To be a really successful networker I would like to suggest that we need to move our behaviour from opportunistic, to deliberate… Let me explain.
When you achieve a referral for somebody in your network (your BNI), is it by chance because somebody mentioned to you that they were having a certain problem, or is it because you were looking out for opportunities to find that person a referral?
I think most of us are opportunists. We go to our meetings weekly and if we hear a 60 second we can answer, we’ll pass a referral. If we don’t, we leave the meeting and forget about it till next week – unless a third party happens to say something during the week that creates an opportunity.
This is an intimidating way to operate because we’re constantly putting pressure on ourselves to find referrals for all and sundry and rarely succeed because nothing we’re doing is deliberate or focussed.
As a result we get to the meeting and as the referral part approaches, we realise with a sinking feeling that we have no referrals – so we’re more tempted to make a personal purchase instead of giving a third party referral.
One ‘deliberate’ strategy – which I believe will increase your referral rate – is to select four or five people in your network with whom you would like to cultivate a closer business relationship.
Possibly the people you select share the same target market as you, but they needn’t necessarily be associated with your industry. For example, I’m in marketing but the financial planner in my chapter – totally unrelated – may work with my target market customers.
Once you’ve selected and vetted your four or five referral partners, make an extra effort to develop the relationship – more dances, more conversation, more social, more support…
A tactic might be to examine your database and your day to day activity to see if there are any opportunities for your close referral partners. Keep them top of mind. The smaller, more tightly focused and deliberate we make our activities the higher the chances of success.
For all the others, continue with the opportunity model because your success rate will be neither better nor worse – although, if you cultivate a more deliberate referral policy you may see an improvement all round.
What ideas do you have for deliberate referral networking?
