What’s In It For Your Client
What is the value of a reliable and loyal referral source?
When receiving a warm referral, you have an overwhelming advantage over the competition. Unless a business already has sufficient demand for its services, it is crucial to develop relationships with others who refer new clients.
It’s good to have product knowledge, to be organized, and to have competitive prices. It really helps to have just what your client is looking for. Having a team and company behind you to deliver your product or services smoothly and on time is a must. However, none of this is as important as the company’s ability to connect and relate with its prospects and clients.
When there isn’t enough business, fear can set in. If you are struggling to maintain business growth, look no further than the mirror to turn things around.
I have found that others are happy to help me when they know that I care about them. This may sound obvious. But unless a person who has the potential to refer you knows that you care about them personally, they aren’t likely to do any business with you or to send you any business.
“People don’t care about what you want unless they know that you care about what they want.” Sarah Rushton
Sarah Rushton works in the home healthcare industry as an agency owner and consultant. Without a steady flow of quality referrals, home healthcare agencies fail. But her agencies succeeded. As a consultant, she has been able to help agencies with horrendous reputations and track records rise from the ashes to become leaders in the marketplace. How does she do it?
Sarah trains her sales staff to become relationship builders first so that they can become problem solvers and business partners with these potential referral sources later. She teaches her sales force to be patient with results while being relentless in their efforts to build relationships.
Be patient with results while being relentless in your efforts to build relationships.
In the first several contacts with a targeted referral source, the salesperson engages only in discovery. Their mission is to discover all there is to know about the business and its people. Her sales professionals develop the ability to put the spotlight on the prospective referring business and the people in that business. Their mission is to discover what it is that the business is trying to accomplish, the challenges that are getting in the way, and what problems the owners and employees face.
What if you were to do the same? By shifting your focus from trying to convince others to help you by sending you referrals or doing business with you, what if you became interested in what they wanted? Rather than selling the prospect on why they should work with you, what would happen if you focused entirely on getting to know them and the challenges they face? What if you became interested in helping them to solve their problems?
The traditional sales approach assumes knowing what the client and referral partners want from you and your business. Are you just like your competition? Neither are your prospective clients and referral sources the same. As strategies go, this one will definitely set you apart.
What would happen if you set out to discover opportunities to serve your clients and referral sources and did so with integrity and sincerity? By focusing on building relationships in this way, your interest in them will soon pay dividends.
Would you like to brainstorm and create a personal plan for marketing your business using some of these ideas? I enjoy helping entrepreneurs, leaders, and emerging leaders to shift their mindset from frustrated and disempowered to inspired and empowered. Please contact me to see if coaching together is a good fit.
I hope you enjoyed this article and got something of value out of it. I wrote many of my articles before I discovered the Internal Family Systems model and started using IFS in my Spokane, Washington coaching practice.
So now, any strategies that I discussed in the past can be supercharged when we also take into account the principles of the IFS model which include:
Self - which is in the IFS model who you are - your True Self
IFS Coaches use the IFS model to help their clients make changes and get results
I have created an IFS Workbook to help my clients get lasting results
Although I trained with IFS Therapists, I am not a therapist myself. I am an IFS Practitioner and can be considered an IFS Coach which means I can coach you on how to use the IFS model. And I can use IFS in my coaching to help you get the results you want.
