“Stop Resisting and Start Reaping The Rewards of Referrals”
“Stop Resisting and Start Reaping The Rewards of Referrals”
By: J. Glenn Ebersole, Jr., Founder & Chief Executive of J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group ™
Recently I was asked to provide some expert advice on networking for introverts and I did so in an article entitled, “Networking Tips for Introverts or How to Break The Ice Without Fear of Falling Through.” After completing the article, I thought about the similarity between the introvert’s fear of networking and the fear and resistance of business people to ask for referrals.
Over the past 25 years in my private consulting practices, I have observed that many, if not most, professionals are uncomfortable and resistant to requesting referrals from colleagues, clients, business associates, et al. There appears to be some psychological fear in their minds of what might happen if a request for referral is made. My own observations along those lines are that usually the worst thing that happens is someone declines the request. And maybe that is more than many people can handle since it is seen as rejection.
Let’s look at how one might overcome this fear or resistance to requesting referrals. I would like to suggest four actions to you. The four are:
1. Consider the rewards of referrals for you and your business. I suggest you write them down as a reminder and as a motivator.
2. Change the “ask” from a request for a referral to seeking some type of personal reference or recommendation. This may be more comfortable for you to do than a direct ask for a referral.
3. Become knowledgeable of the communication style of whomever you ask for a referral. Determine if the recipient of your request prefers a direct approach or a softer and less direct approach.
4. Develop the “request” and rehearse it to build up your confidence level in requesting referrals.
My experience has shown that if you have a satisfied client from the advice, services and/or products you provided to them, they are very happy to give you a referral. So, I recommend that you stop resisting and start reaping the rewards of referrals now! And if you would like to learn some proven ways to do that, please contact me through my website at www.renaissanceman4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com .
Stop Resisting and Start Reaping The Rewards of Referrals - To learn more about this author, visit Glenn Ebersole's Website.
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“Stop Resisting and Start Reaping The Rewards of Referrals”
By: J. Glenn Ebersole, Jr., Founder & Chief Executive of J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group ™
Recently I was asked to provide some expert advice on networking for introverts and I did so in an article entitled, “Networking Tips for Introverts or How to Break The Ice Without Fear of Falling Through.” After completing the article, I thought about the similarity between the introvert’s fear of networking and the fear and resistance of business people to ask for referrals.
Over the past 25 years in my private consulting practices, I have observed that many, if not most, professionals are uncomfortable and resistant to requesting referrals from colleagues, clients, business associates, et al. There appears to be some psychological fear in their minds of what might happen if a request for referral is made. My own observations along those lines are that usually the worst thing that happens is someone declines the request. And maybe that is more than many people can handle since it is seen as rejection.
Let’s look at how one might overcome this fear or resistance to requesting referrals. I would like to suggest four actions to you. The four are:
1. Consider the rewards of referrals for you and your business. I suggest you write them down as a reminder and as a motivator.
2. Change the “ask” from a request for a referral to seeking some type of personal reference or recommendation. This may be more comfortable for you to do than a direct ask for a referral.
3. Become knowledgeable of the communication style of whomever you ask for a referral. Determine if the recipient of your request prefers a direct approach or a softer and less direct approach.
4. Develop the “request” and rehearse it to build up your confidence level in requesting referrals.
My experience has shown that if you have a satisfied client from the advice, services and/or products you provided to them, they are very happy to give you a referral. So, I recommend that you stop resisting and start reaping the rewards of referrals now! And if you would like to learn some proven ways to do that, please contact me through my website at www.renaissanceman4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com .
Stop Resisting and Start Reaping The Rewards of Referrals - To learn more about this author, visit Glenn Ebersole's Website.
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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