Archive for referrals
Economic Changes Call for Tactical Adjustments
Posted by: | CommentsEspecially Now, Relationships Are the Key to Good Referrals
In these uncertain economic times, my experience tells me that there are still people out there who need your services. But because they are more concerned with getting the best value for their increasingly scarce resources, they turn to the people they trust to introduce them to professionals who deliver value.
Said another way, referrals are how good business gets done when times get challenging.
Who are your best referrers?
Have you thanked them?
Have you reached out to find out how you can help them?
Are you relying on a small group of people to refer you or have you systematically positioned yourself to be the recipient of your perfect referral over and over again?
Or are you still relying on a random stream of referrals?
I’ve been advising my clients to get proactive. Especially now. Because even if only 25% of their business comes from referral, if that business dries up and goes to someone else, they are in trouble.
Take action now!
1. Audit your last 3 years of clients.
Determine to the best of your ability where each piece of business came from. What did it add to your top-line revenues? What did it add to your overall profitability? What source stands out as needing immediate attention? If it is a person or a firm, what’s the current state of your relationship?
One client who did this exercise noticed that there were several distinct groups of people who referred him business. He broke them up into areas – real estate, import/export and invited them to a luncheon at his office. He introduced them all to each other and had them share what they needed to be successful – resources, contacts, etc. He shared the same thing – and his practice grew 30% in under 6 months.
2. Connect with your referral sources.
Cement your relationships. You know what needs to be done. Do it. Don’t put it off. In the current economic climate, those relationships can be the access to your very best clients – because those sources have social capital behind their recommendations and provide social proof that you are the attorney with whom they should be speaking.
I spoke on the phone this morning with another client who had changed firms and never reconnected with old sources of referrals. She shared that just by picking up the phone and reaching out to people who used to send her cases, she increased her business immediately – one sent her a new case that morning.
Connecting frequently and consistently is the key to staying top of mind. Enlist your staff to help you make this happen.
3. Actively reproduce your best referral sources.
Take a look at the characteristics of your best referral sources. What is their profession? Do they belong to a specific professional association? Get clear about which are your best sources and begin recruiting new ones just like them. LinkedIn® is a great resource for this project. If you don’t know how to use it – Learn.
Think about what would happen to your practice and your pocketbook if you added a zero to the number of people who actively refer you your ideal client. Come up with a project to build 20-30 relationships who can keep you and your firm busy and profitable.
4. Develop a regular touch strategy.
I know you are busy. All professionals are. But the most productive have systems in place that allow them to accomplish the repetitive tasks that create continuity in relationship. The old adage “Out of sight, out of mind” can wreak havoc on your referrability. Set – or have your staff set – lunches at regular intervals. Get a system to regularly send out birthday and anniversary cards. Involve your support staff in collecting and sending clippings of pertinent articles or snippets of what they read in on-line news. The key here is to stay ‘top-of-mind’ while you deepen the relationship.
5. Train your referral sources
You know what you do. But do your referral sources? Really? Ask them what they think you do. You’ll be surprised at some of the responses. If your sources don’t know what you do and who is best to send your way, chances are referral quality is poor.
Most importantly, get clear which problems you solve that keep your clients up at night – from their perspective, not yours. “I’m a intellectual property attorney” is very different from “I help the creative protect and defend their million dollar ideas.”
Draft a document which illustrates what you do (not just a list of services) and for whom. Clearly articulate who your ideal clients are and then share that with your sources. Encourage them to do the same for you.
Building reciprocity builds relatedness. Relatedness is a trigger for referrals.
6. Develop a stable of professionals that you can refer – and refer them.
Referrals out can be tricky for some attorneys. The concern about liability is one I often hear from my clients. However, reciprocity doesn’t work if you don’t refer out. One of my clients dealt with his concern this way – when he passes a referral he uses this disclaimer – “I recommend X – s/he’s done a great job for my clients in the past. You should do your own due diligence, though, as s/he’s not always a fit for everyone.”
You do not serve all your clients’ needs. You can position yourself, in their minds, to do so by developing a stable of reliable professionals who serve those needs which you do not, and educating your clients as to their availability. Listen for opportunities to refer. Be known as a resource for your clients AND as a referrer by your key sources.
