“Here I am with the best prospect I’ve had in months and now, here comes my boss. Who do I introduce? What do I say? Now I’m starting to sweat.”

A recent poll conducted by The Emily Post Institute found that at least some of the time an astonishing 40% of respondents are unsure of how to make an introduction. Just imagine being caught in the scenario above. Now, instead of confidently handling the situation and being able to focus attention on the client and the boss, the frazzled agent is thinking how he or she can avoid looking like an utter fool. That’s a recipe for disaster.

The solution is simple: speak to the more important person.

Therefore, to accomplish the introduction successfully, the agent says, “Mr. Prospect, I would like to introduce you to Ms. Boss, the owner of the agency.” The agent then turns to Ms. Boss and says, “Ms. Boss, this is Mr. Prospect. He’s the president of Acme Widget.”

The only decision now left to the agent is who is the more important person. In this situation, the prospect is the more important person. Why? Bosses should want any employee to lavish more attention on a prospect than on the boss. If your boss thinks otherwise, show him or her this article.

If the situation were reversed and the agent was talking to the boss when the prospect walked up to join the conversation, the introduction would be handled this way: The agent, seeing the prospect approaching, turns to the prospect and says, “Mr. Prospect, it’s good to see you. I was hoping you might join us so I could introduce you to my boss, Mr. Boss.” Then the agent turns to Mr. Boss and says, “Mr. Boss, I want to introduce you to Mr. Prospect. He is the president of Acme Widget.”

What if you are introducing two people, neither one of whom is clearly more important? For instance, introducing two prospects at an open house. Here’s the scenario: You are talking to a prospect about the home when another prospect you talked with earlier comes over to join the conversation.

Start by turning to the person you have been talking to and say, “Anne, let me take just a minute to introduce you to John Smith.” Then turn to John, the person who is joining the conversation, and say, “John, this is Anne Jones.” After they shake hands, include John in the conversation by saying, “John, Anne was just starting to ask about the fireplace.” Then turn to Anne and continue the conversation, “Anne, you were asking if the fireplace is in good working order?”

In this case, the decision of who to introduce to whom is made by talking to the person with whom the agent is already in a conversation. This is simply a matter of showing respect to that person for the brief interruption in the conversation while the introduction is made. Respect for the person joining the conversation is also critical and is demonstrated by immediately making the introduction. Without being introduced, the person joining the conversation clearly feels like a fifth wheel and may quickly become a lost prospect.

Properly executed introductions will make everyone more comfortable. And it gives you the best shot at a successful business interaction and the opportunity to build a strong relationship. Not a bad result for such a simple act.

Published: November 26, 2001

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