12 Reminders Why We Love Referrals

12 Reminders Why We Love Referrals

The stronger your belief is in building a referral business, the more committed you will be to getting outstanding results.
Why are referrals so great?
Why are they such a wonderful way to build, sustain and grow your business?

1. Sometimes you just have to show up sober! A quality referral is the strongest marketing tool you can find: People listen to others when they trust that person’s opinion. When someone has given you a really good referral, many of your prospects come pre-sold and all you need to explain is to how and when the work can get started. I love those meetings!

(These are the referrals that are expecting your call and are interested in hearing from you. Otherwise - predictably - responses will vary; people are not machines and their personalities and trust levels differ.)

2. You have more independence and more control over your business. Why? Because you need people who know, like and trust you to get referrals. This requires building and maintaining strong relationships. Once you are making a habit of this and you are keeping in touch with your client base (click here for an efficient and hassle-free way to do that), you can always tap into your resource-rich business because you have been making the emotional bank account deposits. This provides the foundation for a stable business which is a much more enjoyable business lifestyle for you.

3. It’s about helping other people - a client-centered approach - when done right. The right approach is when your ‘referral conversation’ is focused on your referral source helping people they care about - not some ‘me me me’ act of desperation. If that person can see that you are sincerely concerned about the welfare of people they care about, they will take the spirit of your request seriously.

Difficult though this is when you need business a.s.a.p., your focus needs to be on helping others first. Take that leap of faith and your rewards will come.

4. It’s great for people who dislike selling and aren’t very skilled at it. Now someone else is ‘selling’ you beforehand. It allows you to focus on building quality relationships. The business and referrals will come provided you ask for what you want.

5. It increases your integrity and enhances your reputation since new business comes from real people not clever advertising or marketing gimmicks. Nor do you have to depend on these things to get new business.

If you aren’t doing a good job, nobody will recommend you. The fact that you get your business from referrals speaks volumes about the quality of your work and what others think of you. Others are putting their integrity on the line to endorse you. That’s the kind of business people trust and the kind of endorsement others listen to.

6. You get to clone your best clients. Often you get referred to people who have similar personalities to your referral source. Most people will not refer you unless they like you. This is wonderful. If you like your client, the chances are that they’ll refer you to people similar to them.

Just this week, I was introduced to the friend of a client. Originally he had told me that if his buddy didn’t call me back right away, “tell him Brian will come over and kick his a**!” (I didn’t use that line although I was tempted) I had a hard time keeping a straight face when we met. This friend was very similar in personality: friendly, energetic, talkative, enthusiastic, and he had a good sense of humor. The meeting went great. See point #1. Sometimes this feels like the biggest win there is to your referral business.

7. It’s easier to recommend someone else than to sell yourself: people listen to 3rd party endorsements more than you trying to persuade them that you’re the best there is.

8. It’s easier to leverage a good relationship to get business than by advertising, cold calling, or buying leads. See #1.

9. You can make more money by saving on other marketing expenses.

10. It frees up time since you meet with warmer prospects that are much more likely to do business with you. This wastes less time with people who are not ready, indecisive, kicking tires, or price shopping.

11. You get measurable results every time. You know exactly where the business is coming from and where it’s not coming from. This awareness allows you to focus on the most productive relationships and organizations that are helping your business the most.

12. You can feel more peace of mind being more recession proof. You have a business based on great relationships and people who recommend you to others.

As Malcolm Gladwell points out in The Tipping Point: “We are about to enter the age of word-of-mouth…even in this age of mass communication and multi-million dollar advertising campaigns, (it) is still the most important form of human communication.”

Action Plan.
What do you need to commit to doing better to get more referrals?
Is it getting more comfortable asking? Knowing when to ask or what to say? Building better relationships with clients and/or centers of influence?
Start with one area and check out my e-zine page for other articles on these topics.
 

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