In a follow up to a recent blog post on "Giving Referrals", Thom Singer talks in this episode about how to get referrals. Getting referrals is key to any entrepreneurs growing their business.
As a professional speaker most of Thom's clients come from referrals. While he conducts outbound sales campaigns and works on SEO, almost all his business comes from word of mouth. This is the life blood of most small business people.
Thom has recently joined a business group in Austin called BAP (Business Advisory Professionals) which is made up of some high quality people in a variety of industries that serve local and national clients. This is a structured referral group, but it is more than that - it is about relationships.
Relationships are key to getting referrals. If you want more business from referral sources, you need to cultivate meaningful connections.
Thom also talks about a book called " Renewable Referrals" by Joe Stec (and others) about this topic of creating partner referral programs that work. Joe is a BAP member who has a marketing agency, and a new friend of Thom's.
5 Tips for Getting Referrals
1. Give Referrals. And just give in general. Helping others achieve their goals will set the tone and others will want to help you, too. If you cannot remember the last time you sent a referral, why would you expect to ever get one?
2. Be Active in your Community. If you are the best kept secret in your city, you will go hungry. You have to show up if you want to be top of mind.
3. Respond, Follow up, and show gratitude.
4. Be Great at what you do. You have to do good work if you want people to sing your praises.
5. Ask for Referrals. If you do not remind people that you are seeking new opportunities, they may not come to that conclusion on their own. Let them know you want to work with other cool people.
https://thomsinger.com/podcast/getting-referrals
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