Have you ever been frustrated by the return on investment (ROI) from all the networking you do? Do you expect more referrals than you actually receive?
The first question I always ask clients on this topic relates to the quality of “training” they have provided to their referral partners. Do those individuals know how to recognize a good referral for them? They may have listened to your elevator speech more than 20 times and you may have met with them and told them about the features and benefits that you have to offer, but the real question is: How can they recognize a referral for you when one is standing in front of them?
For some professions the telltale signs may be very obvious. For others, it may require a little more thought. For example, when talking to a friend, they bring up how their insurer has raised monthly premiums by more than 15% for the last three years. Having been trained by my insurance referral partner to recognize that this is the ideal referral for him. I am in a good position to make a referral connection.
It is also important to note that people communicate in different ways. This being the case, you want to train your referral partners to better connect with prospective referrals by paying attention to their primary sensory dominance (PSD).
Visual communicators may say things like, “I can see that, “may I paint you a picture?” If their PSD is auditory they will use adjectives and verbs that are associated with sound. “How does that sound?” “That sounds great.” “What other things do you need to hear.” Individuals who are kinesthetic will use adjectives and verbs associated with touch and feel. “That feels right.” “How does that feel to you?”
So if I were a CPA teaching my referral partner how to recognize a referral, here are some of the clues I might communicate to them to help spot a referral for me. You will see, hear of feel the following:
- I am going to have to see if I can find an accountant that can minimize the taxes that I am paying.
- I feel like there is more my CPA could do for me.
- Others tell me that their CPA does not charge for phone calls, does yours?
- I wish I knew more about what the bank is looking for before I submit an application for a loan.
- I’ve heard other business owners say that their CPA is their best consultant, I wish I could say that.
Clearly this is not a complete list. In fact, there are hundreds of things that could lead to a referral. The point is that if the person trying to make a referral for you focuses only on features and benefits, you are not going to get all the referrals you want. By training your referral partners on what to look for, you stand a better chance of getting the referrals you deserve.
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TITAN Business Development Group, LLC
