In today's fast-paced technological environment, and with the economy in the duldrums, it seems that people are finding themselves in the "Me first" age. We want things and we want them now, but too often are not invested enough to put in the time and effort it takes to get something. For businesses that means that we want the customers walking in our door, but are not always willing to spend the time, energy, money and "heart and soul" that it takes to get that outcome. Instead, we want to open our doors and have the clients come pouring in. RIGHT NOW. Well, my friends, that very rarely happens. Instead, we must grit our teeth and focus on the necessary WORK, yes work that we must do to get people coming to us.
Who out there hasn't heard of business networking? I'm not talking about cables connecting two computers together, I'm talking about meetings that connect people together. People from different companies, different backgrounds, different niches get together to relax, get to know each other, share their needs and elevator speeches, and most of all -- GET NEW CLIENTS. This last is what we really want and we want it now. Unfortunately, you'll often hear, "I joined XYZ group, but I haven't gotten any referrals yet. I've been to two meetings now, but no one has even talked to me." My question to you -- have you gone up to anyone and introduced yourself? Have you gone over to somebody and said, "Hi. My name is Suzie Que and I would love to know what you do and how I might be able to help you grow your business?" More likely the conversation may have gone like this: "Hi. My name is Suzie Que and I sell widgets. I'd love to have you come buy some from me. They are the best in Smallville." Probably not the best way to network.
Put yourself in someone else's shoes. Do you like being "sold to"? Are you going to refer your client, family or friend to someone you don't know? What if they are dishonest? Have a poor quality product? Don't follow up? If you don't know someone, you don't know what qualities they bring to their company, do you? You're probably NOT going to refer them are you? What is needed here is to know them -- in other words to have a relationship with them. This is not going to happen on the first meeting. You are most UNlikely to get a referral from someone until they know more about you.
In order to do that, you need to get to know them. Follow up after a meeting. Take them for coffee or lunch. Ask them to share with you what they do and why they do it. Everyone loves to talk about themselves and their businesses. Listen, and ask questions. Show interest in what they do. You'll understand more about them and their companies so that you can feel comfortable referring them.
Another issue that is important to understand when working towards producing and receiving referrals, is that these relationships will not grow unless people get to know you. They have to see you at meetings repeatedly, they need to hear you and understand what you do as well. If you only make a haphazard attempt to come once in a while, it will take much longer to get into the groove of getting and giving referrals. Put these meetings into your calendar and BE THERE. Be there every meeting, or at least 80% of the meetings so that people will recognize you, begin to know what you do and the type of referral you're looking for. Be there to start building that relationship.
Once the process starts, it will go both ways and you will see quality referrals coming your way as well. It is only when we drop the "What's in it for me" attitude and start to think about how we can help others that we will start to see referrals coming our way.
