Referral Power - your best lead source

One way to get your credit back on track is to keep your business on target and keep your income and cashflow flowing in.

There is no faster, stronger or better way to build a business than through referral of new customers. In fact, if you’re not doing referral selling, you’re losing 25 percent of your potential business.

"When we ask for and get a referral from an existing customer or business associate, there’s more than simple familiarity working in our favor. We’re tapping into strong, existing relationships, which can and do accelerate our ability to obtain new business."

"Why is the referral so valuable? Here are a few reasons:

1. Referrals come from people we already know – We shorten the cycle of familiarity by simply working with someone who knows someone we know. Common ground already exists through a friendship, acquaintance or business relationship. This eases the pressure on the initial getting-to-know steps of selling.

2. Referrals extend the network – We widen the circle of relationships with each new referral, thereby increasing our ability to tap that network for additional business, new business and additional referrals.

3. Referrals reduce sales expense – We reduce not only time but expense by asking for and following up with referrals. In our experience it costs 6 times more to sell a new prospect than it does to sell a referral. Think about it. A sales force is full of expenses for a business; customers are very inexpensive, since we already own them.

4. Referrals add value to the source of the referral – When we follow up on the referral, get the business and create a delighted customer, value is delivered to the party who gave the referral. The referral source is credited and often thanked by our new customer. Many industries emphasize value by offering credits for those who refer new business.

5. Referrals help you use your best sales force – Happy customers constitute our strongest sales force because word of mouth is the single most effective form of advertising. Product or service claims we make often require proof sources for credibility in the eyes of a prospect. Claims from existing customers carry instant credibility and seldom require additional information. (This is why unhappy customers can be such a detriment, because their claims of poor product or service performance are likewise seldom questioned.)"

I would suggest creating a criteria list to identify your referral partners.

Remember to go after those referrals. They will be your best lead source by far.