Article contributed by Bill James.
Every business has one main objective: to sell its products or services. And the only way to grow that business is to sell more.
Some people think selling involves cold-calling and being pushy. But successful salespeople know this isn’t so. Cold-calling involves maximum effort for minimum return, and being pushy alienates people.
A strategy of networking and building referrals involves much less work for a much higher return.
Let’s start with networking. The most important step at a networking event is to break the ice and approach other people. Here’s a technique that works every time.
Find someone else who is standing on their own, approach them, and say, “I’m standing by myself, you’re standing by yourself, it is a network event, I thought I would say hi”.
You have just created goodwill by solving a problem for them – and you’ve made a business contact.
After a while, as you build up trust with other members, contacts start flowing. But this is a long-term strategy, with long-term benefits. You also need a parallel strategy that will bring immediate benefits.
Gaining client referrals is the best, and easiest, way to grow business. Studies show a contact is six times more likely to convert to business when it’s a referral, and is up to 16 times more profitable. There’s a reason for that: your clients know you, appreciate your service and trust you. The people they refer will have similar wants and needs – and so are more likely to become clients.
Target your 15 top clients, call them, and invite them for a coffee somewhere away from their office, where they won’t be distracted. Your phone conversation could go something like this: “Hi John. You know you’re one of my top clients. I’d like to touch base and check how things are going.
“While we’re talking, I know you enjoy the service we provide and will know other people who would enjoy the same high level of professional service and I would like to spend a few minutes finding out who they might be. Is that OK?”
With this approach you let your client know they are important, show you’re interested in them, and offer them the chance to be a hero to their contacts.
If they say no, say that’s OK and carry on with the rest of your conversation. But if they say yes, you have their permission to plunder their phone book!
It’s important to let your clients know that you will be asking for referrals – they can get upset if they expect one thing and you spring another on them. Once they are comfortable with the idea it works well. I once gained 27 new contacts from such a meeting.
Do not treat the request for referrals as a throwaway (“You don’t know anyone else who would appreciate my service, do you?”) because your clients will treat it as a throwaway as well (“No, sorry, I don’t”).
Target only your top clients. Don’t waste your time on referrals from your least profitable, or least favourite, clients – why would you want more of them on the books?
If a meeting takes an hour and you come away with three hot prospects, that’s much better than any amount of cold-calling. And if you achieve that every week, business will boom.
Bill James hasn’t made a cold call in 15 years. He will be speaking at the at the TIME Convention, Auckland Convention Centre, THE EDGE, on Friday October 3, see www.timeconvention.co.nz
51 comments
Bill is awesome!
Hopefully will be hearing more from you should they draw me for the TIME tickets 🙂
Bill’s article held my interest, mainly because of the wide variety of reasons he has provided for not only recognising how difficult cold calling is, but also encouraging a whole new dynamic for approaching what is obviously a successful behaviour method in business.
Good on you Bill!
Very Bill-able 😉
What excellent tips! I belong to a BNI chapter in Auckland and have found this environment to be an excellent forum for generating such networking opportunities. I will certainly by trying some of your suggestions for my own business.
Referrals work so well for us, the client trusts the person referring them already, so by default already have a sub-conscious trust about the service.
We find that most of the referral jobs we quote for, we end up getting. As long as they are happy with the price, they don’t bother getting another quote.
Bill has always great practical advice. Not hard to implement and you do get results.
Hmm. This is an interesting exercise. The offer of a useful incentive to log-on and read the BNI blog worked. I normally pass on reading these and file into my ‘to read later’ folder and guess what – you’re right. I never get back to them. This time however, as I was already on line I skimmed through the five articles and re-read three of them gaining useful and thought provoking insights. Next time I will ‘skim first’. Thanks! Colin.
This makes one think carefully about leveraging postive client realtionships to open new doors in a non intrustive manner – excellent read
Gold calling sounds like a nugget to me. Great stuff.
