Often when we attend networking events, we are allotted time to give an introduction where we tell who we are, what company we are with, tell a bit about our business, and what a good referral is for us.
It’s common practice when asking for referrals to say something like “anybody who needs my service is a good referral for me”, or “any small business is a good referral for me”. It’s even more common for these types of requests to get limited results. Honestly, for example, if you are a plumber and you tell me that anyone needing a plumber is a good referral for you - well, believe it or not I think I’m sharp enough to figure that out, and it really gives me nothing to help you. In essence, you’ve wasted marketing time.
If I’m at a networking event, I am there because I want to help you. Yes, really. Those who know me in the slightest know that my passion is introducing people who need to know each other for the benefit of their business. I love nothing more than putting people together and sitting back and watching good things happen. What would help me help you even more than telling me that anyone needing a plumber is a good referral for you? Telling me specifically who would be a good referral for you! Most will have a response of “I have no way of knowing who will need a plumber, so I can’t be specific”, but is that necessarily true?
Everyone can be specific! I encourage you to sit back and think about who a good referral source is for you. Who has access to the clients that you want? Once you determine what professions those are, it’s your responsibility to determine WHO in those professions are the ones you want to meet. If you don’t know anyone in that profession, it is time to do your homework - whether it’s looking through directories at the library, the yellow pages, or getting online to do some research. And yes … it really is YOUR responsibility to do your homework. You know your business better than anyone else. If YOU don’t know who you need to meet, how do you expect someone who isn’t in your business to know? The more specific you can be, the better your chance of having results is. Contrary to popular belief, casting a wide “general” net is not the key to results.
One other way to utilize the power to make specific referral requests. Many of us in sales make cold calls. Not many like them, but many do them. If you’re attempting to get into a company and can’t get past the gate keeper, what about asking in your networking group if anyone knows the person you are trying to get to? Do you think that with a personal introduction from someone who knows that person, you’ll have better luck? Absolutely!
I’ll be embarking on an experiment in the coming weeks with regard to this. Let’s see if it will pay off. It will be great fun for me, and I’m looking forward to the challenge as well as being able to help someone who has helped me. I’m sure a story or two will result, and perhaps it will inspire you as well. Y’all know how much I love to share stories. :)