Make the Most of Your Referral Sources

Source: Relationship Marketing Program

In a recent blog entry, Lyne Noella gives readers a list of what they can and should expect from their relationships with referral sources. Excerpts are reproduced with permission.

Information, ideas and friendship:

1. Market intelligence: Don't walk away from a single meeting without having gained useful information from those in the field.
2. Advice and guidance: Lean on your referral sources to provide you with the information, introductions and advice.
3. New talent and resources: Your firm needs unfair advantage in terms of talent and resources. Turn to your referral sources for ideas and introductions.
4. Brainstorming and problem-solving: Engage your referral sources to brainstorm with you.
5. Inspiration and fun: If you have a referral source who does nothing but inspire you to pursue new ideas and ventures, that relationship is GOLD.

New business:

1. Referrals to prospective clients: Okay, here's the goldmine — new clients. Need I say more?
2. Introductions to new referral sources: Do not leave a single meeting without exchanging promises to make helpful introductions.
3. New opportunities: What do you think about an all-expenses-paid week in Melbourne for a speaking engagement — after spending a free week in Sydney? Do you, after speaking, want to dodge crocs in Miami Beach and sand traps at Torrey Pines looking to make par? These are true stories of opportunities I have enjoyed thanks to the generosity of referral sources.
4. A passport to new communities: Each time you meet with referral sources, ask them about the groups and associations they find most fruitful.
5. Creative marketing and strategic alliances: Engage your referral sources to create solutions that add value and opportunities to the marketplace.

To read the entire blog entry, click here.

From Relationship Marketing Program, the blog of Lyne Noella, http://lynenoella.blogspot.com, July 1, 2010, “Top 10 Outcomes to Expect from Referral Sources.”