Is your referral network working this year?
As we approach the end of February, it may be a good time to reevaluate the effectiveness of your referral network. How many referrals have you sent out this year and where have they gone? What are the sources of the referrals you have received? Do you need to restart your referral program?
If you need a role model for creating an effective referral network, subscribe to the blogs of mortgage broker Joe Petrowsky. His goal is to pass out a minimum of two referrals each day. Visit his blog at this link to see how he plans to allocate those referrals this year:
How Many Referral will You Pass Out in 2014?
Hopefully, you already have a business network that provides continuing relationships with leaders in a number of business categories. Your regular referral contacts should include accountants, real estate agents, home inspectors, insurance agents, home stagers, web developers, bankers, mortgage loan officers and others. You need to know the owners and managers of the local businesses that you use on a regular basis and you should be blogging about them.
Surrounding yourself with a strong referral network will improve your reach and will allow you to pay it forward with long term relationships. One of your continuing goals should be to send a stream of referrals to sources of future business.
If you have been referring prospects and have not received referrals in return, it is a good time to have a referral discussion with each of your business contacts. If they are not seeing you in person on a regular basis, you may not be at the top of their minds. And, if you have not asked for referrals on a regular basis, they may not understand your expectations.
Helping others build effective referral networks may be the best path to the success of your own referral network.
Azaleas, Kentlands, Imagination IMG_8621
Photograph by Roy Kelley
Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs
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