Thank you to Dave Plunkett for writing this brilliant guest blog for us! You can find more about Dave’s business here.
Referrals.
For the vast majority of businesses they’re still the number 1 source of new business. Think about your own business & how much work has come from either networking or referrals. I’m sure it’s probably a good amount.
If not then according to all the stats you’re the exception rather than the rule – which means the opportunity to do more is even greater! Here are 3 tips that, wherever your business is at with referrals, will help you get more from this channel that’s all too often left to chance.
If this seems overly simple then I apologise (kind of), but it is that simple. People love to give referrals (think about how you feel when you make an introduction that goes well) so I believe it’s our duty as business owners to ask. But there’s a good chance, like many other business owners, you’re not asking.
Either because you don’t have the confidence, you don’t know when or how, or you just forget. These are all things that of course need solving, and which ever one may resonate for you is the one to look at in more detail, but for today I want to focus on making sure we ask properly.
Yes, you can use a different tone of voice to suit you and the person you’re asking, and phrase it in all sorts of ways – but you must make it clear that you’d like a referral rather than skirt around the edges of the issue. You also need to make sure you ask for an actual introduction.
There’s no bad referral. But the worst type BY FAR is when someone says “oh, I mentioned you to this person the other day, they should be in touch”. I don’t know about you, but in my experience they very rarely do. So, ask, ask properly, and ask for an introduction.
Step 1 is asking; step 2 is actually getting them. And for that we need to make it super easy for the person who’s referring us to think of someone. We do that by being specific. Even if your business as a whole is quite general, without a tight, specific, demographic niche (SME, or B2B, are not niches by the way) you need to try and be as specific as possible when you ask for a referral. It just makes it so much easier for someone to think of that person, which means they’re more likely to do it.
Yes, there’s a danger that if you’re super targeted the person may not know someone like your request – BUT – the positives outweigh the negatives by far. Let’s say you ask 10 people for a referral. It’s better to be specific, get 7 blanks and 3 firm yeses, then be generalist and get 1 or 2 patchy referrals. It can be different each time you ask, but each time be as specific as possible about who you’re looking for an introduction to. Trust me, you’ll see an upturn in results.
So, you’re asking for more referrals, and you’re getting them because you’re being specific. If you want to get repeat referrals from the same individuals, it’s vital you keep them informed about what’s going on with those they have referred previously. Respond quickly to their introductions, keep them posted on updates, and, whatever the outcome, let them know how it goes and thank them again.
Honestly, there’s no surer way (other than delivering bad service) to stop someone referring you a second (or third or fourth) time then not letting them know what happened with the first.
Ok, so there’s 3 tips for starters for you, There’s so much more you can do, even within these tips, but if you can just start to implement these then I’m confident you’ll start to see a significant shift in results
Dave Plunkett
Founder, Collaboration Junkie
www.collaborationjunkie.com
Connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveplunkett/
Get in touch at dave@collaborationjunkie.com