7. Repeat this process
Referral development is a process, not an event. Relationships are not event driven and credibility is something that is built – over time. If you have three to five hours a week – think lunches and breakfasts – you can easily roll this out over a year long program. It takes some planning and discipline, but the payoff far exceeds the perceived pain.
It takes something to alter results you are currently getting. The biggest hurdle you will have to conquer is the belief that you “don’t have the time” or that you are “too busy” to do something different.
The most productive and profitable firms have handled these conversations and developed the skills and the networks to consistently land the right kind of profitable business.
I encourage you to do the same.
Raymond Chip Lambert
Network 2 Networth
Your Outsourced Business Development Training Partner
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"Can You Hear Me Now? How About Now?" AKA It’s the Network
Posted by: | CommentsIn the last several weeks I’ve had the privilege to speak to some pretty intelligent people who have had various levels of success in their businesses. And as someone who puts on live events (see our LinkedIn® Live! Event in Phoenix) I find it intensely interesting that people still don’t get that it’s not just about who you meet.
That got me thinking about how to effectively communicate what I know about networks, the nature of networks, and the impact that has on business development and referrability.
The first thing that came to mind were those annoying Verizon® commercials with the technician in the horned rimmed glasses. He was on the phone with one person – ostensibly testing the quality of the network – and behind him were the thousands of people that were BEHIND the network. The power of that message is that it’s not just about the one-on-one of the phone call – but the network that’s behind it. (BTW – read about how effective that branding campaign was) Can you hear me now?
The second thing that happened was a phone call I had with a gentleman from Oklahoma City, Kirk Shelley. Kirk is interested in what happened with the Ron Paul phenomenon. Grass roots organizing. Millions of dollars donated to an "unknown". A message that got out regardless of how the corporate media covered the story. Blogs. Social Media. This is the true nature of a network. Can you hear me now?
Then there’s the Internet. A network of networks. Think about how that has impacted your life. How you collect and manage information. What can you do today in 10 minutes that even 10 years ago was next to impossible? Google? E-mail? LinkedIn® Can you hear me now?
In my humble opinion, placing a "networked" technological backbone (known as social media software) behind humanity’s aspirations will revolutionize humanity the way the Internet revolutionized (and continues to revolutionize) information.
Go back and read the "Cluetrain Manifesto".
See how much it has influenced the online world over the last 10 years. See how much markets (which are networks) have begun to create technologies to be heard. (Blogs – You Tube – Social Bookmarks, etc.) Can you hear me now?
And finally, there was a poll in the Phoenix Business Journal about "21st Century Networking" and some of the responses highlight the current state of thinking – at least by respondents – around networking, social networking sites, and social media. People still don’t fully understand the implications.
Online social networking, is not necessarily about the one-on-one connections. It’s about getting access to what’s really in the NETWORK. Graduates of my Business Development Training know this. Of course real world networks are important – that’s what social media is about. It’s about connecting with people you know in real life. It’s about sharing resources, knowledge, connections, etc. It’s about discovering new tools that will make your life easier, more enjoyable, productive, or profitable and sharing those with the folks in your network. And with tools like LinkedIn®, MySpace®, Facebook®, etc. you can begin to meet your markets where THEY are – know what THEY think. Know what is important to THEM.
When you understand this – you can begin to speak what my friend Jon Ward refers to as their ‘Tribal Conversation’. And when you do that, you are no longer an outsider looking in. You are someone who is one of them – who has solutions to their problems. Who speaks their language. Who knows their friends.
And that, my friends, is the opportunity of a Network.
Can you hear me now?
Raymond Chip Lambert
Network2Networth
It’s Much More Than a Book of Business!™
What? Train my referral sources?
Posted by: | CommentsGetting referrals is a mysterious processes, right?
I’ve got a question in Linkedin Answers right now and the wide variety of repsonses is interesting.
They range from – You work hard, you do a good job, and you pray that people actually refer you – to – Have a script where you ask for referrals at the beginning or the end of your transaction.
