Did you schedule yourself to listen to the other speakers?
How about the most important? Did you get yourself ready to make a referral?
Seriously, make a list of the people you know that need a solution for their business and make a list of the people you know that can fill that solution. (or make it easy on yourself by joining Inquisix!)
The goal is 1000 small businesses receive 1000 referrals. This is not just about getting a referral but giving one too. Some call it “giver’s gain” but we at Inquisix call it smart.
For example, let’s say your good customer Bob (or Sally or Sanjiv or Fido or whomever your customer might be) told you they were in desperate need of a solution to a particular problem they might have. You run into or connect (on Inquisix!) to someone who does EXACTLY what your customer needs. Now what do you think happens when Bob (or Sally or Sanjiv or Fido) is introduced to EXACTLY what they need by you– your relationship to Bob just got better. Your business just got stronger. Your a networking star (and now Bob or Sally or Sanjiv or Fido will recommend you to anyone they know!)
So as we begin Make a Referral Week make a point to GIVE than GET– you might find that it benefits you more in the long run!
Follow the action on Twitter: add #MARW09 to the end of your tweets!
No we’re not talking about recently passed stimulus bill. Or even a bailout. We’re talking about something more tactile, more visceral– more like an A+B=C.
John Jantsch, of Duct Tape Marketing, and Inquisix have joined forces (with some other amazing sponsors) to promote Make a Referral Week, this March 9-13th. The goal is to generate 1000 referred leads to 1000 deserving small businesses.
It’s tough times. Everywhere you turn negative economic indicators are released, reports on recessionary fears, and opinons on the impact of the economic stimulus package crowd the news. Overwhelming problems and few solutions.
It is time for small businesses to take matters into their own hands. Positive changes in small business can have a positive impact on the economy. Hey, it’s no biggie surprise to the rest of us that small businesses basically drive the economy.
As a class, small business:
represent over 99.7% of employers;
employ over half of all private sector employees;
generate between 60%-80% of new jobs in the last decade; and
produce more than 50% of non-farm private gross domestic product, or a GDP of roughly $6 trillion.
As John Jantsch sees it, “Make a Referral Week is an entrepreneurial approach to stimulating the small busienss economy one referred business at a time. The goal is to generate 1000 referred leads to 1000 deserving small businesses in an effort to highlight the impact of a simple action that could blossom into millions of dollars of new business. Small business is the lifeblood and job-creating engine of the economy and merits the positive attention saved for corporate bailout stories.”
It’s Inquisix’s hope is that this one week further highlights the power of the referral. Referral prospects are less price sensitive, and, as Joanne Black, author of “No More Cold Calling,” points out “[a] referral is pre-sold on you … and [you] get a new client over 70 percent of the time.” We believe that by highlighting the high ROI benefits of referral networking, more businesses will permanently adopt this as a new strategic marketing tool, which will translate into healthier bottom lines. Good for them. Good for you. Good for the U.S. economy.
And for the social media savvy, follow the action on twitter and connect to tweeps partaking in Make a Referral Week (Add the hashtag”#MARW09″ to the end of your tweets!)
John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing has a blog post today regarding the Highly Engaged Referral and the level of participation the person getting referred to is in the referral process. Obviously the higher the participation, the better the referral!
John Jantsch has a great blog post about creating a systematic process for creating referrals that everyone in the company should be using.
You can find the link here. I don’t see anything dramatically unique in his steps but they’re all important and it’s surprising how many people forget some of the steps. Of course his big reminder is to “make giving referrals a business strategy…best way to get is to give.”
He closes with “…everybody’s in marketing…” to which I’d reply, “…everybody’s in sales!”
Everyone agrees that getting referrals to new prospects is so much better than cold calling down that long list that your company provided you. But how do you get started? John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing fame has put together a brief video primer on just this very topic. He focuses on
- defining your value proposition
- who you tell this to
- why you are asking for the referral
In principle I agree with how John suggests you get started even if it seems a bit pushy and low-tech. A vital part of any networking program is to ensure the people you want referrals from understand exactly what you do – ie your value proposition. Sure, your customers probably know that already but what about your friends, family and colleagues? Don’t bore them with a feature/benefit pitch – think of your elevator pitch that gets makes them chuckle and excited about telling other people about you. What do I tell people we do at Inquisix? “We’re matchmakers [pause] for salespeople!” Joanne Black, author of “No More Cold Calling” announces, “I’m the Referral Queen!”What do you tell people so they’re remember you?
