Get More Business Referrals

Membership in a business referral group such as BNI or otherwise developing referral relationships is no guarantee of success. Contrary to common wisdom, the more specific and detailed the referral request is, the more likely it will be fulfilled.

Specific Referrals Trigger Specific Memories

"People aren't computers," says Dr. Ivan Misner, author of the networking book Truth or Delusion? In the book, Misner goes on to explain that when a business person asks for a generalized referral ("I can help anyone with a spine") it forces the listener to cross-check the information against every other person they know to see if a referral can be made. It's not a reasonable task.

Obviously not everyone with a spine would be a good referral, and the listener will rule out prospects subconsciously in an attempt to narrow the list. The narrowing process might rule out a perfectly good referral just because there was too much information otherwise.

What Misner recommends instead is a very specific referral request. If a chiropractor who is part of a business networking group instead asks for, "a person who stands up slowly after sitting in front of their computer for longer than half an hour," if anyone in the room knows someone who fits that description, they will come instantly to mind.

Knowing about Character and Competencies

"There are two things a person needs to know about you to give you referrals," says Frank DeRaffele, director of the ProActive Leadership Center, "your character and your competencies."

• Character is measured by personal interaction and business reputation. Behaving ethically, and doing so consistently, will build an understanding of character.
• Competencies are the things that the business can do. The more stories about solving client problems, the more details about large bundles packages of services, and the more descriptions of good clients that a referral partner has, the more likely that partner will recognize how many good referrals they have sitting in their own database.

Sharing detailed, specific information is much more likely to trigger a referral response with your partners. Is character, for example, better judged by a warm feeling of goodness, or of a story about driving 45 minutes out of the way to give a client their order before they left on vacation?

Avoid Appearing Desperate

Another reason to be specific in your referrals is to avoid the wrong impression. Misner explains: "Saying that you 'do everything' sounds desperate - as though you have to do it all because you're not successful in any one area." There's nothing wrong with having a broad range of products or services, but, "if you sell everything, you're not selling on value; you're selling on price . . . that strategy can work for you - if you're Wal-Mart."

Answer more questions to get more referrals

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