I personally believe that the best way to get more referrals is to find people who are in the perfect position to refer you and train them to do that. And then reciprocate!
A friend of mine, Jordan Adler. works with Sendout Cards and is the top guy in the company. He’s developed a website, The Cool Buzz, where he actively trains the people in his network how to reproduce what he does.
Now I know what you are thinking – I’m not selling what he’s selling; my business doesn’t work that way.
Maybe.
Couldn’t you find industry partners who are perfectly positioned to refer you and build a resource center for them where they can see how you qualify people? Or how you deal with objections? Couldn’t you put your material online where they could get to it no matter where they were so they could easily position you with their clients? Couldn’t they do the same for you?
This idea so intrigues me that I am working on a resource center just like this for people who refer me. My website is undergoing a redesign with this in mind. I’ll keep you up to date as this happens.
Meanwhile – this is being done all over the internet. It’s called affiliate marketing. While this may be a bit different, the parallels are intriguing!
Consider putting a program together. Talk to the people who already refer you and see what they think. Don’t take my word for it. Try it!
So Many Sources . . .
Posted by: | CommentsI met today with one of my students who has been in his industry for decades. He said something that I found intensely interesting – he was so confused and suprised about how he was getting business. He recently brought on a younger associate who was flyering and was getting business that way. “I thought that was long dead” he said to me.
It got me thinking – how many of you are confused and surprised about where your business comes from? How many of you are so busy trying to get business that you’ve forgotten to really look and see where your business really comes from?
We spent about a half hour really looking and came up with the following assessment:
General marketing – flyering, direct mail
Telemarketing
Referrals from past clients
Referrals from a specific set of industry partners
I asked him what his strategy was with each and he looked at me blankly. “What do you mean?” I just do whatever comes my way (not an exact quote – just the gist).
Sound familiar?
Imagine what could happen to your bottom line if you put some thought into your general marketing strategy – what tactics actually produce results? And are those tactics habituated or are they only there when you get to them? How could you systematize those strategies that work?
Do you consistently touch base with your past clients and offer them something of value? Are you at the top of their mind when they need what you sell? If not, why not? What could you do to habituate consistent past client follow up? What patterns could you put in place in your daily routine? And are you asking for referrals to people like them? Do they know that you grow your buisness by referrals? Or are you functioning under the hope that because you did such a good job that they are going to refer you in the future? Face it – if you don’t keep yourself in front of these folks, they forget you – they have lives of their own with problems that crop up every day. They aren’t thinking about you. You have to be thinking of them.
Have you identified key industry partners who could be referring you because you are a natural complement to what they offer? Have you considered how you could make them look good? Have you approached them to propose an alliance? Think about the impact of habituating contact with these folks – a steady stream of referrals to your perfect client.
Getting business is not hard. Getting good business is even easier. But you have to step out of the day to day operations of your enterpise and examine what you are doing in order to tap into the opportuinties that are right under your nose.
There’s an old saying in the insurance industry “That worked so well we stopped doing it.” What have you stopped doing that gets you the kind of buisness you really want?
Announcing the LinkedIn® Hands-On Webinar
Posted by: | CommentsIt is difficult to stress the importance of technology for the management of our relationships. We run try to manage with PDAs, laptops, web apps, big and databases. But they all seem to fall short of actually tieing together our CONTACTS in a way the shows our RELATIONSHIPS.
Enter LinkedIn.
Now – I know what you are going to say – There are TONS of social network websites out there in Internet-land and hundreds of tools.
But I think LinkedIn stands apart for a few reasons – especially in terms of Business Development and actively generating referrals:
- LinkedIn is primarily a network of “Trusted Contacts” Which means that you only invite the people you trust to your network – giving you access to the relationship you’ve built up.
- As a permission based network, LinkedIn gives you a place to market yourself and your expertise without being to “Salesy” – a big deal for many people.
- As your network begins to grow – you can actually SEE who your connections know. Granted, your connections must have this feature turned on. Think about this – if you are looking, for example, to talk with partners in law firms, you can browse through your connections connections and see who they know. You can also do a search through your network and see who has second or third level connections. I tend to focus on second level connections – because I can pick up the phone and ask my friends to introduce me. I’ve set many high-level appointments this way. And people who are trained have requested the same of me.
