In referral marketing you’re rarely alone - there’s you, your referral partner and the person they’re referring you to. This makes sense so far. I also know that it takes all three components working in harmony to make it happen.
You know that there are people out there who need and or want your services and there are also people who don’t know about you specifically and would still benefit from your services. Your network must be an active group of committed connectors, people genuinely willing to listen to others they are in relationship with and willing to take action on your behalf
It’s time to build a referral network! It’s time to get out, meet new people (obviously the right new people), strategically building credible relationships over time and then educate and develop them as motivated referral sources. Sadly, It’s not as easy as it sounds!
Building business by referral can’t be done by waving a magic wand, however like the theatre of magic, there is a process underpinning the “magic”. There is a process or methodology to create the referral outcome you seek. So just as the magician waves the magic wand, the referral marketing specialist uses their tried and true techniques and processes to create a referral marketing network.
I’ve met many people who tell me they are just natural networkers, they bond easily with others and find it easy to build natural business relationships. While you can be a “born networker” you are still going to have to get out of your cave to apply the process of building a referral network. The funny thing is, so many of us are “cave dwellers” and don’t even know it!
For some cave dwellers a day unfolds like this. They wake up in their cave apartment. They hop into their mobile cave on four wheels and drive to their cave office. During the day they may leave that cave to visit other caves nearby, the post office cave, the coffee shop cave or perhaps the restaurant cave. The thing is it may seem like they are getting out an about…in reality however they are simply hanging out with a tribe of cave dwellers.
Living life as a cave dweller doesn’t mean One + One = Two, actually it still equals ONE!
You can break out of this lonely existence with a better purpose and a clear direction. At your next networking function follow these five steps and you can escape your cave:
1. Set goals before you attend a networking function, aim to meet at least one or perhaps more people depending on the size of the function.
2. Spend quality time with each person you meet to learn a little about them and their business. Be sure to share something about yourself as well.
3. Listen carefully, focus only on the person you are speaking to and participate in the conversation.
4. If you have made a strong connection:
a. Schedule a meeting with the people that could be prospective referral partners or clients.
b. Schedule a face to face introduction when you’ve identified needs that one of your referral partners can potentially help them with.
5. Send a thank you card to everyone that you connect strongly with. You never know who they know and it increases the likelihood that you will be remembered long after the event.
Remember that building a referral network will require a serious investment of your most precious commodity, time. However investing time will be worth the effort and providing you use it wisely it will return rewards for your efforts.
A lot of business owners spend more than just time on getting more business, they invest large sums of money in marketing and advertising campaigns. Others rely on old fashioned cold calling with dubious results. Research by sales professionals show that using the cold calling technique returns about a 3% success rate. If you don’t have the money to spend on expensive marketing campaigns or don’t like cold calling, then referrals are definitely the way to go!
So put your magic wand away and take a page out the magician’s handbook and learn the secrets of your trade. All good magicians know that a good magic “trick” is simply a process which is well practiced and systematically delivered with a flourish and takes advantage of the relationship the magician has with their audience.
Doing business by referral is about a systematic approach, it’s about implementing a process and most of all it’s about relationships. So if you practice and implement the process of referral marketing One + One will actually = Two.
Hopefully that formula will lead to many more referrals in your business.
Article Contributed by Lindsay Adams, International Speaker with Training Edge International and President of Global Speakers Federation
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com
Email : Lindsay.adams@trainingedgeasia.com
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