I agree, networking and building relationships is a great way to find referrals. Networking groups are growing at a rate of knots and its proving the most successful way to find business.
Hi, Very usefull advice. It would be great to get a chance to hear Bill speak at the TIME Convention.
To all BNI Members: Have a lovely weekend!
Claudia
Would be awsome to go!
I disagree where he says “Don’t waste your time on referrals from your least profitable, or least favourite, clients – why would you want more of them on the books?”
Your least profitable clients can still refer you on to other business that may be very lucrative and if the referral is not worth your time, then you can in turn refer it on to someone it suits… thus gaining kudos at both ends and creating a win/win/win situation.
Always interesting hear from people wh have “been there and done that”……….Ray
Always interesting hear from people wh have “been there and done that”……….Ray
Ps: corrected typo error to my website..
I think that referrals is one of the most effective methods of growing your business. But we do need to be reminded of this fact from time to time. Mind you this is also one of the reasons we belong to BNI.
As a salesperson, I am always looking for ways to improve my cold calling techniques. When I read this article I got all fired up. What a ‘golden’ piece of advice. Not only are you boosting the ego of the contact you have called to get these names but you have just made that first initial call a whole lot easier and more effective. I will definitely implement this into my cold calling strategy. Thanks heaps!
Networking and referrals are the only way to go. I spend a large portion of my time involved with touch rugby & rugby and doing small projects with our local school. I can not afford the time spent on cold calling and therefore treat all these activities including BNI as referral opportunities. Bills article was very informative however it does not emphasize the importance of ‘giving’ as a great source of referrals
Cheers Mark
Yes I have seen the artical. Really helpful.
Google Timeconvention website, it’s awesome, I left a message and am awaiting a reply from them. I will be there but a free ticket would be more than helpful.
I have the TIME!! Thansk Bill
Great advice, even if you have heard this advice before it’s good to be reminded, especially in the present economic climate. However great advice is useless unless you act upon it. So I’m going to call my best client straightaway to ask for a referral, as it’s a while since he has referred me to someone.
It is always beneficial to learn something new everyday and what a way to do it by networking and asking for referals. We are never too young or too old to stop learning and who better to learn from than Bill James and all those talented speakers who have dedicated their time to be here and teach us ways to better ourselves.
It is all about opportunity – grab it with both hands I say.
Raj Mani
Bill has some great knowledge, and real how to stuff. I like the way its information you can use.
Best regards
Paul
http://www.PaulEaston.com/
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Hi Bill
Great concept! I think it was Napoleon Hill who came up with the concept of mastermind groups and from there flowed the concept of centres of influence. I too believe cold calling to be a total waste of time but more importantly a terrible waste of prospects. We go to a lot of effort in planning and targeting suspect companies we would like to deal with and then we blow it with a cold call. You would need an endless supply of businesses for the cold call concept to work and of course unlimited time. Great article.
If you don’t ask, you don’t receive and who better to ask that one of your own customers or have someone you know refer you!. I have passed this event onto a few people in my chapter as I know it will be a valuable opportunity for many to attend.
It is an interesting fact in networking that we are all very familiar with what doesn’t work,but we don’t necessarily try ALL of the methods that others found fruitful. Sometimes we hear an idea that worked and think-“I am too shy(or whatever)” and fob it off imagine if it were the edge that would increase you’re BNI refferals tenfold!
Great inspiration, always a bit of a push through barrier for some of us quieter/shy types but the key is have a plan and do it once. It comes easier as we practice.
I saw bill speak a few months ago and was really impressed. He is practical and down to earth in his approach. There are some great NZ speakers lined up for Time!
What a great non-pushy way to approach networking which is not “in the face” of the client.
This has got to be the greatest avenue for BNI members to grow their business and to get referrals to the chapter members. Knowing how to appoach someone confidently and strike up a conversation without the hard sales pitch takes technique and talent which can be learned and musst be practised. Bill is obviously the master so why miss the opportunity.
