Whose Fault Is It Anyway ?

Not getting all the business referrals you want? Then it’s all your fault!

I joined a close contact networking group many years ago, a group where we met regularly to pass business referrals to each other. I was the President of the group at the time and remember inducting a new member, we’ll call him Phillip. He attended the meetings regularly and when it came to the part of the meetings where we passed referrals to each other he would stand each week and say “Nought to report”.

After six months Phillip came to me and said “I’m not going to renew my membership as I’m not getting anything out of these meetings. I’ve got hardly any business from belonging to this group. This just doesn’t work!” In fact I’ve heard similar stories or variations on the same theme over and over. Phillip went on to say:

• This group is fickle, they used me once and never again
• I’ve bought something from every single person in this room, but they’ve never bought anything from me
• The members just don’t understand my business

What Phillip had missed in his membership of our group was that in order to get a referral sometimes you have to give a referral. It’s called the law of reciprocity, In order to receive, you must first give, or you get back what you give out.

Phillip was quick to blame anyone and everyone else in the room, except himself. If you belong to a networking group and aren’t getting referrals or if you pass referrals to other business people and aren’t getting any in return…whose fault is it?

I would suggest all you need to do is look in a mirror and you’ll see the culprit staring straight back at you.

If you are thinking along the same lines as Phillip, then you may want to consider the following:

This group is fickle, they used me once and never again
If you did business with a member of perhaps a new client, did you follow up to make sure they were happy with the goods or services you supplied? Did you go the extra mile to turn a customer into a regular client? Did you give them a reason to come back again and again to buy from you? Did you make sure the customer saw your best work first time?

I’ve bought something from every single person in this room, but they’ve never bought anything from me
Often people join networking groups thinking that it’s only the people in the immediate group that they are going to do business with. Raise your aim! Research by social scientists confirms that every business person knows at least 250 other business people. Why limit yourself to just doing business with the person in the room?

An astute networker will give outstanding service on the first engagement with a view to cementing a longer term relationship. Once trust is established, then you can begin to tap into those other 250 people that each person in your network knows. If you know ten other business people and they trust you, suddenly you can access 2,500 people. All that needs to happen next is for you to ask for a targeted referral to that network.

The members just don’t understand my business
Finally if the members don’t understand your business you will never get access to those potential 2,500 contacts. You must make the effort to educate your network. Take time to meet with people in your network. Organise to meet one on one with the people in your network and take the time to learn about their business. Then and only then, you can teach them about your business.

Here’s the Top Ten things to teach them:
1. Your products and services
2. The hours you are open for business
3. Where you are located and whether you are mobile or not
4. How can you be contacted, phone, email, website
5. Your target market
6. Your ideal referral
7. The kind of business you are looking for
8. What kind of business you aren’t looking for
9. How will other people know when to speak up and recommend you, give them words or phrases to listen for in everyday conversation
10. How to set up an appointment with their client to introduce you as a recommended and preferred supplier

The list goes on and on. The key here is to take time to educate the other people you want to bring you business referrals. If you aren’t getting all the referrals you need it’s probably your fault !

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