Building your Referral Team

Surrounding yourself with the right referral partners ensures a long term, sustainable referral network. In order to find the right referral partners we must be on the watch – all the time. Meeting good, solid, trustworthy business professionals is an ongoing activity. It never stops. It becomes a habit.

If you’re in a structured referral network like BNI, you’re always on the lookout for excellent business professionals. Those people who exemplify Givers Gain without even knowing it. Here’s the trick, though, the only way to find those people is to be consistently asking your contacts, and the people you meet, who they know.

That’s the only way.

Here’s the really good news…it’s easy.

Every time you’re on the phone

Ask the person you’re talking to “Who do you know who is a ____________?” I know that it feels awkward. If you phase the question exactly like that, you’ll get an answer. But you have to actually ask the question, and most importantly, you have to remember to ask the question. I put a post-it note on the phone to help me remember. Writing down the question will help you remember.

Every time you’re in a meeting

Ask the person you’re meeting with “Who do you know who _______________?” In a meeting this is a great question since the person will probably ask you why and you’ll be able to share your BNI members. Again, you must remember to do it. (I find writing it down helpsJ)

Every time you send an email (to someone you know)

Ask the recipient, “Who do you know who___________?” And you could let the recipient know that your referral network has business for that person. The hardest part? Remembering to do it.

Using these techniques allows you to easily leverage your contacts without investing additional time. And it benefits your referral network.

All it takes is remembering to do the activity.

Let us know how it worked.