships thoughtfully. When people noticed the difference and asked what I was doing, it slowly evolved into a product. And the love has been incredible. Regards, Khuze
