The Introduction Both People Thank You For
Connecting two people is the most generous thing you can do in business, and the easiest to do badly. A short method for introductions that land.
In the Gulf, most doors open because someone you know walked you to them.
An introduction is how that happens. It costs the person making it a few minutes and a little of their reputation, and it can save the two people receiving it months. It is the most generous thing you can do in business.
It is also easy to do badly. A careless introduction hands someone an obligation they did not ask for, and it spends your credibility on both sides.
Here is how to do it well.
Step One: Ask Before You Connect
Before you put two people in the same message, ask each of them, separately, whether they want it.
I met Huda at the logistics forum last week. She is building a cold-chain operation in Kuwait and looking for a packaging supplier. Would you be open to an introduction?
This is sometimes called a double opt-in, and it matters most when one side is more senior or busier than the other. It lets either person say "not now" privately, without the awkwardness of ignoring a group message with you in it.
If one of them says no, nobody is embarrassed, and you have learned something about the timing.
Step Two: Say Why, in One Sentence Each
The weakest introduction there is reads: "You two should meet." It forces both people to work out why.
A good one gives each person a reason in a single line:
Huda, meet Faisal. He runs a packaging firm that works with most of the chilled-food importers in the region, and he knows the cold-chain problems you described better than anyone I know.
Faisal, Huda is launching a cold-chain operation in Kuwait next quarter and is choosing suppliers now.
Two sentences. Each person knows who the other is, why they should care, and why now.
Step Three: Make Them Easy to Reach
Do not make either person hunt for the other's details. Include the link to each profile or card, so both can see a face, a role and a way to get in touch without asking you for a number.
Use the channel both already use with you. In much of the region that is a short WhatsApp group of three; for more formal or cross-border introductions, an email with both in the To line.
Step Four: Step Out
Once you have made the connection, leave.
If it is a group chat, say so: "I will leave you two to it." If it is email, the recipient should reply with you in BCC, which tells you it landed and frees you from the thread.
Staying in the conversation turns you into a chaperone. Stepping out tells both people you trust them with each other.
Step Five: Close the Loop Later
A few weeks on, ask one of them, briefly, how it went.
Not to take credit. To learn. You will find out which of your introductions are useful and which are not, and your next ones will be better. People notice who makes introductions that lead somewhere.
When to Say No
Some introductions should not be made. Decline, politely, when:
You cannot say why in one sentence. If you cannot explain it, neither side will understand it.
You do not know one of them well enough. Your name is on the introduction. Only vouch for people you would vouch for.
One side is only asking for access. "Can you introduce me to your minister friend?" is a request for your relationship, not an introduction.
The Whole Method
Ask each person privately first.
Give each one a reason in one sentence.
Include both people's links.
Step out once they are talking.
Ask how it went a few weeks later.
Do this consistently and something useful happens: people start coming to you before they go looking elsewhere. That is what a network actually is.