If you are going to be the best that you can be in this life, then it is important that you surround yourself with others who are striving to be the best that they can be. When you are developing referral partners this is also very important.

The relationship between referral partners becomes very close, when the relationship is working well you are meeting and developing referral strategies, sending your best customers to one another and building each others reputation. You are helping each other to succeed. 

Ask yourself these 4 questions when you are looking for good referral partners.

• Do they have a positive and supportive attitude?
• Do they have a giving attitude?
• Are they open to learning and growing?
• Do they support you and your vision?

Surround yourself with people who are going where you want to go. When you have people on the path with you it makes the journey so much easier.

Amazingly more people behave as described above than those who take full, 100% responsibility.  This is not the kind of behavior that makes for a good referral partner. It is important that we each take 100% responsibility for what we do, both personally and professionally.

Integrity and ethics are built upon our taking responsibility for ourselves and our actions consistently, it requires that we speak up and say what is right, and when we are wrong.

Integrity and ethics are important to the referral relationship.  If your referral partners cannot trust 100% that you will act with integrity, ethics and responsibility they are not going to refer you business. Ask yourself, do you take 100% responsibility or do you make excuses.  Do you speak up for what is right, or do you hope others will?  Do you divide or do you unite others?

Some say that if you successfully harness the power of the internet you can actually experience positive results in your business networking efforts. David Teten and Scott Allen, authors of The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online, tell us that online networks may even become the next power lunch or golf course.

Many times when folks hear the word “network” they assume it’s referring to the way computers are physically connected and hardwired together. The most current definition has to do with the virtual connection to today’s wired-up world. WWW dot opportunities seem almost infinite!

These days, how often do you hear, “Let’s do lunch?” Almost never! It’s been replaced by, “Shoot me an email” or “Let’s catch up on FaceBook.” My 14 year old daughter literally uses the word “talk” in place of “text” and describes online communications as if they’re discussions.

Like it or not, we can keep up or get left behind because technology is going to continue to move forward with or without us. It’s generally more empowering to get started on your own terms. So let’s do it!

This week TAKE ACTION by venturing out via computer:

1.    Find an online business community that’s a good fit for you.
2.    Set up your profile (completely).
3.    Request connections with people you know.
4.    Post your status and comment on a colleague’s blog/status.
5.    Schedule daily or weekly time to regularly participate in your online community.

Can you establish relationships and do business online? Yes. I still firmly believe that the strongest relationships, those that stand the test of time and turmoil, will be those that are nurtured face to face, nose to nose and toe to toe. Online communities shouldn’t take the place of the actual community you live and work in. It should enhance and add value to it!

“…A contact is someone you know, but with whom you haven’t fully established a strong relationship. A connection is someone who knows you, likes you and trusts you because you’ve taken the time to establish credibility with [them].”

I can’t tell you how many networking events I’ve attended over the last 20 years. Without exception, there are always two main groups of people you can easily recognize. One group is enjoying, or finds comfort in, the food and drinks. The other group is there shaking hands, kissing babies and collecting as many business cards as possible from their new contacts hoping to find that one special person that will become their next client.

One of your main goals should be to meet the right people. Quick note: I’m not saying that there are “wrong” people; simply people that are better suited than others to help you build your business. How do you know who the right people are?

TAKE ACTION this week to identify them:

1.    Identify 5 professions (other than your own) that serve your preferred clients. Those are the folks you want to meet when you’re out and about.
2.    Identify 2 specific business goals and then identify the specific people you can seek out to help you accomplish each goal.
3.    Identify 3 associations and organizations you can ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE in to meet and develop relationships with the right people.

Unless and until you can take all of those business cards to your local bank and cash them in, it’s probably not in your best interest to become a card collector. Instead, you should attend networking events with purpose…the purpose of connecting with the right people.

What habits have you created around your referrals business?

The first habit that every business person should have is the habit of tracking.  Business owners and sales professionals should be tracking all of their sales activities as well as having a system to track their networking and referral activities.

Tracking creates habits; the more you are in the habit of tracking your activities the better you will be at knowing where improvement is needed. Here are a few of the things you should be tracking around your referral generation system:

Track your networking activities.
Who are you networking with?
What activities are you participating in?
How much time are you spending networking?
What is the value of that time?
What is it costing your in hard dollars?

Track your giving.
Who have you given business to?
What connections have you been able to make?
What was the value of the business you have given?

Track your receiving.
Who has referred business to you?
Who has connected you?
What was the value of the business you received?

Track your thanking activities.
Who have you thanked?
How have you thanked them?

When you have a system for tracking your activities and you use it consistently you begin to develop a habit. It is a habit that creates excellence!

TIP: Start tracking your activities and create the habits that create excellence.

There are a few things that a person can do to increase their ability to get referrals from others.

First, understand the difference between a lead and a referral. Most business people use the two words interchangeably. They are not the same thing at all. A lead is a cold call, or maybe just a little bit warm – a qualified referral is close to money in the bank!

