Welcome to another episode of Networking Unleashed,
Building Profitable Connections. The podcast
relationships aren't just built, they're engineered
for success. I'm your host, Michael Forman, and
today we're diving into a world where connection
is everything, whether you're closing deals or
finding the one. My guest is no ordinary connector.
There's a professional matchmaker who works with
elite singles to help them find lasting love.
And they do it with intention, strategy, and
heart. But here's the twist. The same skills
that bring two soulmates together could build
powerful, profitable relationships in business
too. So whether you're looking to spark a new
partnership, build your network with purpose,
or simply connect on a deeper level, this conversation
is for you. So get ready and rethink how you
approach every connection in your life, because
matchmaking might just be the ultimate networking
strategy. April, how are you? Welcome to the
podcast. And please tell us a little bit about
yourself. Hi, Michael. Thank you for having me.
And yeah, my name is April Davis. I am the owner
and founder of Luma Luxury Matchmaking. It's
a high -end matchmaking firm, and we work with
busy professionals and executives and people
that are rather busy and very particular about
the kind of person that they're looking to meet
in a match. And so they utilize our service to
find that person. So essentially, we're like
an executive recruiter, but for people's love
lives. Good, good. I like that. I like that a
lot. Okay, so let's delve right into this. What's
your go -to conversation starter when networking
with potential clients? I think people... favorite
thing to talk about is themselves right so I'll
go into just you can always start with any kind
of basic level type thing or just it depends
on what you know about them and you know I always
will tell people one of the best things that
you can do is make an observation about someone
and try to elaborate on that so if you know somebody
is did say ballet for 20 years or something that
tells you that they have a, they're very persistent.
They're very dedicated type of personality. And
it can give you just some insights into the kind
of person that they are. Cause what does it take
to be that level of an athlete? And, and then,
so maybe making a comment about that and insinuating
something about them and relaying that back to
them because people love to hear and love, they
love to talk about themselves and they love to
hear other people's insights on who they are
too. That's very good because you have hit upon
the intricacies of networking itself. So when
you speak to somebody, you let them talk about
themselves. And there's a mantra for networking.
Know you, you trust you, they'll do business
with you. And I think you hit all those, all
those bits right in your first sentence. So that
was outstanding. I passed. Great. I got an A
for the day. Perfect. But we still have a little
bit to go and I'll let you know afterwards. You
know, I said, know you like you trust you. They'll
do business with you. Now, of course, yours is
slightly different. But how do you quickly establish
rapport and credibility in the matchmaking industry?
Credibility, it's based on I've been doing this
since I was 16 years old and I've created this
international. company that is also a part of
the Inc. 5000 list. So fastest growing companies.
And so got a lot of credibility there, been on
a lot of, been featured on a lot of publications
and TV shows and stuff like that. So I think
all of that lends to credibility, as well as
I have a page full of clients that are testimonials
to what we do. And also one more thing, I am
ordained. So I actually did one of our clients
weddings last year. So that's pretty cool. That's
another credibility checkmark. And so it's just
going through all of those things. But I think
too, just when people hear me talk about what
I do and why, how I might put together a match
and why, and I'm also married to a divorce attorney.
So that kind of gives me some interesting insight
into what works and what doesn't work with couples.
writing on the wall or something is probably
not going to work out or you can pick up on different
couples relationship challenges that they currently
have or may have in the future and basically
call it out because this is something that I'm
very focused on this is my career Good. I'm going
to bring it back to networking again, because
that's the crux of the podcast. But in networking,
I use something called F -O -R -M. That's family,
occupation, recreation, and a message. And you
have that word in your head before you speak
with somebody. So when you're getting them to
try to speak about themselves, you pick any one
of the four letters and you can get them to talk
about themselves. So just a little correlation.
So family, occupation. Recreation. Recreation.
And a message that you can get the same level
of whatever you're talking about. But if you
go in thinking about, okay, your son, your daughter,
you can say about youth sports, their occupation,
what do you do? How do you do it? Why do you
do it? And they would just tell you. Recreation,
you may find two things that you do together.
separately of course they can be snowboarding
could be boating it could be skiing it could
be playing baseball it could be anything and
they would just love to talk about those items
so before you get to any business so to speak
you can start talking about all that and have
them talk yeah for sure i love that i love especially
the recreation one because People get sick of
talking about, it feels so superficial too when
you talk about, oh, what do you do? What do you
do? But people love talking about their family.
And I think, especially in a networking type
situation, it's a little different to start by
talking about the recreational stuff or the family
stuff. Because most people do, they start with,
oh, what do you do for a living? And then go
from there. That's more fun when you talk about
the recreation. Yeah, it's something that I often
find, ask people, what do you do? for fun and
hobbies, interests. What are you into? Outstanding.
How has digital networking changed the landscape
of matchmaking? So it's pretty, it's opened up
so many more opportunities because everybody's
online, right? And you can find people anywhere.
