Growing a business through referrals may seem abstract, but it was the key driver behind my success. When I owned my franchise, more than 75 percent of my business came from referrals. Referrals were one of the main drivers behind my ability to become a top 10 location out of 200 offices in 18 months.
Since then, in my coaching and consulting business, referral relationships have created opportunities, like speaking gigs, new clients, and podcast opportunities.
Not only does it add to your bottom line, but referred clients are typically easier to close and tend to be of higher quality. They come pre-endorsed through someone who already knows, likes, and trusts you. Referred prospects have a level of warm authority that makes them more likely to buy and more accessible to onboard as great long-term clients.
So, how can you tap into referral-based growth? Here are my top tips:
Build Powerful Referral Relationships
Don’t rely solely on direct reciprocal referrals or sporadic mentions. Strategically nurture connections with influential people in your network who can continually send opportunities your way. Help them in other ways than exchanging referrals if a reciprocal relationship doesn’t make sense.
Making friends and maintaining relationships takes real effort. Your keep-in-touch process can include something as simple as just checking in to see how the other person is doing or a quick, “Catch me up on what you’re doing; how can I help you?” The most powerful relationships you build will do more for your business than just asking people to refer you to new clients.
Make Referring You Easy
To receive more referrals, you must be very clear about your ideal client. This clarity makes it easy for people to refer to you by knowing exactly the problem you solve and who you solve it for.
Paint a detailed picture of the precise problems they face and how your business solves those issues. When people in your sphere come across someone fitting that description, you want your solution to jump to mind quickly. The more you can clarify and visualize this, the higher the quality of referrals you will receive.
Keep It Simple
You don’t need everyone in your vast network to grasp the full complexity of your business. Introduce a few client archetypes representing your best customers. Then, focus on just one persona at a time when networking based on whom you speak with. This approach makes it simpler for connections to understand how to identify and refer to good fits.
Pay to Play
Allocate part of your marketing budget to pay finder’s fees for inbound referrals. Marketing and client acquisition costs are a considerable part of a business’s budget. If you don’t have to go through the time and money it takes to cultivate “cold” prospects, you can afford to pay a referral fee to the person who introduced you to a new client. In my business, there is a 10 percent line item across the board for referrals making sure I always have space in the budget to pay referral fees when people are introduced to me.
Conversely, you can build an entire income line for your business for the referrals you make. I created a resource called Multiple Streams of Income, where I discuss this as a stream of income by thinking strategically and building partnerships that add to both companies bottom lines.
Also, consider investing to join exclusive masterminds and networking groups where you’re more likely to interface with potentially influential connections who could refer you to your avatar client.
The referral game is an extended play focused on building authentic relationships vs quick hits. But the compounding results are worth the investment. Not only is referral business typically easier to close, but you attract great clients pre-sold on your services, saving huge sums on general marketing and acquisition costs. The piece I love about this strategy the most is that it perfectly aligns with my core value: connecting as a human first.
