In a previous blog, I talked about how to help people understand what you do in order to help you more effectively; making it easy for them to do so rather than antagonising them.
Once your network understand what you want them to say about you, you then need to focus on who you want them to share your message with. If, for example, you are looking for contacts in the public sector, there is little advantage to be gained if your message is being shared with small start-up companies. [click to continue…]
Just as you need to be very clear on who your ideal referrals are when speaking to your Champions, so it is important for you to think about how you can best help the people you want to refer.
Whereas a referral to a prospective client may lead to just one transaction taking place, one to an introducer could lead to a number of transactions over a period of time, and to long-term partnerships. It may, therefore, be far more powerful for you to refer potential introducers to your network, rather than just clients. [click to continue…]
It was a taste of my own medicine I guess!
For years I’ve been preaching the importance of listening. Not just being politely quiet when the other person is speaking, but really listening. Paying attention. I’ve talked about listening for people rather than simply to them and shared Stephen Covey’s thoughts about empathetic listening.
But listening requires work and practice and it’s easy to get distracted without realising it and fail to listen. As was brought home to me recently. [click to continue…]
Over the years I have run many seminars and training sessions on referrals strategy. I have asked a lot of business audiences where their best and most effective new leads come from and the vast majority will always reply ‘word of mouth’, ‘recommendation’ or ‘referral’. Yet, when I ask specifically for them to describe what strategy people have in place, I am met with blank looks.
On the whole, companies believe that if they deliver good service, their customers will refer them naturally. This is a passive approach, and in reality quality referrals are unlikely to be forthcoming. [click to continue…]
In a previous blog, I talked about how to help people understand what you do in order to help you more effectively; making it easy for them to do so rather than antagonising them. 
Labelled ‘Mr Network’ by The Sun, Andy Lopata was called ‘one of Europe’s leading business networking strategists’ by the Financial Times.