When you receive a referral, how long do you wait to follow it up?

What are your first steps?

• Call the referee to get more information on their requirements
• Research the prospect to get a feel for their business and possibly personality
• Google??

I had a conversation with a frolleague (a colleague who wants to be your Facebook friend), let’s call her Mary, recently who was surprised that she’d gotten flack from a referral source, Brian, for taking five days to follow up with a prospect that Brian had referred to her. Mary explained that she doesn’t like to follow up with prospects for four or five days because she doesn’t want the prospect to feel like she’s too eager. I told her that she is clinically insane.

When building relationships, it’s always important not to let too much time lapse in the early stages.

Send your prospect an email or phone call within 48 hours. They obviously have an issue and are looking for someone to solve it. You come recommended so that’s already the hard part out of the way.

Now all you have to do is listen. Just find out what their issue is. If you think you can solve it for them at a price that can afford, then organise further meetings. Don’t sell them anything in the first conversation.

I’ve been pricing granite bench tops this month. One company got back to me the next day with a quote. Another company took a week to return my call and yet another week to give me a quote. They were cheaper than the first company, but I wouldn’t bother with them because if they are that disorganised in their quoting, I shudder to think what their workmanship will be like.

Remember, to secure the long-term loyalty of your prospect and convert them into a customer, you must first build a relationship, and that relationship must develop through KNOW LIKE AND TRUST.  This requires you to be proactive.

Always remember to follow up with people, in any situation. There’s a reason people commonly say that the fortune is in the follow up . . . when you follow up quickly, your reputation will benefit, your business will benefit, and eventually your wallet will benefit as well.

3 Follow Up Tips

1. Call the prospect while the issue is still fresh in their mind
2. In the first conversation, don’t sell them anything, just listen and learn
3. Find some common ground. Establish something a little more meaningful so you can move on to LIKE and TRUST.

Santa Claus uses the same method. The Santa that we know and love today is obviously not the same Santa we had 100 years ago, but he sustains the legend by handing on the ‘reins’ to a younger protégé when he retires.

Now, I believe Ivan Misner, the founder of BNI, was actually Santa Claus during the 60’s and 70’s. It was during this time that he developed the idea for BNI. Think about it for a moment. Only someone who has actually been Santa Claus could create a business with the motto ‘Givers Gain’.

This is the only logical reason.

He knew the true value of helping someone in the business world. The best favour you can do a business is to hand them a strong referral and this is the core of BNI. We all come here to meet the wider networks of the other people in the group and in turn, offer ours. In addition to that, we help our own network by being able to recommend the quality services of the group.

What’s a good referral?

For example – Cara was looking for packaging companies. I know the guy that runs Logan Packaging. I could have handed her a referral last week, but a better referral was for me to call Mike at Logan Packing and find out whether Cara’s services would be of interest. I can sell him on the idea before Cara even meets him. It’s a far more solid lead than just handing over a phone number.

So, before you hand over a referral, ask yourself, “what would Ivan do?”

• Would he make sure it’s a solid lead first?
• Would he make a few calls first to warm it up
• Would he know if they’ve been naughty or nice?

When it comes to referrals, always go for quality over quantity. Don’t be like my Nana who prides herself on buying the cheapest presents and bragging about it on Christmas day. A dud lead is like opening a brown skivvy that’s two sizes too small. Yes, it’s a present, but it’s a shit one and a waste of time. Nan!

So to complete my Santa Claus theory, I’m almost positive Ivan handed on the reins of Santa Claus onto Elvis. Elvis is not really dead as many people suspect. He just got a new job.

The people in this room are your sales team. When you only have 45 seconds per week to train them, you need to get to the point, and quickly.

Often, we concentrate on explaining a different aspect of our business and run out of time to tell the group what exact referrals you are looking for.

We have to listen to about 30 infomercials each week while trying to eat breakfast, order coffee, pass the business card box around and think of our own witty one liners to throw in. If you don’t give us something specific to latch on to, we may not think of you again until next week

Tell us the specific person, business or industry you need to meet this week. This will immediately narrow our mental filter to begin thinking of matches for you.

Be careful what you wish for because, chances are you just might get it. If you are not specific in your requests, we may go looking for referrals in the wrong place or not even know where to start.

Brisbane only has about 2 degrees of separation. If you mention a specific person or business, there is a high chance someone in this room can introduce you.

Try centering your infomercial on the referrals you are seeking. Today, start your infomercial with “This week I’m looking for”.