<p>As any small business owner knows it’s wise to spend as little money as you can on&nbsp;any leads. One of the best ways to do this is by getting quality referrals from networking. Unfortunately, most people refer to networking as Not-Working.&nbsp; Most of us just don’t receive good contacts or an equal amount of referrals from their word-of-mouth relationship networks. </p> <p>Two of the larger referral groups include BNI and LeTip where small businesses go to exchange weekly referrals. I believe these groups of 20 - 40 people are really good resources and should be used as one of you referral groups. I feel we should include more than one community to build referral contacts. The six most widely used communities are the associations, chambers, rotary (community service), referral groups, religious communities, and now social media networks like <a href="http://www.biznik.com/">www.biznik.com</a> , which has bridged the gap between online social networks and offline in-person events.</p> <p>Effective business networking involves building your referrals from a focused approach that aligns strategic teams with those that can help your business the most. Imagine if you could know how many referrals you are to receive each month, the quality of those referrals, and who you will be sending them to you each month. Having those answers would certainly increase your bottom line 40% which is the average for a first year referral program. For an example of power referrals visit <a href="http://www.powerreferralteam.com/">http://www.PowerReferralTeam.com</a></p> <p>What are the best referral partners to have?&nbsp; There are two types of approaches for finding the right people. The “complimentary” approach is most understood. For example, in the case of a Financial Planner there would be an Escrow Attorney, Certified Public Accountant, and a Property &amp; Casualty Insurance agent working together as a team for cross-referring each other. The other way is using vertical industries working together as business connections. I prefer to use a term “pathways” from the book “Network Your Way to $100,000 and Beyond” by Minesh Baxi. The customer travels down a path during their buying of services and products. For example, in the case of spring cleaning; a roof cleaner, a gutter cleaner, window washer, carpet cleaner, and house painter would be some of the needed services. All of these are an example of pathways for referral partners that can produce predictable referrals for the path of spring cleaning.</p> <p>The way to start selecting your referral team is not difficult. Start by using common sense knowing the people you select will bring added-value to your team with their resources. As a Business Matchmaker I have grouped teams of 4 or more people with a center-focus on solving a consumer problem better, more efficiently and/or less costly than others. </p> <p>Successful marketing can be broken down into four simple activities….</p> <p>1. Identifying prospects that need your solution</p> <p>2. Attracting those prospects to take action and use your product or services</p> <p>3. Converting your prospects into buying customers</p> <p>4. Retaining those customers so they will continue doing business with you</p> <p>Your networking style should compliment your referral partners. The goal is to build long lasting relationships of trust and respect. Once you have established your strategic referral group for marketing, than you can together determine the Tactical Marketing Plan. This plan should include specific approaches to your marketplace to beat out the competition. When you can solve a problem for the consumer either better or faster or less costly than others your business will prosper consistently. </p> <p>As you move forward in business networking take the time to stay in touch with your other communities for prospecting. By working within the framework of referral teams you will have created more visibility, credibility, and most importantly get better results of profitability.</p> 2008-10-13T05:01:14Z -16.5771 630 1936 true 4 18853 the-secret-to-great-strategic-marketing-referrals 3 2008-10-14T18:01:33Z 2008-10-14T18:01:33Z

Effective business networking involves building your referrals from a focused approach that aligns strategic teams with those that can help your business the most.

0 2009-02-24T09:46:32Z