Thursday 17 August 2017

Referrals for Profit - an 8 point plan

By Adam Manning

How can I make more money? 

That is the burning question that ignites interest in joining networking groups such as BNI, the world’s largest business networking organisation.

Making more money for your business is straightforward in BNI terms – you do so by having more referrals.  The more referrals a business networking group has for its members, the more money the members will make.

So – how do we get more referrals? Receiving referrals relies on other people giving referrals. So in turn, the question is; how do we give more referrals to fellow members?

Givers of referrals can be thought of in three categories:

Reactors – A reactor immediately responds to a need directly expressed by someone.  For example, you may meet someone who is excited about organising their wedding and wants to talk to an experienced wine dealer for the best wines to accompany their celebratory meal.  If you have a wine dealer in your group, you can recommend them and hopefully this will become a referral for that member.

Promoter – Here, someone has expressed a general need but has not put it into specific terms. A bit more imagination and empathy is needed on your behalf to find the referral. For example, if someone mentions they are getting married and are in the throes of making all the arrangements, you may suggest, do you know a good wine dealer? Or possibly a caterer, events organiser or entertainer? Or more – people getting married usually needs lots of services. This is like a Reactor, but involves taking that further step in creatively finding referrals.

Creator – This is really making it happen. An example here might be a wine dealer at your meeting who says they want to speak to an event planning company. A Creator goes and finds an event planning company and puts them in touch with the wine dealer; this maybe someone they already know, have done business with and so forth.  The Creator proactively makes connections between business people.



A classic example of this is where a BNI group included an insurance broker who was really keen to speak to landlords of buildings about their insurance. Another member knew they regularly drove by a large building and one morning decided to go in there and speak to the owners about their insurance. In the end, they made the connection between the landlord and the insurance broker, their fellow member, and this ended up as a great referral.

A networking group works best if there is a good mix of all three approaches.  Whilst creating a referral like the example above is exciting, it’s important not to neglect simply reacting when someone expresses a need that you know a fellow member can respond too. A good member will be using all three methods of increasing referrals.

BNI works in part because we all have an unused capacity to sell.  If I just restrict myself to promoting my services as a Solicitor, my opportunities to do so can be rather limited.  If on the other hand I have thirty or so businesses that I am seeking to promote, my opportunities to make a connection between a provider and a customer or client are greatly enhanced.



Ideas to increase referrals

To apply this theory in practice, the following are some suggestions of actions we can make to increase referrals.

1. Open your mind to opportunities that are always around you and be ready to act! A BNI group is full of exciting networkers who make things happen. Go and do it.  I’ve found in BNI that there is a satisfaction and excitement from simply making a connection between business people that wouldn’t have taken place without your intervention. Giving someone a great referral that could possibly take their business to the next level is a wonderful feeling.

2. Share details of the business people are looking for.  For example, every week members at a BNI meeting mention who they would like to speak and the more specific they are, the better. Write this down and share it with your colleagues at your business – you never know who knows someone.  Most groups have a contact list to jot this information in; scan it in and email it to your contacts in case anyone can help.

3. Bring along guests to your meetings – colleagues, family members, friends, clients, customers. Think of these as potential substitutes as well.  They may know other contacts which can help members in your group.

4. Wear your BNI badge or carry a BNI bag.  It’s a well known brand and someone you meet may surprise you by asking or knowing about it, which can lead to a referral.

5. If you have an office, shop or other premises, have a business card holder in reception or a waiting area or similar with the cards of the members.  Visitors can either take the cards or it can be the focus needed to start a conversation that leads to referrals.

6. Developing this idea further, have a business card board in your premises for visitors to take cards from or note contacts that you have.  Again, it can also be the focus of conversations and discussions that can lead to referrals.  We’re having one put up at Gurney-Champion & Co. Solicitors!

7. One great idea uses LinkedIn, which many members of your group may be on.  LinkedIn is a useful way to promote your business and networking group.  More specifically, one idea is to look through fellow members’ lists of contacts and see if there is anyone amongst them that you would like to speak to.  This could be a great way to be introduced. I have heard that some people do this by focussing on one fellow member each week when reviewing their contacts.  You might find someone you want to add as a LinkedIn connection as well.

8. Keep doing the BNI way! Everything in BNI is ultimately about more referrals – the 121s, inviting Visitors, the presentations; all of it. Throw yourself in and enjoy your business networking.

Always remember the BNI principle of GIVERS GAIN;  if you give lots of referrals, you will receive in return.

So, you have no excuses now – get out there and make it happen!



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