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A Common Misconception About Generating Referrals thats Severely Limiting the Amount of Referrals You Receive

Written by: David Frey

Article Overview: Learn how you can motivate businesses that sell complimentary products and services to consistently send you referrals

A Common Misconception About Generating Referrals thats Severely Limiting the Amount of Referrals You Receive

Referrals are the lifeblood of any small business. In fact, surveys show that the vast majority of all new customers, clients, and patients come from referrals.

We all know that we should be getting more referrals but did you know that even the very best referral generating companies only produce a fraction of what they could be getting. It's true...

Why 99% Of All Business Aren't Getting All the Referrals They Could be Getting

You see, most small businesses get their referrals from customers. That's okay, but the truth is...the majority of referrals should be coming from businesses that provide complimentary products and services.

In fact, this is one of the foundational principles in my http://www.InstantReferralSystems.com program. 90% of your referrals should be coming from complimentary businesses, NOT your customers. It's much more difficult to set up a systematic referral program that brings in predictable and consistent results with customers.

However, businesses that sell complimentary products and services can easily be motivated to consistently send you referrals....if you set up your referral systems correctly.

In reality, there's no end to the different types of joint venture referral relationships you can establish with complimentary businesses.

Do This Short Exercise to See What I Mean...

Step 1- Take out a clean sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle of the paper.

Step 2 - Now list all the "types" of businesses that provide complimentary products and services on the left side of the paper leaving spaces in between.

For instance, for a personal fitness trainer some complimentary businesses might be...

1. a health club.

2. a sports apparel store

3. a weight loss center

Step 3 - Then on the right side of the paper, make a list of all the local businesses in your area that fall under each type of business. For instance, you might have five different health clubs in the area. List them all.

Step 4 - Now take some time to think about what you could offer them in return for them to send you a referral. Use your imagination. If you really think about it you'll be able to come up with some great ideas. If you're stuck, then you might consider investing in the http://www.InstantReferralSystems.com program. It will give you more referral ideas than you ever imagined.

Step 5 - Lastly, it's time to go out and propose your referral systems ideas to your potential joint venture partners. What you'll find is that some just won't "get it." They won't have the vision it takes to accept your proposal.

But you'll also find a lot of business owners that are hungry to grow their business and are happy to discuss the possibilities. Those are the type of people that can potentially bring you large quantities of highly qualified referrals.

So what's stopping you..

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Re: How do you get your clients? - I think staying away from gathering clients strictly online when first starting out is probably a good idea. Your first few clients could maybe be people you know, or know through somebody that may require some of your services. Another good way of gaining new clientel is offering your first few clients completely free service in exchange for placing your business card or promotional material in their business if you're doing b2b sales. Referrals are the lifeblood of many small businesses.
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