10 Tips On How To Generate Referrals

When it comes to building your business, there’s nothing quite like a well-intentioned and well-thought-out referral. After all, nothing quite beats a personal touch when it comes to growing a business! Referrals from trusted connections are often more effective than an old-fashioned sales pitch, as they’re seen as more an endorsement than a straight-up sale. But how do you effectively generate referrals without losing all of your time, money, and sanity in the process?

If you’re feeling a little stuck on generating referrals for your business, we have you covered. Here are some of our top tips for getting the ball rolling and getting your business really growing. Keep reading to learn more.

#1 – IDENTIFY YOUR TOP PROSPECTS

Step one in generating referrals is taking a look at your top prospective clients. This will help you narrow your focus into the right zone, getting you where you need to be to generate new referrals.

For example, if you’re working as a realtor, ideally you would want prospects who are looking for or interested in buying or selling a home. You can narrow this down even further by focusing on life events that would trigger a home purchase or sale, such as moving into an area or out of an area.

#2 – IDENTIFY YOUR TOP CONNECTIONS

On the same note as identifying prospects, you should also take a moment to figure out who your top connections are. Which contacts are the most reactive, most supportive and have the best ability to reach the most relevant people? These friends or acquaintances will be a gold mine of new referrals and be happy to help.

For example, if you’re a financial advisor, a great connection would be a contact who is a CPA – they can recommend your services to their clients when examining their financial documents.

#3 – GET TO WORK ON YOUR BLOG

Once you’ve identified your top prospects and clients, the next step is to elaborate further on what you’ve learned. Craft a blog post for each case study and share it on your social media to generate interest in your business.

#4 – DON’T BE AFRAID TO GET VOCAL

When attending networking events or meeting up with new networking groups, don’t be afraid to say exactly who and what you’re looking for in a referral. This is the best way to get in touch with your target groups. Once you’ve identified attendees who can help you get in touch with these groups, share your relevant case studies and blog posts with them and ask them to also share this information with their networks and on their social media. Get vocal and get the word out there!

#5 – SKIP THE HASSLE AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE

If you want to bypass the entire previous step of finding folks to help you share your case studies, you can skip the hassle and go straight to the MNO Member App. Through this app, you can directly share your case studies and other information across multiple platforms and with a network of relevant individuals via text or email without the hassle of networking.

#6 – IT’S A GAME OF GIVE AND TAKE

When asking others to share out your links for referrals, it’s important to also be proactive and share out theirs, too. This builds a network of trust and will mutually benefit both of you. In addition, it’s easier to sell someone else’s services, as it comes off as an endorsement rather than an actual sales pitch.

#7 – A TOP CONNECTION IS A TWO-WAY STREET

When securing a referral for your partners, don’t be afraid to ask for a referral in return. The networking game is a two-way street and is a gift that will keep giving, as long as you both work together to mutually benefit one another.

#8 – DON’T BE AFRAID TO STEP OUTSIDE YOUR INDUSTRY

When networking, we oftentimes get stuck in the idea that we need to stay within our industry. Take a walk on the wild side and try cross-networking with other industries – these unique partnerships are highly effective, as they’re often involved with industry-specific circles that are slow to trust outsiders.

For example, many business professionals are reluctant to network with musicians. However, musicians are connected with a variety of other potential referrals, including booking agents, managers, producers, more established artists and fans. If you’re a realtor, perhaps a musician contact would have a manager who is looking to buy a home. In this case, don’t forget to act first and share the musician’s work and attend their shows. If you’re ready to get involved with this cross-industry networking, MNO does offer a Musician-Tier membership.

#9 – DON’T FORGET TO BE GRATEFUL

Always keep the referral-giver in the loop with the progress that you’re making with their referral. And if it results in business bucks for you, don’t be afraid to give back and work to help them generate new clients to keep that referral running. If you have the MNO Member App, you can track the progress of a referral directly and notify the referral-giver of the progress, too.

If they’re a musician, try creating a client appreciation event at their next show or buy their merchandise to gift to your clients.

#10 – NEVER STOP EXPANDING YOUR REACH

Even if you’ve identified a top connection that will feed you plenty of referrals, never settle. Keep looking for more connections and don’t let your business get complacent. If your top contacts end up retiring or moving industries, you don’t want to get stuck. So, all in all, keep building your network!

If you want an easy and effective way to keep growing your network and reach, you should absolutely look into a referral group, like MNO. With a networking group like MNO, you can attend weekly meetings with new and existing members to help you keep building your network without any of the extra hassle.

Music Network One (MNO) is a global online business networking platform that will help you increase sales and grow your following. Check out the concept of MNO and what differentiates us from traditional networking groups. Visit a chapter or contact us below. Take that first step today!