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Referrals for Business Sustainability

Written by: Michael Heah

Article Overview: Referrals are your report cards for business sustainability. Indeed, it is tough to search for new customers all the time, so how can you retain your existing customers?

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Referrals for Business Sustainability



One of my clients has this to say of his business, "I have been in the training and consulting business for the last 8 years and it is not doing well. We are earning just enough to pay salaries and overheads. I have been watching my "next door neighbour" who is my competitor for years. They seem to be doing much better than me.

Embarrassingly, we put in more effort and money in promoting our business , but they are getting better results. Our resources are draining and if this should continue, we may have to close down. What should we do?"

My response to him would be as follows :

"A strategicquestion you can ask yourself is,"How many referrals do you get for your business?" Referrals are your report cards; they tell you how well you are at building the business and business relationships with your customers. Indeed, it is tough to search for new customers all the time. The fact that your competitor is doing well without much promotion and advertisements tells a lot on how they strategically prioritize on "referrals" as a key business strategy.The key to earning referrals is gaining the customer's trust so that they do not risk themselves when recommending others to you. Ensure that your training and consulting services areexemplary and deliver thehighest value. Work on this well and reap the payoffs.

More questions you can ask yourself:

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Home > Business-Coach > Michael Heah > Referrals for Business Sustainability
Article Tags: business strategy, coach, coaching, existing customers, referrals, sustainability

About the Author: Michael Heah
RSS for Michael's articles - Visit Michael's website

Dr Michael Heah is the founder and CEO of Corporate Coach Academy and Corporate Coach in Malaysia. He is also an Adjunct Professor for University Utara, Malaysia. He is the first Malaysian to become an International Coach Federation (ICF) Credentialed Professional Certified Coach. He is also a Licensed Coach-Trainer from the International Coach Academy, another world renowned coaching institution. Academically, he is qualified with a Doctorate and Masters in Hospitality & Tourism and a Postgraduate Diploma in Organizational Psychology, from various universities in UK. He founded the ICF Malaysia Chapter to grow a coach community and the Malaysian Association of Certified Coaches (MACC). He is the author of a unique case-study coaching book, Dialogue with a Coach and a regular writer of a corporate coach column in a leading newspaper. He is also a mentor coach for a number of local universities in the field of coaching and tourism education. Michael is also well known outside Malaysia, notably Europe, North America, Canada and Australia. He has consulted for agencies/bodies eg Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, European Union, PATA, World Tourism Council, Vietnam Tourism Ministry etc.  Contact: +603 62054488

Click here to visit Michael's website
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