How are you building your referral tree? Do you receive and welcome referrals? Many have shared they struggle to ask for referrals or do not get many referrals. Others have shared they built their business on referrals.
Here are some things to try that may help. I would encourage you to comment and share your experiences that work for you or did not work so we can all learn from it.
Simply asking a non-intrusive question is a good way once you have a relationship. An example of this type of question can be "Is there anyone you know that could use our services?" If they answer yes, then the next question is "Can you introduce me to them?" With e-mail introductions or LinkedIn introductions it is a simple task to be introduced.
If the person says they do not know anyone just accept it. If the person provides you a name ask if you can use their name. Please do not call on someone and say so-and-so gave me your name if you do not have permission. Read that last sentence again as it is critical in relationship building with your referral tree.
When you attend a networking event, ask people you know if they can introduce you to others they know in the room. Remember, no active selling or promoting your products/services. There is a time and place for that. Be genuine with the introduction, ask for their story and ask if they are interested in your story. Exchange business cards.
A golden rule for building your referral tree: always, always say thank you to the person who sent you the referral or made the introduction. Send them a note to say thank you, either e-mail or actually mail a thank you note. It is not necessary to send a gift card. Yes there are some circumstances where this applies.
Another good golden rule is to update the referral person because most of the time they know you called or have an appointment with the person they referred. Even if the opportunity does not pan out or if you lose the opportunity to a competitor, remember to update the referral person and to say thank you. No sour grapes.
There are no bad referrals. At the very least, you made a new connection, introduced yourself, told your story and introduced your company. Sometimes they will surprise you and even refer you! Sometimes they will call you in the future and consider your services again.
Referrals is about building relationships. Your referral tree does not have to be just people you do business with.
How are you building your referral tree?
Connecting business people to share stories of making new business relationships and creating opportunities.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
5 Obstacles Leaders Must Overcome
This week's blog was inspired by Andy Stanley's book "Next Generation Leader". Five primary obstacles are identified by Andy for leaders to adopt their way of thinking.
1. The Quest for Balance
We have all heard of being well-rounded and knowledgeable in all aspects of our respected profession. However, being a leader, it is more important to have a focus. Focus on your core competencies and build your team to bring the well-roundedness under your leadership.
Defining what only you can do should be your focus and stick to it. My core competencies I focus on are: building trusted relationships, creating opportunities, be a leader, invigorate/energize the team and tell our story.
2. Inability to Distinguish between Authority and Competence
Just because you have the authority, it does not mean you have the competency to lead every single aspect or task. Think about that for a moment. Good leaders need to know where they are competent, seek knowledge if they must, before deciding if they should exercise their authority.
3. Inability to Distinguish between competencies and noncompetencies
Leaders who are successful in some areas feel they can have the same success in most other areas as well. Know your competencies and grow your success in those area. Know your noncompetencies or more often referred to as your weaknesses.
All great leaders know most of their weaknesses and are not afraid to admit them. One of mine is "letting go" as many of you have heard me share a few times as a work in progress.
4. Guilt
This is a very powerful obstacle. Leaders are reluctant to delegate certain tasks they dislike and presume others will not like them either. This is not usually the case.
As a leader, you must learn everyone on your team benefits when you delegate tasks to others that are not your focus or tasks that are out of your core competencies.
I always find myself feeling guilty handing off proposal preparations for pricing and specifications when I can do this myself. It is best to delegate since it is virtually impossible for me to be on top of all the changes happening hourly in our sector. We have a great team that takes care of these type of responsibilities!
5. Unwillingness to Develop other Leaders
Tough one for most leaders to fully embrace. When we get caught in the trap: "If I want it done right, I will do it myself" we have to look in the mirror. As the leader, we must provide the tools each team member requires to be successful, to help them grow and understand the value of their contributions.
Remember your team are the ones who follow us the way we have led them. If there is no one to delegate to, then it is our own fault.
What obstacles do you face as a leader?
1. The Quest for Balance
We have all heard of being well-rounded and knowledgeable in all aspects of our respected profession. However, being a leader, it is more important to have a focus. Focus on your core competencies and build your team to bring the well-roundedness under your leadership.
Defining what only you can do should be your focus and stick to it. My core competencies I focus on are: building trusted relationships, creating opportunities, be a leader, invigorate/energize the team and tell our story.
2. Inability to Distinguish between Authority and Competence
Just because you have the authority, it does not mean you have the competency to lead every single aspect or task. Think about that for a moment. Good leaders need to know where they are competent, seek knowledge if they must, before deciding if they should exercise their authority.
3. Inability to Distinguish between competencies and noncompetencies
Leaders who are successful in some areas feel they can have the same success in most other areas as well. Know your competencies and grow your success in those area. Know your noncompetencies or more often referred to as your weaknesses.
All great leaders know most of their weaknesses and are not afraid to admit them. One of mine is "letting go" as many of you have heard me share a few times as a work in progress.
4. Guilt
This is a very powerful obstacle. Leaders are reluctant to delegate certain tasks they dislike and presume others will not like them either. This is not usually the case.
