Where Your Referrals Come From and How to Evaluate Their Success
You’ve established your business, and you’ve been growing it for a few years. You’re out there meeting people, making contacts, sending clients to your network. Referrals are coming, but you know you need more. Is it fair to assume more should be coming your way? Are you receiving any from referrals you’ve given? Any third-party referrals? What is the quality of the referrals you receive?
Let us first consider the players in this game of networking. First, we have strategic alliances. These are people with whom we agree to exchange referrals. This may very well be a competitor, or someone who complements your industry (e.g., a mortgage professional and a real estate professional) or someone who complements your business (a real estate professional and a supplier of gift baskets.) If you’ve identified someone with whom you think you have such a relationship, but feel they’re not holding up their end of the bargain, do not toss them aside.
Those intangibles could include referrals from clients you are sending to this individual. However, rather than having a strategic alliance with this person, you may very well have a super referral resource. To illustrate: A mortgage professional sends referrals to his accountant, who does a great job. Clients sent to the accountant by the mortgage broker are super satisfied by the work the accountant performs, and send the broker more business referrals’including their friends and relatives’because the broker not only provides a great mortgage product, he’s also assembled a great team to serve other needs .
Once you recognize the difference between your strategic alliances and your referral resources, you’ll be far less likely to replace a strong resource with a less-productive alliance. Thus, the important lesson is to establish ground rules with all those who participate in supporting your team. Be clear on what you plan to provide them, and what you expect in return. These need to be formal commitments with target goals and objectives. They need to fit into your business plan as part of your marketing strategy.
Getting referrals is only one aspect. How do you gauge the quality of those you receive? The best referral is one where the sale is already made by either your strategic alliance or referral source. If you have to start from the beginning to sell your product or service, then your source of referral is unclear about what you provide’or possibly isn’t totally happy with it. Are these referrals buying? If not, then it’s time to have that formal meeting to explain your expectations. Get clear on both the results you’re getting now and those you expect. It is up to you to maximize the utilization of your time. In no way are we suggesting that any interaction that does not produce a sale is a waste of time. But since the sales process requires time, energy, and money, your efficiency and that of your referral team are vital to the ultimate level of success you seek.
Gerry Rose runs INTEGRITY Networking Solutions in Oceanside, CA. He works with realtors who want to attract the right prospects and their affinity partners who want to generate more referrals. More than 10,000 businesses have been presented the INTEGRITY Networking Solutions system in San Diego, Riverside, and Orange Counties.
Gerry’s stimulating presentation Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals is ideally suited for small business owners, home-based businesses, and independent professionals who want clearer direction and want to attract more prospects, develop dynamic systems, and strengthen their companies’ accountability. Gerry does one on one consulting, conducts a range of keynote speeches from thirty minutes to full-day education workshops.
His books, Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals, 101 Tips to Attract Prospects, 101 Tips to Generate Referrals and Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals, Giving Your Clients What They WANT, So You Get What You WANT are currently available. Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals, Using Your Time, Energy, and Creativity to Create Value, will be available in 2006.
Gerry has more than 20 years’ experience directing business owners how to grow their businesses. He is a networking dynamo. Those who know him will assure you that he does a great job of bringing people together’which is why he started Integrity.
Involved with networking organizations since 1984, Gerry is an Accomplished Toastmaster, a member of Toastmaster International, and has chaired numerous chambers of commerce and non-profit organizations.
Are you truly committed to attracting the right prospects and generate more referrals? If so then contact INTEGRITY Networking Solutions for availability and information. You can contact Gerry by mail at 1610 Quiet Hills Drive, Oceanside, CA 92056. Direct dial (760) 439-4623; e-mail to gerry@integritysd.com. For more information, go to www.integritysd.com
