Referral Marketing: SCARY Networkers!

Happy Halloween!!

Today for my BNI meeting, I dressed up as a Scary Networker! I incorporated the concept into my commercial for the day. Basically, I was dressed in all black with a black hood that had no face! I could see out, but no one could see in!

Scary networkers are everywhere!! Here are 10 things to watch out for:

1. They often have no face ... because you can't really understand what they do in their business or who they serve

2. They're in your face and totally focused on selling you their product or service

3. They're passing out their business cards like it's candy on Halloween

4. They don't make eye contact

5. For them, it's all about the food and adult beverages

6. While talking to them, they're constantly looking past you to the other people in the room who seem to be more interesting

7. They talk and talk and talk and talk all about themselves

8. They're usually the ones sitting during open networking

9. They're practicing the hummingbird technique of fluttering around collecting cards from everyone in order to scan them into the spam database

10. Their hand shake is slightly better than that of a zombie

Beware out there! Scary networkers are everywhere!

Do you have any tales of encounters with these types of networkers?

Referral Marketing: Leveraging Testimonials!

How often do you ask your clients for testimonials?

Is it a standard component to your sales process? If not, it should be.

I discuss the importance and creative uses of testimonials in my course, Certified Networker. It's always interesting to me to see how my graduates apply the information that they learn.

Today, while having breakfast, I browsed through the new gift catalog for Palate Partners & Dreadnought Wines. Deb Mortillaro & Mike Gonz (owners) are both graduates of Certified Networker. I was very impressed with their catalog ... and especially the use of testimonials throughout the catalog!

Here's what they did that'll increase the impact of this one marketing piece:

1. They included multiple testimonials throughout the booklet

2. The testimonials nicely reflected the multiple services that they provide (corporate gifts, personal gifts, delivery, specialty wines, wine of the month, etc.)

3. The testimonials represented clients from other cities (noting that they serve a much bigger audience than just Pittsburgh)

4. The testimonials even reflected large clients, such as "O" Magazine (Oprah's group)

The next time you get a testimonial from a client ... consider how you can leverage it in as many creative ways as possible!

Canishing!

One of my favorite past times is "canishing"!! That's when I combine canoeing and fishing together for the best of both worlds!

This past weekend, it was a beautiful fall day in North Western Pennsylvania ... absolutely perfect for canishing! We spent nearly 5 hours on the water ... catching a few fish here and there, but mostly fully enjoying the day and the time spent with family.

People often ask me ... "Why do you like fishing so much when so often you don't catch any fish?" If you're a true fisher-person, you know that it's not all about the fish! It's about the experience of being outdoors, the challenge of not knowing what's beneath the waters, and the time spent alone or with favorite people in your world. Professional fisher-people know how complex fishing is because every fish is different and every fish requires different bait. When you add into the mix the time of year, the temperature & clarity of the water ... and so much more ... the factors playing into your success are mind-boggling.

What factors go into your success with referral marketing?

1. How well you select your referral partners ...

2. How much you give to your relationships ...

3. How effectively your train your referral marketing team ...

4. How well you know what motivates your referral sources ...

5. How focused and disciplined you are with your efforts and strategies ...

The list is probably endless ... equally as complex as fishing! The one thing they both require for ultimate victory ... is patience!

No Pain, No Gain!

I've finally made the commitment to get back in shape. (No, that's not me in the photo!)

So far, so good. I decided that to jump start my "program" and establish a routine, I would hire a fitness trainer. I hired someone that I've known for about 5 years ... her name is Kathy Evans Palmisano. Kathy is the right fit for me. I prefer free weight training and Kathy is a retired body builder. We click on multiple levels and I fully respect her advice, insight, and expertise. And, because of this respect, I allow her to push my body ... no pain, no gain.

After just 7 sessions or so, I'm noticing results ... most impressively right now in my strength and endurance!


But ... here's the main point. I made the commitment, I found someone to support me, I schedule regular appointments, and I'm seeing results! Imagine if you took this same approach with a referral partner? What if you made a real commitment to them and scheduled regular appointments with them? What if you added in a layer of someone to support you ... an accountability partner ... someone who would ask you "Have you scheduled your meetings with your referral partner this month?" What would this do for your referral results?

I anticipate that after 3-4 meetings or so, you would start to see noticeable improvement in not only the quantity of referrals but the quality of the referrals given both ways.

Remember, no pain, no gain! If you don't give your referral partner your time, you'll never reap the full benefits of the referral relationship.

Memorable Plumbing

Several days ago, while driving in my truck, I noticed the side of a box truck that said, "Don't go to bed with that drip tonight!" It was Terry's Plumbing and that was their tag line plastered on the side of one of their trucks.

That one phrase stuck in my mind. Everytime I think of a memorable tag line, I think of that one! It's great! It's tactfully humorous and directly links to what that business is all about ... plumbing. It made me laugh and more importantly, it made me remember them.

