One of my favorite motivational speakers, the late Jim Rohn, must have known something about referrals. He had the ability to speak so plainly and effectively that his wisdom still garners an amazing following and is a core feature of what you can see today online at Success Magazine.
In his body of work he speaks of “The Law of Sowing and Reaping.” Look it up one day when you can as it is a masterful talk.
The “law” he speaks of is so relevant to the whole premise of becoming referable and getting referrals. As it goes, you can’t get a harvest (say the word referrals) without planting the seeds that with time, watering and tending actually produces them.
You see, a referral is the greatest gift someone can give to you as it carries the weight of their reputation being passed into your hands for you to take advantage of when you meet the person to whom you’ve been referred.
Think about it… when I get a referral from you… its not just a lead now but its a real introduction. In doing this, you’ve put “your name” and seal of approval on me and my using your name in my following up with the person you’ve connected me to.
So that means, I’ve got to earn that trust with you and often takes months of tending to achieve. Therefor, like tending a garden, if I want that harvest of introductions and referrals from you, then I need to do the right things to tend the relationship “garden” to grow that trust with you.
Earlier, in another tip, I’ve discussed the topic of “engagement.”
There I reported how its proven that when I build engagement with say a client on a personal level by making it all about them… then there’s a high likelihood they’ll readily introduce me to people who just like them could use my services.
Plant, water, weed and then you’ll harvest
You need to understand, like planting seeds, it takes time and effort for the trust to grow and the harvest to become available. We call that process of building trust the nurturing process.
It speaks to what you have to do to invest into the relationships you’re building in order to earn the right to the referrals. We’ll talk a lot in the future about how to nurture these relationships most effectively in order to get the results you’re seeking.
Yet understand that nurturing is the work that produces the results.
Not every seed will germinate and bear fruit but lots of it will if you embrace the requirement that you “sow” first, then nurture and tend the relationships that will bloom and the results you want are assured.
I’ll always remember coaching an accounting professional who had zero sales experience and was failing in his practice and doubting his ability to continue.
With some real grit, he embraced the process I taught him by stopping with his inadequate sales methods and we worked together on his building a small circle of professional relationships.
He had to operate outside of his natural personality style for a while but he was disciplined and carefully followed the roadmap I gave him.
In about 5-6 weeks he received his first referral who quickly became a paying client. Three months in he had three clients. Then in another 4-5 months he had filled his calendar with paying clients and for the last 8 years now he’s had a waiting list of prospects standing by for when he’s able to serve them.
You can achieve the same results.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a freelancer, an independent coach or consultant or a part of a large sales organization. Just focus on a few relationships, get started and sow, tend and nurture those seeds and you too will enjoy a fabulous referral harvest.
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