So people can be more particular about who they're
looking for because. especially with like online
with all the apps and stuff people they feel
like there's a huge amount of singles to be able
to choose from when they're looking for someone
and we don't necessarily use the apps to find
matches for our clients but we have other tools
of finding people and you can figure out if they're
single and then and connect with them that way
so it just has opened up a lot of different avenues
and which is great for what we do do you ever
i'm gonna say make a mistake but i'm sure i'm
using the wrong word but did you ever find somebody
and then find out they were married but they
were posing yeah i know network with tons of
people and we'll ask them if they're married
or not. And so, yeah, I'll definitely connect
with them. But we've had people that reach out
to us and then we find out, oh, you are married,
so you're actually not eligible. We can't work
with you. No, we don't do that kind of arrangement.
So how important is it to specialize in a particular
demographic when building a matchmaking network?
Yeah, I think it... It was really important.
That's what we started. When I first started
the company, I was just meeting with people every
day. I would have five meetings in a day. So
I have my corporate job and my background is
in process improvement. And I just, and I've
always been a connector. And then I realized
that this matchmaking is an industry. So I'm
like, oh, I'm going to. just start doing it and
for fun. And so the first year I was doing it
for free and just would meet with people building
up my network. And then eventually it grew and
I, and then I left my corporate job and just
did this full time. And I was eventually then
I started going to Chicago almost every other
week and then Denver almost every other week
and just kept building it from there. Wow. That's
good. Okay. So let's go on to referrals a little
bit. What strategies do you use to encourage
client referrals and grow your network organically?
This naturally does it. We do, we get naturally
a lot of referrals from people, but also it's
in our signature line asking people. And we also
will send out. An email to our network. So we
have our own proprietary database of individuals
and we'll say we have a client that we're looking
for a match to and we'll blast that client's
information to the people that are in that client's
area and say, is this you or someone you know?
And then that way we're able to get feedback
from people. and find some matches that way as
well. So I think it's when you go to BNI, they
tell you to be very specific in who you're asking
for. So that's the strategy that I'm utilizing
there. Yeah, I think the more focused you can
be, the better off your end result will be. Yeah,
because if you say, oh, send me all your single
friends. Sure, but if we say, okay, do you know
anyone that is this age and blah, blah, blah.
So then that helps people to narrow it down.
And they're more likely then to reach out instead
of just in general terms. And isn't referrals.
really the basis of seeing how well you're doing.
Because the more referrals you get, I think the
better off you're doing, aren't you? Yeah, word
of mouth is huge, especially in this industry.
Word of mouth is really the best of any industry,
any networking you can do. It's gold. It's gold.
Okay, let's switch over to industry events. And
which networking event or conferences have you
found most valuable for matchmakers? For me,
I think I go to any kind of business or marketing
type events I really like because it's all about
learning how you can grow and improve and running
your business in general. There are matchmaker.
With other matchmaker type events, those can
be really beneficial too, because people share
best practices and you can network with other
matchmakers. So we have alliances with other
matchmakers. So if we're looking for a match
to a client, we can reach out to other matchmakers
and see, okay, does anyone have a match for this
person? And we help each other that way. Good.
Good. Okay. So let's change this a little round
to partnerships. And how do you cultivate mutually
beneficial relationships with other professionals
in adjacent industries? Yeah. So we have a partnership
with wardrobe consultants. And so we will basically,
we will offer a complimentary. wardrobe stylist
session with these wardrobe consultants and they're
through their outside parties and so we introduce
them they get and the client gets either they
help them to pick out their first date outfits
or maybe if they're going to do a photo shoot
they'll help them figure out a photo shoot help
them put together outfits so they can do like
a closet edit where they go through and say okay
what do you have for dates maybe you need to
go and get a jacket like this or a shirt like
that, and then go from there. That way, then
the wardrobe consultant is meeting someone, the
client is getting something out of it as part
of their membership with us, but then they're
getting the introduction to the wardrobe consultant
so they can take it from there if they want to
do more with them. That's good because you're
offering more of a well -rounded service and
you're not saying, all right, you'll have to
go here or you have to go there. You're like,
no, I have somebody who'll come to you. He'll
call you and it's on us. Yeah. And it's neat.
I think it's really beneficial, especially in
this industry. You want to have appearances so
important and whether it's your photo on your
profile or even your LinkedIn profile, because
people will do research on you afterwards and
they will, they'll be able to see your picture
online. So you want to make sure you have a good
image out there. Yeah, you really have to be
careful with social media. Now, that's part of
my next question. But with social media, you
have to realize that LinkedIn is for business.
That's what I always do for business. But you
have all the social. media also which is facebook
instagram even tiktok and you have to be aware
who's on it who's not and how do you dress so
you don't become like over anxious yeah it's
interesting it's social media has become such
a status symbol especially for younger people
it's not about how much money that you have or
anything they people look at status now is like
how many followers how many likes or whatever
you have, that is about, it's almost as valuable
as actually having money in the bank, if you
will. People will try to find, I've had people
with this like mindset where they're looking
for somebody that has at least so many followers
because that says something about their status
in society. They could be broke, but they have
millions of followers. So that is a status symbol.
