networking

by Nathan Greenberg, CEO

This may have been one of the hardest lessons for me to learn in my career. I spent my early professional years focusing on mastering my craft, expanding my opportunities, and gaining prominence within the industry. But I was more than a decade in before I began learning the complexity and necessity of a fundamental truth: no matter how much I knew or how much money I made, I was and always would be in “the people business”.

Hopefully, a few of you thinking something akin to, “how did you miss that?”. If so, that means you already understand this lesson – or you are aware of its importance even if you are still learning it yourself. My fundamental belief rested upon the notion that my intellect and insight would carry me. It was hard to understand why someone wouldn’t want to work with me if I had the right answers. Call it hubris. Call it ignorance. Call it whatever you want, but it should be synonymous with mistake.

And it took time for me to correct the mistake. I would pick up hints from friends, colleagues, and managers. The pieces came together over time. But eventually I understood something critical to success. Relationships are the basis for business. There is a difference between what people buy and why people buy it. People fundamentally buy things from companies they don’t object to. People do business with people. If the customer likes the salesperson, they might overlook some of the objectionable actions of the manufacturer. Customers may choose to do business with a friend who charges more than the stranger with a discount. This is what I didn’t understand. It wasn’t about what I sold, but rather how I sold it. Was there a relationship with my customer?

Then I had to learn the key principles of the relationship. I said earlier, “People fundamentally buy things from companies they don’t object to.” You may have heard that phrased differently: “People buy from people they like” or something like that. Unfortunately, I no longer believe that is most accurate. In today’s economy of polarization, moral alignment, and behavioral transparency, there can always be something that a customer doesn’t like about a company. And yet you will still find atheists who eat at Chick-fil-A. You will find Republicans who voted for Joe Biden. The information firehose being blasted into our consciousness about companies and employees every second of the day has exceeded its value proposition. Consumers now choose from the options they dislike least.

Years of research shows that customers do business with those they “know, like, and trust”. Sometimes those quantities need not be very high, but they must be higher than the competition. Sales managers have been giving the “sell the benefits, not the features” speech for a long time. It now applies to more than the product. It applies to the relationship.

In recent years, the definition of “benefits” has changed. Customers now include ethics and personal satisfaction in their purchasing decision. This changes the relationship. Customers want to know the people and organizations from which they buy. They want to feel good about doing business with them. At first I viewed these adjustments as a minefield that made sales more difficult. But I later learned that these were opportunities. I had all new ways to connect with customers than ever before based on their personal interests. My slowness to grasp relationship value suddenly shot forward by understanding how I could foster them. This is why no matter what you sell, you are in the people business. The necessity now to demonstrate ethical behavior, get to know the customer, and be a resource for them is more important than ever. They aren’t buying what you’re selling. They’re buying their personal pleasure of being able to tell someone, “I bought from that company because they’re a good company.” Ethical street cred is a vital component to today’s consumer shopping – and every consumer is a person. You’re in the people business.

(Originally published in IE Business Edge magazine, March 2022)

“The best time to collect referrals from customers is at the point when they realize and acknowledge a good job was done.” –John Jantsch

That moment when a customer realizes and acknowledges when a good job was done can happen at any time. Your challenge is to solicit referrals at that moment.

The world has changed for every industry. Business models have been modified and adjusted to meet new demands and new opportunities. Most importantly, companies are no longer the most important factor in their own brand – their customers are. The wrong criticism on social media can force a company into “damage control mode” or, in some cases force the company out of business. Average consumers now wield tremendous influence through digital media and the enhanced power of referrals.

It is no longer enough to wait for a client to tell a prospective client how amazing you are. You need referrals on a larger scale. Assume your competitors are always looking for new ways to tap the power of referrals.

Referrals Have Always Worked

And they always will. Word of mouth remains one of the most powerful and trusted methods by which consumers choose a brand. Many businesses -even entire industries- have relied on word of mouth referrals for their existence. Lawyers are an excellent example of this. The traditions and esteem of the legal profession naturally lend themselves to a proclivity for clients to tell their friends, family, or colleagues about the great (or horrible) job their attorney did on their case. At a cost of $100-$500 an hour, people want personal stories of success.

But now referrals can be successfully generated through more than a phone call or a Chamber of Commerce mixer. There are means and methods to incorporate referral solicitations into your current or new marketing strategy.

New Power of Referrals Opportunities

The example you see here was taken directly from the Facebook Page of a celebrity friend of ours. He, unfortunately, recently went through a divorce and when it was done, this was what he said about his attorney. This celebrity has a few thousand social media connections. This simple post (which includes the attorney’s name and phone number) is far more valuable than if he had simply told a friend or family member. He told thousands of people. Instantly. People that value his opinion.

The name before the phone number is more than just a name. It is a link to the attorney’s Facebook Page. A convenient form of contact was just facilitated by a simple Facebook post. According to the Small Business Administration: “At the high-value end of the referral scale is an existing customer who facilitates a sale.”

As you look at your own methods of earning referrals, ask yourself:

• Can your referrals not only sustain your business, but enable it to grow?
• If you are the principal or a senior partner, would the firm continue without your referral network?
• Are your competitors including referral solicitation as part of their marketing?

Making Referrals Part of your Marketing

There are three steps to successful referral marketing and tapping the power of referrals:

1. Earning – As Ted Rubin says in his Return on Relationship™ coaching, “Provide the most value, you’ll get the most business.” Do your job so well that your clients will want to refer you to others.
2. Soliciting – Now that you’ve earned a referral, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Your Arkside Account Manager will give you multiple ways by which you can ask for a referral, review, or testimonial that is convenient for the client.
3. Promoting – Show prospects why they should choose to work with you…why others have chosen to work with you. Include your testimonials and other referral comments on your website, social media, and even presentations. Remember, part of online advertising is showing search engines what you want them to see!

Summary

Your business doesn’t have the luxury of waiting for one friend to tell another friend how great you are. You can not survive and expand by bread alone. You need to initiate activities of scale and develop new means by which referral business (the best kind of business) can be generated. Social media and search engines like Google and Yahoo! offer the tools to achieve a higher level of success with the new power of referrals.