Realistically, you can only handle so many networking relationships. You have a limited number of coffee and lunch spots per week, and you’ve got to get your client work done as well.

Logically, you’ve got to limit the size of your network. You’ve got to figure out how many referral sources you can reasonably manage while dealing with everything else in your life. Eventually, that sort of thinking is going to force the realization that some of the members of your network aren’t as productive as others. You’re going to want to maximize your return on your investment, and that’s going to mean firing some referral sources and replacing them with people more likely to refer the kinds of work you need.

Determine Your Number

Before giving out any networking pink slips, you need to decide how many contacts you can manage. That number varies by person, and you may find that you can juggle as many as 50 referral source relationships, but more realistically, you can probably handle closer to 20. Obviously, that number will be higher when you have fewer clients and lower as you get busy. The number will depend on how much time you’re able to commit to your practice, your energy level, and other personal factors. You’ll need to reevaluate the number from time to time, and it’s going to change as your life circumstances change.

When thinking about the number of relationships you can manage, be realistic. Think about the calendar. Think about the follow-up activities and the recordkeeping. As you’ll recall, I’ve suggested that you get together with each referral source at least once every quarter. There are about 55 workdays per quarter. Think about lunches you can actually accommodate in that period and, again, be realistic. Do you need to do lunch with your kid at the elementary school once in a while? Does your spouse demand an occasional lunch? If so, take those dates off the list. Your life won’t stop simply because you’ve got networking to manage.

Calculate the ROI of Your Relationship

Once you’ve filled all the slots in your network and maxed out your capacity, it’s time to start evaluating the value of each person in the group.

Your criteria will include factors based on your particular circumstances. Generally, you should evaluate networking partners using three questions:

1. Are you having fun? If you’re not looking forward to your lunch, then it’s not going to happen. You’ll drift away from the relationship.
2. Is the relationship moving along in a positive direction? If you’re not getting closer even though you’re spending time together, this relationship isn’t likely to flourish.
3. Is the contact making profitable referrals? The answer here needs to be affirmative, or this relationship serves no business purpose. Take note that I specified “profitable,” as distinguished from referrals generating revenues alone. Some referral sources will send work that’s more profitable than that sent by others in your network. Look carefully at the work you’re getting.

Start the Auditions

Look hard at the least productive members of the network, focus on the bottom 20 percent, and begin efforts to replace them. You’re back to where you started in this networking process: it’s time to look, again, for new connections. Thankfully, this time it’s easier because you’ve got the network to help you as you tweak your group. This is why you want to constantly maintain a list of future networking prospects. That’s why you’ve been asking your contacts the question “Who else should I meet?”

Don’t move too quickly to terminate members of your network. We don’t want to fire anyone until we have a suitable replacement ready to go. You’re better off with a marginally productive member of your network than a vacancy. Start taking the new candidates to lunch and see whether they might be a good fit. Thankfully, you can audition new network members before you give anyone the ax. You can go to lunch with these new prospects and get a feel for whether this relationship is worth pursuing.

The Networking Natural Selection Process

When you’ve developed a suitable replacement, it’s time to drop someone from the list. Of course, you won’t actually fire anyone, and they’ll never know you took them off the list. You’ll likely still see these folks around town, and they’ll still get a holiday card. They just won’t be on the 90-day lunch rotation, and they’re not going to get your full attention. They’re out and someone new is in. It’s the natural order of networking.

You need to improve, refine, and tweak your network constantly. Many older professionals complain about the decline of their networks. They claim that they once had a thriving practice based on a superb network and that their practices declined as the members retired, died, and moved away. It may be true that they built a strong network initially, but they’re not taking responsibility for the failure to maintain the network. They didn’t prune the dead wood and upgrade the quality of the members. In that situation, the blame falls squarely at the feet of the networker who stopped networking.

The network is a living, breathing organism that feeds you. You can’t expect it to do its job without care, feeding, and nurturing. Don’t coast. Stay on top of the network, and it will keep you busy until you’re ready to call it quits.