How To Train Your Referral Force

by David Frey
Marketing Best Practices


Are you frustrated because you give referrals to other
professionals in your networking group, but get few
referrals in return?

Or do most of the people in your networking group
already use your product or service and you feel as
though you have no where to go with them?

If so, you'll want to read ALL of this newsletter.

This one idea could be a breakthrough for you in your
referral marketing efforts.

_____________________________

You're Doing It All Wrong...
_____________________________


Most business professionals who attend networking
meetings or who belong to networking groups do it all
wrong.

They go to networking meetings with the intention of
introducing their product or service to people they
meet and trying to close a sale.

That's the wrong approach.

___________________________________

Your Network Is Your Sales Force
___________________________________


When attending your next networking event, focus on
"training your sales force" rather than on selling your
product or service.

Your fellow networkers are usually ready and willing to
refer you business, if they just knew how to identify a
good potential referral for you.

Imagine you were training your own sales force. What
specifics of your business would you teach them to help
them easily identify a great prospect?

That's exactly the type of information you should be
sharing with your fellow networking group members.

__________________________________

Some Networking Do's and Don'ts
__________________________________


DON'T...

Use generalities like, "I'm looking for anyone who is
planning a vacation this summer."

DO...

Use specifics like, "If you have a friend in your
church or who you work with who has been talking about
traveling this summer, I can help them plan the
vacation of a life time."

DON'T...

Come empty handed to your referral meeting.

DO...

Use examples and visual aids to help people remember
your message. For instance, if you sell copiers, bring
some copy paper and show people how many more copies
you machine will produce versus the competition for the
same amount of money.

DON'T...

Say the same thing over and over to your group members.

DO...

Break down your business into the types of problems
that your product or service solves and in each
meeting, focus on how you can solve one specific
problem.

You'll find that you'll double the amount of referrals
you get from fellow networking group members by simply
educating them about the specifics of your business and
what a great referral for you would look like.

_______________________________________________________

Using "Referral Education Cards" to Train Your Network
_______________________________________________________


A simple method for training your referral sources is
to use "Referral Education Cards."

A Referral Education Card is a greeting card that helps
people understand how to spot a good referral prospect
for your busines.

It starts out by saying, "A good referral for me is
someone who..."

Here's a great example of an ultra-effective Referral
Education Card for a local banker.


http://www.TheReferralNewsletter.com/a/good.jpg

(copy and paste the link into your browser)


You'll notice in this card that it specifically states
the attributes of someone who would be a great prospect
for a banker.

This card actually educates the banker's referral
sources on specifically what to look for in a person
who they can refer to the banker.

The message on the inside of this card could say
something like...

"Hi Mark,

I was just thinking the other day that I'm
not totally clear on what a good referral
would look like for you.

If you have a moment, please shoot me an email
with a couple of bullet points explaining what
type of person I should be looking for so I
might be able to recognize a good potential
referral for you.

My email address is David@MarketingBestPractices.com.

I look forward to talking to you soon.

All the best,

David Frey


Notice that this message is focused on your referral
sources instead of you. The card does all the talking
for you so that you don't have to!

I hope you get the idea.

Educating your referral sources is one of the most
beneficial things you can do to generate more
referrals.

So the next time you attend a networking meeting,
remember that you're there to train your sales force!

All the best.

David

P.S. I created this card using a function called
"Picture Plus" in http://www.SendOutCards.com. If
you'd like to see a demo of how it works, just visit
http://www.PicturePlusDemo.com