It goes something like this, “Call the XYZ company, I hear they are looking for someone to do what you do.” Now you have to pick up the phone and get to the person that you need to talk to.

On the other hand a referral is warmed up for you. It would sound something like this, “Call the XYZ company they are looking for someone to do what you do and I told them about you. You should call Susan, she is expecting your call.” Now, you know who to call, you have been endorsed, and you have the contact information. Sounds very differently doesn’t it? Which one do you want to receive?
Here are 3 things that are a must if you are going to get more referrals and leads from you network.

1. Understand what it is that you want. All too often when I ask people how I can help them, they often say, they are not sure right now but will let me know later. Or they say, I am looking for any small business who needs my services. Unfortunately, this kind of vague request often amounts to nothing at all. And if it does amount to anything it is usually a low value lead that requires a lot of work for very little money.

2. Have a clear benefit statement that lets others know how you help your clients. For instance, I help real estate agents, mortgage professionals and insurance agents get more prospects consistently.” It is quick and easy and it lets people know who I help and what I help them achieve. All to often people ramble on and on with no clear message that I can easily carry for them.

3. Follow up with the people that you meet. This is one of the most important things for you to do and is also most often not done. Business professionals spend hours networking only to drop the ball when they get back to their offices. Don’t go to a networking event if you have not blocked out the time to do the follow up shortly after the event, otherwise you will find that you are not getting results and will have been wawsting your time.

Your time is valuable, don’t network with out a plan. Do your homework and know what you want, how you can help others and follow up on the referrals you receive. If you will take the time to do these three things you will find that you are getting more leads and referrals from others.

• Be Authentic- Be you

• Use your name & build credibility with your profile

• Read Others Profiles and Tweets

• Find Local People to Follow – Use Search for your town or city

• Follow those who follow you – after you read their profile

• Send a Personal Direct Message (DM) to those who follow you

• Do more than post your Blog or your website to the tweet stream

• Retweet Others- Retweeting is key, when you read a good tweet, RT

• Try to keep your follow/followers about even

• Read and Comment on others Tweets/Blogs

• Recommend others to follow

• Keep it positive

• Engage and again be Authentic

• Go to some Local Tweetups & meet the people you have been tweeting with. (many are my graduates)

• Follow your Network Members, you are able to communicate more frequently with them.

• Lean more by following links that your followers will often provide.

• Support one another, when my RI Students post a blog or have an event I Tweet it for them.

Most of all, have fun, don’t become addicted, but be consistent in your tweets. You will find that you are starting to build relationships with some of the people you do not know and enriching those that you do. You can find me at www.twitter.com/hazewalker

What an opportunity lost!  Here is someone who wants to help you and you can’t think of anything at all, really, nothing?  There are lots of ways that people can help you, but you must be prepared with an answer when they ask. 

Today I was asked by someone in my network, “What can I do to help you?”  My response was, “I would love it if you could write a recommendation for me on my Linkedin account based on the work you have done with me.”  It was easy for my network partner to do and important to me as a speaker.

Here are a few things that you could consider the next time you are asked that very common question, “How can I help you?”

You could ask to be a guest blogger or have them be a guest on your blog.
You could ask for a recommendation on your Linkedin account.
How about asking if they would put your information in their newsletter.
You could ask them to invite you to a networking event they may be attending.
You could ask them to put your flyers in their store or office. Ask them to volunteer for one of your event.
It is important that you have a plan, give some thought to what others can do for you, what would you find valuable, meaningful or helpful.  Make a list of the things that you could ask for. 

Don’t let a great opportunity pass you by, your network is more than willing to help you, but you have to know what you want from them and let them know what it is.

Trust or Credibility is the most important aspect of building your business by referral.  If a person does not trust you, they are never ever going to refer business to you. Equally, if they do not trust your team or business they will be reluctant to refer to you.

In the past I believed that there was little that you could do to speed up trust or manage trust.  That changed recently when I picked up a copy of “The Speed of Trust”. Speed and trust do not really seem to go hand in hand, after all you can’t rush trust or can you?

Stephen explains the high cost to organizations and individuals to have no trust or low trust. He also bust the myths that we have about trust and address the reality of trust, for instance it is a common belief that “You can’t teach trust.”  Reality is “trust can be effectively taught and learned, and it can become a leverageable, strategic advantage.” Read the book to get the other 7 Myths.

The foundation of the book is the discussion of the 5 waves of trust, self trust, relationship trust, organizational trust, market trust, and societal trust with the steps and tips for building each of these levels. 

BONUS: Take a look at his website, The Speed of Trust there are variety of resources for you to take advantage of, get a Complimentary analysis of your personal credibility or an Online survey to assess the level of trust colleagues, friends, and others have in you.  I was surprised by my results!

Get the book today, you will be glad you did!  TRUST ME!