- You meet extremely high quality people you otherwise would have never met. In a world that is rapidly going global, this can make the difference as you position yourself to capture the right kind of business for your enterprise.
To that end, I hooked up with Integrated Alliances out of Denver and am now offering the LinkedIn® Hands-On Webinar(TM) to help people setup and get the most out of their Linkedin Accounts. Check it out.
Combined with the Business Development Intensive training we do, this is a one-two punch for those of you who have large books of business and large networks, but have not really leveraged them fully.
For those of you who have completed our training, this Webinar is a don’t miss!
Raymond Chip Lambert
602-334-7944
chip@network2networth.com
The Fundamental Misunderstanding
Posted by: | CommentsI met with a person from my network yesterday that saw me speak at the Scottsdale Chamber. She is working on launching her management consulting business after a successful engagement with a previous employer.
Obviously she is very good at what she does – or she wouldn’t be stepping into the world of small business.
What I shared with her that I share with nearly everyone I sit down with is that there is a fundamental difference between sales and business development.
One of the most important pieces of any business is revenue generation. Pure sales is the most important activity one can engage in – yet most people I talk with are not comfortable with the process. “It’s so uncomfortable” is the refrain I hear most often.
While sales may be uncomfortable, there are a few things that you can do to make the likelihood of a sale more emminent:
- Be crystal clear about who your perfect client is and is not – Sales people make this mistake all the time. They spend time trying to sell to the wrong people – people without a budget; people who are not decision makers; people who are simply not a prospect. Knowing the characteristics of your perfect client makes your job much easier as you can qualify the people you are talking to. Disqualifying someone is almost as valuable as qualifying them because you don’t waste your time.
- Figure out where your perfect client comes together on a regular basis and be there – there is an old maxim in business: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Just being where your perfect client comes together can do wonders for your sales results. You not only get exposed to prospects, you also can do some important fact finding: what are the issues that your product or service REALLY solves; what does that solution MEAN to your prospects. When you figure this out, you can get into harmony with your prospects and speak their language – not yours. Try it – it works!
- Talk to the clients you already have – It never ceases to amaze me how transaction oriented sales people can be. I learned this the hard way: when you are transaction oriented, you come off like a mercenary. People are wary of mercenaries. Get into relationship with your clients. If you’ve done a good job for them, they are happy to talk with you about growing your business. Don’t wait and hope that they will refer you – educate them about HOW they can refer you.
Business Development on the other hand is a completely different mindset. Not better, not more important – just different.
Sales people miss Business Development opportunities all the time because they are so transaction focused. A caveat here – sales people need to be transaction focused because often they are operating under a quota or goal – I’m not advocating that they stop. What I am advocating is that they begin to develop a parallel mindset of Business Development.
How one approaches Business Development is a bit like the steps above – but with an added eye to creating strategic relationships. Instead of only going for the transaction of the sale, you are looking for introductions to people who could consistently refer to your perfect client. You are also looking for people who could fill holes in your various networks.
Think about this – what would happen if you found three or four key people who could refer you on a consistent basis to your perfect client? What would your business look like if there were no holes in your support system – meaning you could handle more business without dropping the ball? That to me is the beauty of Business Development. It takes a little extra effort and an expanded mindset, but the dividends are remarkable.
Back to the person I was talking with – when we looked, she actually already had people in her network that she could approach to help her grow. I recommended that she book an appointment and ASK for very specific things that would position her to close more business.
I encourage you to do the same.
Now, there is a lot more to this conversation. I’ll be writing more on it as we go.
For now, I encourage you to, at the very least, expand your looking zone.
Raymond Chip Lambert
chip@network2networth.com
And We’re Off
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to the first post on the Network 2 Networth Blog!
Over the next year I will be sharing practical tips and insights that come directly from my work with professionals as they engage in “Deep Business Development”.
I look forward to sharing the journey with you.
There are lots of exciting developments under way and I am excited to reveal them as they unfold.
And – We’re Off!
Raymond Chip Lambert
chip@network2networth.com
