The ABC Of Business Referral Networking

Business Referral Networking as a marketing tool is as easy as ABC. Don’t believe me? Follow these 3 principles religiously for 6 months and watch your client base - and profits - grow:

A is for Attitude

Attitude is more important than ability. Let me prove it to you. If you were offered £15 commission for every referral you got for your business, could you get 100 referrals this month? You might say yes, or no – depending on your desire and or (perceived ability). Now answer this question: If you were offered £50,000 for getting all 100 referrals this month, could you get the lot? Of course you could.

Enough said. With the right attitude, we can achieve far more than what we are right now. All we need to do is decide to improve our ability – then go out and accomplish this. It applies to networking just as much as sales.

B is for Be Patient

Business Referral Networking is certainly not for the quick fix merchants and not generally responsible for overnight success stories. Go in with your eyes open – do not expect to start making direct sales or even get referrals straight away. It takes time for others to trust you.

C is for Commitment

Part of the trust issue is about showing up at every meeting. Once others see that you are committed to the group, it won’t just be you making all the effort to build relationships. People are not interested in excuses on why you can't make a meeting as business referral networking is about giving business....not excuses.

And make no mistake, it’s about more than just attendance. If you have employees you may have heard of ‘presenteeism’ – where someone shows up at work and goes through the motions without really achieving anything of note. Be careful that you don’t fall into this trap with your Business For Breakfast meetings. Who in your group can you help out this week? When was the last time you went and chatted to someone about their business without trying to sell them anything?

Start thinking like this and before long you will start to reap the rewards. Learn More