A referral has been defined at connecting someone you care about to someone you trust.  This definition highlights some potential issues that you may have in referring your clients to other service providers, as well as issues that they may have in referring their clients to you.

Since a referral is essentially an extension of our reputation (if it goes well, we look good; if it goes bad, we look bad) many people are hesitant to associate their names with others whom they may not know well, or with whom they don't have an existing business relationship.  That can make it hard for newcomers to get their foot in the door and establish Strategic Alliances that lead to business referrals.

If you've experienced this viscious circle, perhaps you've pondered what you can do to speed up the process.  Before you give up on the idea, I want to share some helpful hints with you.  Business will only come to you when those in a position to give you business know you and trust you.  The logical answer to getting business from your circle of influence faster, is speeding up that process of them getting to know and trust you.  You may be wondering, how do I do that?  Educate Them.

This type of education is an art.  It's not like some lecture class, where you make an appointment with a potential Strategic Alliance and lecture that individual about all you have to offer.  Some subtleties are required. 

Know your pupil.  On a first meeting it's so important to learn everything you can about your potential Strategic Alliance Partner.  This means that instead of presenting your agenda, you have to make their agenda your agenda.  It's important to ask a lot of "who, what, where, why, how" questions to get the other person talking about what's important to them and their business.  Their answers to these questions are crucial to help you filter your presentation down to those items that will have the biggest impact on your counterpart's business.  Through the process of drawing the other person out, you should start to get a picture of what that persons needs are.  When it comes time to address those needs, make sure that you summarize your perception of their needs and ask for confirmation of that perception before outlining how you can help them.  It could be that you missed a valueable piece of information somewhere in the conversation.

You have to peak this individuals interest and then give them layers of information....each layer representing a layer of trust.   If you've done it right, though, you've spent most of the meeting listening, asking thought provoking questions and soaking up your counterparts agenda from his or her comments and answers.  You should leave just enough time at the end of your meeting to clearly outline the products/services that you offer that best meld with the agenda your counterpart has presented to you.  After describing my products/services, I like to ask a question like "How do you think this (insert product or service) can help your business?  You may think that you made a compelling case, but don't assume your message was received.  Your counterpart's answer to these types of questions give you an opportunity to clarify details, but also gives your potential Strategic Alliance Partner the chance to hear himself saying that you offer value to his business.   When this happens, it takes the form of a realization.  If you've been totally selfless and focused on your counterparts agenda, you will have gained a Strategic Alliance without selling yourself.  Instead your counterpart will feel as though they discovered you.  That feeling comes with lots of good will towards you and your business and is a key step on the road to you earning referrals.

At this point does your new Strategic Alliance thoroughly know you? NO 

Do they know all the facets of your products/services?  NO 

Have you educated them about who you are and what you do?  YES

By being 100% focused on their needs and their agenda you have conveyed more to them than you could have by dominating the conversation and giving a thorough explanation of all the aspects of your business.  What you were able to convey by listening and demonstrating a "giving mindset" is the type of business person you are.  That you care about your partners.  Your attitude and demeanor conveyed this.  This same attitude and demeanor will instill a sense of trust in your counterpart.  If you are that willing to support their business, they will imagine you supporting their clients with the same enthusiasm and gusto.

So, is your work done?  What else has to be done?

Even though you've laid a solid foundation, there's a lot more educating to be done.  Remember at this point, your potential Strategic Alliance Partner has been doing most of the talking for close to an hour, possibly longer.  The only thing you've given him is a really strong impression and a general idea of how you can help him.  You need to provide several more layers of information/trust to cement this business relationship. 

To do this I recommend using a Business Summary Packet.  What information should be in that packet?  What information would you like to see from a potential Strategic Alliance Partner?  I like to include a Vision/Mission Statement, a Bio that includes my history and my perspective on my business and Strategic Alliances, a Teamwork Page that lists my existing Strategic Alliances, a Value Presentation outlining all the valuable services I provide, a Process of Excellence detailing how frequently and on what occassions my customers receive contact from me, and lots and lots of letters of recommendation from my clients and Strategic Alliances.  Don't forget to include a link to your blog/website!

By providing all of that information in a Business Summary Packet you are giving your potential Strategic Alliance easy reference to any question he may have about your business and enough information to answer any curiousity about what you do and how you do it.  Hopefully that information is compelling enough to cause them to go to your blog/website where they can get the "deeper levels of information/trust."  Your blog might have a ton of information about you and what you do in it, but I find that it's best to use a Business Summary Packet as a bridge to that information.  If you just hand out a card with your blog address on it, who knows what the topic of your current post will be when this person decides to log on and check your blog.  If the topic on the front page doesn't totally resonate, you may have just lost the connection you worked so hard for.  Don't make people dig for the basic information about you and your business in your blog.  Provide it in summary up front.  This will act as a bridge to your online content where your potential Strategic Alliance can get a well rounded picture of who you are.

Armed with this information you can capture the attention of those you would like to allign your business with and quickly and efficiently educate them about who you are and what you have to offer.  All you have to do now is set up your follow up appointmen and get into the specifics about how you can work together.  I hope this helps you build your business.  Best of luck!

Jason Sanders

Business Networking Specialist