Summary: Today we are going to talk about 9 Tips for Inspiring Referrals. Getting new clients can be one of the biggest challenges in building a business; however, leveraging the power of referrals can dramatically reduce the expense and energy of building your client base. Many businesses focus on the externals of inspiring referrals, so we’re going to focus on the internals. As you know, you are the hub of your business - it can only be successful to the extent you are willing to grow and learn. Before you can inspire referrals, it’s important to get clear on the basics: Tip #1: Get Clear and Focused Ever run into someone at a networking event who seems confused or vague about what they do? They’re either not clear (or can’t convey) on what exactly they do or whom exactly they can help. Before you can inspire referrals, you must get very clear and focused about what you specifically do and for whom. Tip #2: Establish Expertise You don’t have to be the best in the industry; you have to be the best at what you do. Establishing expertise is much easier when you focus on doing what you do best. Find that thing you do that no one else does and leverage it by marketing it when you ask for referrals. Tip #3: Know Who You Love Working With To spark inspiration in others, you must be authentically passionate about whom you love to help. When you love your clients, the passion will show in your dialog and expressions, inspiring others to refer clients. Would you rather refer clients to someone who appears drab and bored with their business - or someone who appears genuine, passionate and capable? Tip #4: Know Your Ideal Clients In order to serve your clients to the best of your ability, you must know them - inside and out. What drives their passion or purpose? What makes them tick? What are their biggest challenges? How do you specifically solve them? How do they spend their leisure time? When you know your ideal clients, and can authentically relate to them, it’s easier to describe them to the network connections that can send you referrals. The idea here is to grasp a broad snapshot of your ideal clients. Tip #5: Describe Your Ideal Clients in 10 Words or Less A unique, genuine and concise client description will inspire referrals. Knowing your clients on the deepest level (as we discussed in tip #4) is only one part of the process; the other is being able to clearly and concisely describe them. Follow this 4-Step Exercise to create a unique and genuine description: 1) List the most noticeable qualities of your ideal clients (qualities that anyone who knows your ideal client will easily recognize). 2) List the qualities you love about your ideal clients. 3) List specific problems of your clients that you solve with your expertise. 4) Finally, bring it all together by circling keywords from each list (1 through 3) and creating an Ideal Client Description in 10 words or less. An online resource and exercise to help you create or update your Ideal Client Profile is available at https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/inner-circle-store/. This exercise and many other resources are available under the free Silver Membership. Use this online exercise to help you get clarity. Tip #6: Make the Referral Process Easy Make it easy for people to refer clients to you by creating a system that manages and tracks your referrals. It doesn’t have to be technologically advanced; it just has to be a reliable system that is followed every time. Whether the referral process is tracked manually or by software, the important thing to remember is to keep the process easy. Make it easy for people to send you referrals - make it easy to payout their referral fee, if there is one. The key is that the system is easy, consistent and reliable. To download my complimentary referral tracking spreadsheet and help you increase your revenue, go to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/referral-tracking-workbook/. Tip #7: Consider an Automated Refe
