342 - Are referrals important to your business?

"In sales, a referral is the key to the door of resistance." ~ Bo Bennett

I don't know any salesperson who thinks referrals are unimportant.

As the saying goes, learn to ask for referrals and you will never go hungry.

You’ll never get the referrals you don’t ask for, is another saying.

That goes like the saying - if you don't ask, the answer is No.

But there is more than asking for referrals.

People love giving referrals to people they know, like, and trust but many don't know how to refer.

This is why I love meeting with new connections on LinkedIn to get to know them and their business better.

Then I will know who they are looking to be referred to and how to refer them.

Like everyone else in business, my intention on LinkedIn is to do business.

Doing business doesn't mean selling to everyone you meet.

Doing business, at least in my book, is all about building strong relationships and helping others grow their business.

Referrals keep the salesperson from coming across as "salesy".

Focus on helping others get referrals, and they will do the same for you, and that's how you build good business relationships.

When you tell someone about a service or product, tell them about the person you are referring to.

By telling people about a company, you give away the power to refer the person you intended to give a referral to.

It's best to ask permission from the third party for your business partner to call them.

You would most likely agree there is no value in giving a referral the wrong way.

There is also a big difference in giving someone a lead rather than a referral.

A lead is when you tell a business partner, "Hey, you should call so and so, they need your services."

A referral is more like, "Here is so and so's phone number. They want you to call them about your services."

There's a big difference.

Giving referrals is a way of thanking someone who has sent you referrals or with whom you have done business.

Mark Zuckerberg said it best - People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising.

Are referrals important to your business?

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