As a leader, you must learn everyone on your team benefits when you delegate tasks to others that are not your focus or tasks that are out of your core competencies.
I always find myself feeling guilty handing off proposal preparations for pricing and specifications when I can do this myself. It is best to delegate since it is virtually impossible for me to be on top of all the changes happening hourly in our sector. We have a great team that takes care of these type of responsibilities!
5. Unwillingness to Develop other Leaders
Tough one for most leaders to fully embrace. When we get caught in the trap: "If I want it done right, I will do it myself" we have to look in the mirror. As the leader, we must provide the tools each team member requires to be successful, to help them grow and understand the value of their contributions.
Remember your team are the ones who follow us the way we have led them. If there is no one to delegate to, then it is our own fault.
What obstacles do you face as a leader?
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
How Do You Measure Business Opportunities?
This image from Gaping Art inspired this week's topic.
Sometimes we get caught up in the metrics. We track stuff and make reports and not sure why.
Stop and ask yourself:
What are we measuring? What do the results mean? You may find some of these metrics no longer apply and have no relevance to what your goals are.
How Do You Measure Business Opportunities?
Well the first step is define what an opportunity looks like. The qualification stage can be challenging and yet it can be fun. This is where you get to ask all the questions - something I truly enjoy. Questions are asked to determine the decision-making process, the timeline, the budget, what is required, why is it required and what is the goal?
You ask yourself these questions: Does this opportunity fit with your core values and your core competencies? If you proceeded, what could be the risk and what does success look like?
Once you move on to the presenting your recommendation stage, there should be good interaction with the other person. Here you can dive deeper into the opportunity together, build the relationship, establish your expertise and gain their trust.
When the other party understands that you understand what they require and trusts you can deliver, you have a very good opportunity. This opportunity should be measured and noted what made it a good opportunity.
The stage of winning, not winning or the classic "TIO = Think It Over" phase comes next. Keep track of these, note what triggered each of the decisions made. Adjust your game plan and keep tweaking your winning strategy.
When you win an opportunity, remember the implementation, post-opportunity and ongoing communications are key in maintaining the relationship. It is a circle where you should be starting over again and again in the qualification stage of a new opportunity and moving through your process.
Don't forget to measure all your business opportunities!
Stop and ask yourself:
What are we measuring? What do the results mean? You may find some of these metrics no longer apply and have no relevance to what your goals are.
How Do You Measure Business Opportunities?
Well the first step is define what an opportunity looks like. The qualification stage can be challenging and yet it can be fun. This is where you get to ask all the questions - something I truly enjoy. Questions are asked to determine the decision-making process, the timeline, the budget, what is required, why is it required and what is the goal?
You ask yourself these questions: Does this opportunity fit with your core values and your core competencies? If you proceeded, what could be the risk and what does success look like?
Once you move on to the presenting your recommendation stage, there should be good interaction with the other person. Here you can dive deeper into the opportunity together, build the relationship, establish your expertise and gain their trust.
When the other party understands that you understand what they require and trusts you can deliver, you have a very good opportunity. This opportunity should be measured and noted what made it a good opportunity.
The stage of winning, not winning or the classic "TIO = Think It Over" phase comes next. Keep track of these, note what triggered each of the decisions made. Adjust your game plan and keep tweaking your winning strategy.
When you win an opportunity, remember the implementation, post-opportunity and ongoing communications are key in maintaining the relationship. It is a circle where you should be starting over again and again in the qualification stage of a new opportunity and moving through your process.
Don't forget to measure all your business opportunities!
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
How Full is your Plate?
From time to time, it is a good idea to stop and take a look at how much or how little is on your plate. With all the year-end milestones, holidays, happy new years and new years' resolution cliches, this is the ideal time to ask yourself "How full is your plate?"
My plate always seems to be too full and it is my own fault. I wish I could blame someone or something and have accepted it as my own responsibility.
So how do you determine what should and what should not be on your plate? This is up to you to determine your priorities and what you stand for.
My plate should have time and activities for: my health, me, my family, unplugged time (most challenging!), president hat, owner hat, creating opportunities, connecting people, building relationships, community support, volunteer hat and some room for additional tasks.
When I sit and take an inventory of what is currently on my plate, some things need to go. Letting go of these things, I admit, is difficult. A couple of items are still on the plate that should have been scratched off last year.
I have added learning to say no and understanding it is OK to say no. This will help keep my plate just full enough and yet not too full.
How full is your plate?
My plate always seems to be too full and it is my own fault. I wish I could blame someone or something and have accepted it as my own responsibility.
So how do you determine what should and what should not be on your plate? This is up to you to determine your priorities and what you stand for.
My plate should have time and activities for: my health, me, my family, unplugged time (most challenging!), president hat, owner hat, creating opportunities, connecting people, building relationships, community support, volunteer hat and some room for additional tasks.
When I sit and take an inventory of what is currently on my plate, some things need to go. Letting go of these things, I admit, is difficult. A couple of items are still on the plate that should have been scratched off last year.
I have added learning to say no and understanding it is OK to say no. This will help keep my plate just full enough and yet not too full.
How full is your plate?
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