Already a big fsith of networking never thought of cold calling always a waste of time and a DEMOTIVATOR
Well said Bill I would love to see you in action. Please can I have a ticket.
I have never enjoyed the benifit of conference speaker and would like to see what benifit it would bring to my business. Free tickets would be ideal.
Well put. Scheduling “referral” meetings with good clients should be a regular part of our 90 day plan – after all, who knows our products or services better??
Great article and couldnt agree more about focussing on networking and building referals. It has been the core of my sucess so far getting my business off he ground. Some good tips from Bill … love the ice breaker comment when walking upto someone stood on their own at a networking event … will be using that one. Hope to win one of the tickets so I can hear more of Bills tips.
Some very valid points brought up. Great to focus on relationships to help achieve business success.
Simple but very effective ideas
Bill is an amazing role model for a successful networker. All BNI members should attend his courses to learn how to get the very best value from their BNI membership. Even using a few of the tips Bill offers can dramatically change the results from referrals.
I agree. I’ve been a member of a BNI chapter for 5 years and networking still remains the most powerful and cost-effective form of advertising I know.
Thanks for sharing your expert advice. I look forward to hearing more at the conference after wining my ticket. 🙂
Excellent tips. I like the tips about approaching people, as this the hardest thing to do when you are starting out.
Speaking as someone who hates cold calling, I like this sort of advice and I will endeavour to practice what Bill preaches.
Thanks Bill! Once again it is good to be reminded about those client relationships that we spend many hours working on that can provide great referral’s to grow our business. For me it is all about “trusting”! that these clients are happy to refer my services on. And knowing that I do make a difference to their lives and business. After all I firmly believe that life in general is about relationships that contribute and business is one of these relationships. Also without people know one has a business so to speak. Therefore “givers gain” is so true! I experience this every day in my business. Thank you BNI!
In the professional service line cold calls just don’t work very well. This is because we sell the feeling of trust and security that the job will be done right. How can I trust someone with my affairs when I have only just met them?
It is possible to engender trust in a single meeting but it requires skill and a fine taste for the emotional/mental makeup of the prospect in front of me. Either I just get the chemistry right or get it very wrong (probably about 50/50). However, almost invariably someone who is referred to us is largely sold on using our services already.
Hi everyone and many thanks for the positive thoughts. I am not in charge of the tickets but if you don’t win – invest in yourself anyway!
Mike Tennent makes the comment that referrals from your worst clients can still be passed on – and this is true. It is dangerous to prejudge as we really do not know who those people are in contact with.
However I have found that they often know people very like themselves. So if they are picky and demanding, never happy etc, it is possible that their friends could be also.
If you have clients that you absolutely love, and that love you right back, why not focus on them and fill your data base with cool people that make your work life happy and profitable?
One thing I do enjoy about referrals is that you can get more of your best clients whenever you want them which gives you control over your business destiny.
I did like Mark Frenches observation about giving. He is so right.
You have to build a balance in the emotional bank account before you can take withdrawals by way of new business opportunities. Give and give some more – it cost nothing, takes no time, returns you plenty and is a great way to live! your life.
Simon Laurents comment about “50/50” was interesting. we work with a concept we call “emotilogical” – which recogmized that people work on an emotional and/or logical bases. We believe one very effective way to reach all people is to make sure that you always have an emotional and logical component in your conversations. It allows you to reach the client no matter which sort of person they are.
Cheers.
Excellent advice. As a new member of BNI I am glad I “found” (was directed to) this blog – it’s so valuable to be able to learn from others with more experience in various fields than me. Thankyou……Fiona
Awesome advice – thankyou!
Fiona
Great comments and of goo value….Kevin
Nice one Bill, sounds like you know a great deal about networking and referral work. I am in a sales position and found your blog to be very informative, and I also thought your ideas on the approach to be original.. makes me wonder what closing strategies you implement, hmmm. I hope to be among the three drawn so that I can glean more info and benefit from you experiences. Big ups
JD
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