Generating referrals isn't just about the quantity of them; it's also about getting good quality leads. Marcus Cauchi offers advice on how to create effective referral partnerships.
Systematic referral marketing works, networking doesn’t. If referrals are always a surprise instead of strategic and planned, chances are your networking is more akin to a social life than a business generation activity.
Referrals can be as predictable and dependable as any traditional direct marketing tool that is managed systematically and scientifically. If you are sick of kissing frogs and getting slimy lips instead of your prince and a happy ever after, odds are you are making some cardinal errors which are costing you time, money, resource and opportunity.
If you treat networking like a pile it high, sell it cheap activity where you are going for width instead of depth, lots of people will know of you but few will trust you well enough to bring quality leads your way. In reality the chances of you being able to manage more than 30-50 loose relationships, let alone 24,000 are slim to none. Giving it a go means that you are in danger of receiving a steady stream of time wasting referrals to inappropriate prospects that waste both of your time.
Few business people understand how to move from being in sight to being in the hearts and minds of their network. Doctor Ivan Misner refers to it as visibility, credibility and profitability. The more quality time you spend with people, the greater your credibility grows and with credibility understanding grows and that delivers profit.
Not all referral partners are created equal
To move from visibility to credibility and credibility to profitability, you must choose your referral partners well and then pay attention to their needs. Invest in the relationship, make promises you intend to keep and keep them. Be selective. Work with only a handful of people you know like and trust and where you both want the other person to succeed. Systematic referral marketing depends on trust, authenticity and the willingness to do what is necessary to keep your word to your referral partners.
Understand the needs of your referral partners firstThe value of networking is in the shadows between the weekly breakfast meetings and the one minute slots. Offline, face-to-face and personal interactions where you get to understand the other person first. Then you educate one another systematically on how to identify, engage with and sell to highly qualified prospects. These should then be delivered in person through warm trusted relationships, where the credibility gap has been bridged by your referrer.
Profile your prospects
Take the time to define the characteristics of what makes a good referral; job location; size; scale; turnover. What is the profile of the people that you want to meet? How old are they? Where are they in their career? Are they starting a family or looking towards retirement? What alternatives do they have to fix their problems to someone like you? The better you can describe your ideal prospect the more likely your referral partners are to spot them.
Educate your referral partners on how to sell for you
What are the frustrations that your referral partner can listen for on your behalf to rapidly identify if someone will be a good prospect or a waste of your time? Take some time to list the symptoms that people who need your help are likely to show and educate your referral partners to spot them too. Equip them with questions to engage potential prospects in a conversation that may lead to you being referred right to the top of an organisation on the back of a trusted relationship and someone else’s earned credibility.
Think outside of the referral box
Look at how else your referral partners can help you. Profitability comes in four forms, qualified intros, education, support and intelligence. Not every referral partner needs to feed you with business. They may be mentors whose history is your future. They may be like minded entrepreneurs facing similar problems or they might be selling to the same target market, non-competitive but able to share insight and intelligence on the marketing you share.
Think who else in your close network would make a good refer. You would probably never make it a mandatory part of doing business with you that your clients that they bring you referrals so you can spend more time with your clients and not waste it prospecting?
Protect and serve
Like any relationship, referral partnerships are based on trust. The number one mistake that leads to referral remorse is breaching the platinum rule of systematic marketing which is to protect your referrer’s relationship and make them look good or even better as a result of having introduced you.
Money does grow on trees, referral trees. So look to yourself before you start saying that referral marketing is too slow and make sure that you are putting the time and effort needed in the right relationships that will lead to long-lasting profitability.
All referral partnerships come to an end. Don’t stay in too long and don’t get out too soon. Pay attention to the feedback and results and work with your partner to constantly improve your ability to make hot introductions and even close business on their behalf. Suppose it’s possible for you to turn up just to pick up the check is there any reason why you wouldn’t adopt a more systematic, approach to your referral marketing now?
Marcus Cauchi is a sales improvement specialist and managing director of a London based Sandler Training franchise. You can read his blog here.