Have you ever heard someone say to you, “I work by referral only?”
Depending on the person, you may have been impressed, or you may have thought, “You don’t get enough referrals.” We can agree the goal of all salespeople and businesses is to work on a basis of having their business referred to them by satisfied clients, customers or friends.
The question then becomes how do we get to the point of a referral-based-business? In this special report, I want to give you the basics of developing a referral-based business and show the tools you need to make sure your business in the future comes to you as referrals.
#1. You must combine the elements of a large network, a system for managing your referral contacts and have strong relationships with your network.
Think about it, realistically how big is your network? How many people know who you are and what you do? If you are shopping in your neighborhood grocery store, how many people know you when you are thumping the watermelons?
The first key to a strong referral business is to have a large network.
- Make sure people know who you are and what you do.
- Get involved in activities that get your name in front of people.
- Stand up and speak at the chamber function.
- Get involved in BNI groups.
- Volunteer to do things that help the community.
The problem is many people do not increase their network while they are doing all of these things. If you are at your son’s baseball game and do not pick up at least one business card from someone, you are not utilizing that time well.
Now don’t go parental on me. Sure, we all love to see our kids in plays, sports and activities, but is there a rule that tells us we can not use the time to increase our business? Nope. Introduce yourself to the other parents at the games.
Get their business cards. Find out what they do for a living. The key is to remain in contact with them outside the confines of the children’s activities. Don’t be afraid to walk up to Johnny’s parent and say, “Hi, I’m Charlie’s Mom. Are you going to be at more of the games this year?” Develop a conversation and do what you say you are going to do. Let people know what you do and that you are good at what you do.
The next key to building a large network is having a system to manage the referral network. You have to stay in contact with people!
If you don’t stay in contact with them, they forget who you are and what you do. You need a system that keeps you in contact with your network on a consistent basis. For it to work at peak efficiency, utilize an automated system. Statistics show a person will remember who you are and what you do if they hear from you 6 times a year. How hard is it to contact someone six times if the majority of the contacts are automated?
#2. You must build, maintain and utilize a database of your contacts.
For years many of us had a filing system known as a rubber band. You would meet someone, get their business card and then keep the card in your drawer until the stack of cards justified putting them in a rubber band. The stack would sit for weeks or months without the rubber band moving.
Did you ever stop to think how many times during the next year someone was going to ask that person for the name of a professional in your line of work?
Your database should have at least the following information for each person:
- Name
- physical address
- phone numbers
- e-mail address
- birthday
Yes, Ideally, you want to know their birthday, and even their spouses name and birthday, company name and children’s name and birthdates. You may not be able to obtain all of the information right away, but as you get to know someone, you will gather other important dates. The system should notify you automatically of special dates and ideally be set to automatically send predetermined cards for birthdays and anniversaries.
#3 Meet one new person each day.
How many people do you come in contact with each week? After you meet a person, do they know what you do? If they knew someone looking for your product or service, could they get in contact with you? Can you get in contact with them?
If your network is going to grow, you must add people to it each week. If you add 5 new people a week to your network or contacts, that is 260 new contacts per year. Out of that 260 people, how many will need your product or service this year? How many of their friends will? The key is you have to stay in contact with people. Once you have them in your contact manager, you need to contact them on special days. Remember, the more people who know you and what you do, the more referrals you will receive from them.
#4 You will not receive a referral until someone likes you and trusts you.
Take a moment to think of someone you know who is tops in their field, but you really don’t like or trust them. How much business do you want to refer to them?
If you are like most people, the answer is none! Why would you refer one of your friends to someone you don’t like or trust? It doesn’t happen. If that person treats your friend badly, it makes you look bad for referring them. I recently read a saying in a book by the founder of one of the largest real estate companies in the country. It may or may not be his original saying, but he stated, “People don’t care what you know, until they know that you care.” How profound is that?
Have you ever met a salesperson who comes up to you and starts giving you all the facts about their product on the hope that he will tell you the one thing that will make you want to buy? My wife and I go to car lots every now and then to look at cars. The salesman will come up to me and start talking about horsepower, engine size, the number of cylinders, weight of the car, wheel base and all the other things that interest people who are car people.
I am not a car person, my wife is! I could not care less about all the stuff I hear from car salespeople. My main concern with a car is simply, does it start, does it stop and can I put my Slurpee in the cup holder. My wife is the one that knows about cars, and now she is a little miffed because super salesman assumed I was the one interested in the car and she was the “little lady”. The trust level is now very low on her part and since I don’t care., not much of a chance for a sale. .
The point I am trying to make is very simple. Once you gain the trust of people, they are more willing to work with you and refer friends and associates. The way you gain trust is by showing people you truly care about them and their situation.
It is more than having knowledge about your product. People like to work with people to whom they relate. I can gain more from sending a birthday card to someone, than by sitting with them and telling them the virtues and features of my product.
If you work on gaining the trust of the people in your life, you will find them more than willing to refer their friends and neighbors to you. As soon as they like you and trust you, you have gained a referral base. Now you need to cultivate the base and make sure you get their referrals.
#5 Show appreciation to your network and ask for referrals on a regular basis
If you expect people to refer their friends or relatives to you, you must show them you care. If someone takes the time to send me a birthday card, I know that person took the time to prepare that card and mail it.
You notice I said mail it. How much joy do you get in opening an e-mail? Did you know that up to 15% of all e-cards have computer viruses attached to them? They end up in spam filters.
When you are trying to show someone you care, do it with a heartfelt card they can put their hands around. That is appreciation. When was the last time you had lunch with someone who can refer business to you?
How many birthday cards did you send last year? When you send a birthday card to someone, you have touched them on the most important day of their life. Will they remember you?
Once you have started recognizing people, when is it appropriate to ask for referrals? As previously mentioned, when you have earned their trust is the right time. If you ask too early, you are a salesperson fishing for business. If you ask too late, they have already referred the sale to someone who gained their trust and asked for the referral. As with everything in life, timing is critical.
So now you know some of the basics of building your referral business. As you can see, staying in contact with people is a critical part of building the trust needed for your base to refer clients to you.
Just for taking the time to read this special report, I would like to give you a gift that will help you begin building a referral base. Think of a person you know who you should send a greeting card to right now.
It could be a birthday card, a card saying it was nice meeting them or seeing them again. You may want to send your spouse or significant other a card to let them know how you feel about them. When you are ready, go to: www.sendoutcards.com/skmiller You will be prompted through a process of logging into the system and then how to find the right card for your situation. This is a totally secure site, and I will be the only one to see your information.
I hope you enjoyed the information given to you today and will take the time to send someone a card. You will see how easy it is to stay in contact with people and how much they enjoy hearing from you.
