Do you find yourself wondering when all the effort is going to pay off and your business will start overflowing with profit? Most all business owners in the growth phase feel doubt and fear about where the business is going to come from. The most successful get really strategic and do more WOM. Just last week, I was sitting near the front in a meeting, and a guy stood up with the mic in his hand and said, "Hi, my name is Shawn. Uh, it's been three years since my last......cold call."
And he went on to discuss the overwhelming benefits of transitioning to the WOM approach, aka Word-Of-Mouth, or Referrals-based marketing, for growing a business. This particular meeting was about a specific referral organization (see below), but regardless of your organizational memberships, there are 3 basic steps to growing your business through WOM:
1. Meet With People
Be strategic about who you spend your time with and how you structure your schedule to include meetings. Meet new people at mixers, chamber events, civic organizations, community groups, etc and ask new and existing contacts to meet with you for 30-60 minutes. Make the time to meet with interesting people that will diversify your contact sphere both personally and professionally.
2. Build Trust and Credibility
Ask the people you meet, "How can I help you with your business/career?" Listen and genuinely aim to help them. The "Givers Gain" philosophy is not only the mark of a great person, it is the key to success in business and a life worth living. Although not everyone will ask you right away, be sure to have the answer ready for their reciprocal question (how can they help you?). Doing for others first not only feels great but they will probably WANT to help you...
3. Ask For the Specific Referrals You Want
Make sure you are truly specific when asking for introductions to your target market(s). I like to say that the human brain works like a Google search- when you put in specific search criteria, you get more specific results. If you say you want to do business with "anyone with hair" or "people who need financing" this is not going to produce actual names of people...whereas asking for people who belong to Lifetime gym, or shop at Whole Foods, or are talking of career change, or have children ages 5-8, or have a toupee or a combover,etc...(Ha! gotchya, you were thinking of people you know, weren't you?) - WILL produce specific names that people can give you for referrals.
**For the most manageable, luxurious, professional results: Thoroughly work it through. Reflect. REPEAT.
I professionally recommend membership in BNI, Business Network International (www.bni.com), due to the extremely effective system they offer: member meetings, education, support, and accountability, as well as The Referral Institute (www.referralinstitute.com). I have been a member and in leadership of BNI since 2008 and a participant with RI since 2011.