Keep Your Referral Partners Top of Mind

Participation in a referral network means that you agree to do your best to recognize referral opportunities for your referral partners. And they will do the same for you. To work most effectively, this approach is best defined as Givers Gain. And more than just the slogan for your referral organization – it’s actually a business style.

Not everyone does business on the premise of “what goes around comes around”. It’s an unique attitude and those business people who have it are those who enjoy connecting two people who can offer mutual benefit to each others’ businesses. It’s kind of like being a matchmaker.

In order to be a successful matchmaker we must have our referral partners in mind all the time. Because you never know when an opportunity will arise.

So how do we do that? We all have hundreds of things going on in our lives all the time. How do we add “remember referral partners” to the list?

Here are a few techniques that might help.

Every Monday morning check your weekly schedule

Take just a couple of minutes to see who you’ll be meeting with this week. Can you connect any of those people to a referral partner? If you can, make a note to do so. This technique alone may provide 2 or 3 opportunities to promote a referral partner.

Take notes at your referral meeting this week.

At www.bnigh.com you can print a list of all your members with a space allocated to each for note taking. Print it and take notes. Not necessarily copious notes about every single member, but jot down a couple of things that you can do for a member based on what they’ve asked for in their infomercial. Then refer back to those notes when you get to your office and do what you jotted down.

Book BNI time.

Every successful marketing program takes implementation. Your BNI referral network is no different. Schedule 30 minutes every week (actually block the time on your calendar), look through your BNI card caddy and think about who you can help. Decide what you can do for that person – and then do it. A last tip is to transfer your weekly speaker’s business card to the first, top sleeve in your card caddy to help you think about that person in particular.

Referral opportunities don’t happen magically. (Boy, I wish they did!) They take planning and doing. But when you find them – they sure can create magic.

Share your best “how I think about my members” tip with us.