As you begin to delve further into building your network the next important task is create, nurture, and maintain your credibility. Once expectations form, your credibility stage begins. It is important to understand how vital this stage, if each party is confident of attaining fulfillment from the relationship, it will strengthen it. How is credibility attained? When appointments are kept, promises are acted upon, facts verified, and services rendered. Then and only then does credibility get whittled out in small, meager, diminutive portions.

There is no doubt that the foundation of referral marketing is relationships. Without them the marketing is unfounded, useless, and unproductive. Referral marketing works best when both parties benefit, look at your network, is everyone benefiting from what you are doing? Are you helping your network succeed? The first mistake in referral marketing that most people make is assuming everyone in your network is your client. This is quite the misnomer when speaking of referral marketing, your network is mainly your referral sources, the place where your prospects come from. Are you enabling your referral sources to help send you potential prospects?