Referrals makes your sales life easier for you, but how do you bring about referrals to your business?
Referrals can come from various sources; from customers, centers of influence, or even partners. Generating referrals entails hard work and serious dedication and Networking is the normal approach: organizing luncheons, hosting events, coffee dates, and even calls. And with the rise of the digital era and social media platforms, you can now easily connect with even more people.
The challenge is that quality connections are rare. You often interact with people who are really nice and interesting, and they may even be connected to your industry, but that doesn’t mean they will ever generate referrals for your business.
Most networking is a waste of time. Attending networking events and meeting lots of people rarely generates the results you’re looking for.
A Simple Strategy to Generate More Referrals: Networking High
Networking high concept is based on the Influence Curve model. The influence curve model lets you understand an organization’s influence in the buying environment. With the buying environment in mind, your best referral partners are the ones above you or those that create the reason you are selling your product or services, because they are the ones that create the biggest opportunity for you.
Ask two questions to generate referrals consistently:
- Who are the companies or services that come before you?
- Who are the companies or services that follow you?
You want to look both up and down the Influence Curve. Your source of referrals are above you. For instance, construction comes before a landscaper, and a real estate agent services comes after any land development.
When you identify the influence curve and the buying environment that you belong with, you can focus on developing a proper marketing strategy. A few good referral partners above you on the Influence Curve will outperform a thousand general connections.
As an effective networker, you also want to give. Who are the people or companies that follow your services?
Working below you on the Influence Curve has two benefits:
- Better customer experiences. You can serve your clients by guiding them to the right partners they need to grow their businesses.
- Givers Gain. Generous networking always pays for itself. Partners below you on the Curve may not reciprocate in referrals, but they may offer you something even better. It’s the magic of reciprocation.
A Referral Is Golden
Quality referrals makes life so much easier. You create good impressions and build better relationships. You know when to connect with a customer. You become relevant to your customers. And the endorsement you get from a trusted partner becomes your trump card. You really can’t ask for a better situation.
Referrals are your best source of customers only if you know how to connect with the right people. Network high lets you generate referrals more consistently.