Okay. Okay. Let's just stick on the social media
level here. What role does social media play
in networking and client acquisition efforts?
I think it can be really beneficial where, because
especially say if I'm reaching out to someone
and seeing if say on behalf of a client and reaching
out to a woman to see if she's, if she is single,
then it's going because I. say the owner of this
company. And if I have a blue check mark by my
name or something like that, they're going to
see this is a real person. This is not just like
some sleazy bot. And then they're probably going
to be more apt to listen to meet my suggestion
for them to meet with my client because I'm vouching
for my client. I'm a legit person and I own this
company. And it's not just some like random.
person from a foreign country saying, hey, will
you meet somebody for a date? It's so important
to have a presence. And I also, I've heard people
say, yeah, I checked out so -and -so online,
they haven't posted. And so then they think that.
It's just, it doesn't exist anymore that it's
maybe it's fake or it's gone out of business
or whatever, because they haven't been keeping
it up to date. So I think it's really important
to maintain it, you know, depending on what you're
doing, of course. Absolutely. Or at least have
the right, have the right job. If you're a business
owner, make sure your LinkedIn is updated. Always
make sure it's updated. That's one thing I absolutely
say. You have gone through the corporate world.
and you've come into your own into having this
business, I'm sure you've made mistakes along
the way. So why don't you give us a mistake you've
made and how you overcame it? How do you know?
Because you're a business owner and every business
owner has mistakes. I think the mistake I keep
making and I keep kicking myself and I'm like,
why do you keep doing this? It's the definition
of insanity, right? You have to trust your gut.
Like usually something's not going to be right.
Something's not going to work. And you just have
to, you definitely have to lean into that. But
at the same time, I also, I think I'm very optimistic,
obviously to be a business owner, I think you
have to be an eternal optimist. And I was also
like naive when I started this business. I'm
like, oh, I'll just put people in front of each
other and they'll fall in love. It'll be easy
because I love everybody. Everybody else should
love each other. But so I think with hiring,
it's really important too. I think you have to
give people a chance because you never know.
But also you have to pay attention to those things
that are like, yeah, this is a bit of a red flag.
Because usually those things will come back and
be the final strong way you end up. That person
won't work out. And I also. I have a strong rule
with don't hire friends or family. So that's
my rule. My friends and family do not want to
work for me. I don't want them to work for me
because I want to keep them as friends and family.
And I have really high standards from the people
that work for me and expect a lot because my
clients expect a lot. So you don't want to blur
that relationship. It can be really... a challenge
to blur those lines and those relationships.
As a business owner, you have to learn not to
deal from your heart. You have to deal from your
head. And that's a rough thing to get used to
because usually everything's from the heart.
You're like, you're a good person. So you think
everybody's a good person. You have to put everything
in check by things that are right in your head
or right in your heart. And as you said, it's
that gut feeling. And being a business owner,
you have to rely on that gut feeling more times
than not. All right. So I already asked the biggest
obstacle. So how do you measure success of your
networking efforts in terms of business growth
and client satisfaction? We can see. I have reports
for everything. So I can see because I have recruiters
on my team, right? So their job is just to network
and to find matches for clients. So we track
it. We track every person that they bring in.
They get paid based on their commissions of what
they're doing. And so it's really important to
us. It's front and center of what we do constantly.
That's outstanding. I have to tell you, I can
probably ask you another 20 questions because
I have them already in my head, but I don't have
the time for it. So, April, if somebody wanted
to get hold of you, whether they wanted to use
your matchmaking services just to be coached
by you or something, how would they get hold
of you? Anyone can join our database and be considered
as a match. We have over 50 ,000 members in our
proprietary database, and it's just for us matchmakers
to see. It's private. It's not for clients or
other random people online to see. And so that's
free. Or you can become a client where we are
working proactively on your behalf. And to get
started with that, you just go to our website,
lumasearch .com. And Luma stands for Luxury Matchmaking,
L -U -M -A, search. and fill out the profile
form, then meet with one of our matchmakers and
go from there. April, that sounds great. And
I have to tell you, I love your name because
that's my wife's name. She sounds pretty cool.
She's definitely a pretty cool person. So April,
I'd love to have you on a podcast. I hope all
of my listeners got something out of it. I hope
they contact you if they need you, but either
way, I hope to speak with you soon. Thank you
for having me. Take care. You're welcome. Well,
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folks. A huge thank you to our special guests
for sharing such incredible insights today. And
of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing
listeners, for tuning in and spending your time
with us. Remember, networking isn't about being
perfect. It's about being present. So take what
you've learned today, get out there and make
some meaningful connections. If you enjoyed this
episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave us
a review, and share it with someone who could
use a little networking inspiration. Let's keep
the conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
Spotify, YouTube, or my website, Michael. Remember,
until next time, keep practicing, keep connecting,
and keep building those relationships. This is
Michael signing off. Take care and happy networking.