22/11/2023
Referrals are unlikely to happen if you just have a casual conversation with a potential referral partner.
And neither is the offer of a financial incentive likely to bring referrals flooding in.
So, what do you need to do to make effective?
✅ Have total clarity around who is a good client for you – the type of business, the job title, when they might be looking for what you offer
✅ Look at sectors who dovetail nicely with your business – word of caution here, some professions are not good referrers (DM me for an opinion on that!)
✅ Be clear about who would be a good referral partner – that means do they work with clients in the same bracket as yours?
✅ Talk to them about whether they would be interested in referring clients
When it has been agreed in principle then you need to set up an efficient way of keeping in touch and keeping momentum up:
📈 Lunch and learns – talk about your business, teach them about your services and how you add value to your clients
📈 Joint events with your clients and theirs
📈 Social events
📈 Reviews – how many referrals are they giving you, is it working effectively etc
By all means, talk about how they might want to be compensated, but many companies, especially in professional services, can’t take a financial commission.
But also be aware that just having a reciprocal arrangement rarely works effectively - one party is always better than the other.
So think about how else you might be able to thank them.
Want to talk about setting up a in more detail? Give me a buzz.