Today, I saw another good one ... again on the side of a truck that crossed in front of me at the end of my driveway. The business was "Tall Timber Experts" and it said, "A cut above the rest!" I liked it ... I wrote it down ... and coincidently, I need a tree expert to fell some dead trees in my yard. I'll most likely give these guys a call for an estimate.

If done well, statements like these can really work to help people not only remember who you are but what you do.

If you have a good one or have seen or heard a good one ... I'd love to hear it!

Football Season!

Okay, I'll admit ... I'm a football fan. More specifically, I'm a Steeler fan!! I've been a Steeler fan since I was a kid in the prime of Steeler history. Lynn Swann was my favorite player ... I even have his autograph. In college, I participated in a Steeler tailgate party when my college marching band was asked to perform for the crowd. If memory serves me right, it was the year there was a football strike.

Anyway, football is a very complex sport. [Yes, they get paid way too much money ... but that's not a discussion for today!] One of the complexities of the game is each team's playbook. The playbook needs to be memorized by the team players. Some players need to memorize plays for multiple positions! One thing's for certain ... every team has a playbook and wouldn't even begin the season without one.

Do you have a playbook for marketing your business for more referrals? Some businesses take the time to map out their plays for the year in their business plans, marketing plans, development goals, and sales goals. However, very few businesses or business professionals develop a referral marketing plan (or networking plan) for the year. This produces more and more people practicing networking in a haphazard manner rather than using a calculated, strategic approach.

Imagine your favorite football team approaching the season in a haphazard manner ... reacting to what comes at them instead of proactively producing their results. As far as I can see it ... there's not much difference in how you approach your referral business!

2008 is around the corner ... will you continue your haphazard approach?

The Dating Game!

The first date ... oh what a wonderful rite of passage! Remember the awkward feeling of not quite knowing what to say or what to do or exactly how to act? The anxiety in the air was thick as pudding! Little voices of doubt were screaming in your ear ... "Will he/she like me? Will I make a fool of myself? What if I say something stupid? Will I make him/her look like a fool? This is so uncomfortable!"

This week in my Certified Networker course, we were discussing recruiting and qualifying a referral partner when someone said ... it's kinda like dating! The more I thought about it, they were right ... and on a much bigger scale as well.

Think about how awkard the relationships are in business when you first meet people. As you develop relationships into referral partnerships, there is a stage of anxiety as well. Your referral partner needs to gain confidence in referring you. The little voices in their heads are shouting nearly the same things as mentioned above! The weight falls on YOU to build their confidence. You need to dedicate the time and energy to train your referral partner on how to best refer you. You need to make it easy for them ... if you don't, quite frankly, the little voices will win ... and their anxiety will keep them from talking about you in a confident manner ... thereby significantly minimizing the referrals you will gain from that person.

So ... consider finding referral partners like dating. Choose the right person ... get them past the awkward stage ... ease the anxiety ... ultimately the relationship will become comfortable and to the point of completing each other's sentences.

Excellent Expo!

I spent the day on Saturday at the "Day of Empowerment Expo for Women" hosted by Single Step Strategies. Single Step Strategies is the brainchild of Mary Grace Musuneggi, owner of the Musuneggi Financial Group in the South Hills of Pittsburgh.

Mary Grace created Single Step Strategies based on the desire to help women in life transitions ... women exactly like herself many moons ago. You see, Mary Grace found herself an unexpected widow when her young husband and father of her new baby did not make it to their destination for the holidays due to a horrible car accident. In that instant, Mary Grace also found herself as a single mom, gainfully unemployed, and unprepared to carry on her life without her husband. She needed support and had to work very hard to find it!

Mary Grace new that when her success would provide her the opportunity to create Single Step Strategies she would provide a valuable support network of resources for women, helping to provide a place where women in those transitional moments in life could easily find the support they need. The Expo is an opportunity for women to explore the resources available.

This year, Mary Grace invited me to be one of the three keynote presenters for the Expo. It provided me with an opportunity to help women looking to grow or start a business by providing them with key information related to smart, strategic networking. It was a wonderful event and proved to be very beneficial to me.

Mary Grace has touched the lives of many women in multiple ways. Regardless of any immediate benefit to me, I am a committed supporter of Single Step Strategies. I support Mary Grace's efforts because she is authentic, she lives her passion, and she is a true giver.

I'm a raving fan! What do you have to do to create raving fans?!

Thank You Etiquette

This afternoon, I presented the second session of the "Referral Rainmaker Series" to a group of Northwood Real Estate agents. The main topic today was how to effectively ask for referrals from clients. We spoke about WHEN to ask, HOW to ask and WHAT to say. We spoke about where the relationship needs to be prior to asking.

At one point, we began to speak about following up with clients and how to do that effectively as well. Naturally, many people follow-up with some kind of thank you card. All too often, inside that thank you card is a business card!

Thank You Etiquette Rule Number One: Never include your business card in a thank you card!

Why? Because in one act of ignorance, the focus is shifted from THANKING your client, to SELLING you and your services! Not good ... not good at all. There is absolutely no need to include your business card in a thank you card.

Stop selling ... and start authentically thanking your clients. Watch the impact it has on your referability!