We all know the sayings; “Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” “To have a good neighbor, be a good neighbor.” “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” While these are nice suggestions, we’re often so busy trying to keep up with our current clients (or actively seeking new ones), that we don’t feel we have the time to search for sales leads for our colleagues.
However, we all know that sending a qualified referral to an associate is an extremely effective way to obtain qualified sales leads for yourself. Your associate is likely to be extremely appreciative of your effort, especially in the current economic situation, and should reciprocate fairly soon with an equally qualified sales lead for you. But what if he or she doesn’t reciprocate? You may be so busy that you never even realize that your sales lead was unrequited. Or perhaps you become bitter towards your colleague after having wasted precious time to find him or her a qualified sales lead. In either case, your efforts were for naught. And as a service professional or small business owner, you simply don’t have time to waste on un-reciprocated referrals.
Time is money, and in these difficult times, neither can be spared. That’s why it is imperative to use a referral system to help you keep track of your professional relationships. Not only is it critical for remembering who you’ve sent referrals to, but also who you’ve received referrals from. Maintaining good relationships with your colleagues is of utmost importance, and if an associate takes time out of their busy day to find a qualified referral for you, it is important that you reciprocate as soon as possible. Set off a year of successful lead generation and lead sharing by using an organized method of keeping track of your referral relationships. Then you’ll be ready to go out and obtain qualified sales leads (for both yourself and your colleagues) without wasting any of your valuable time.
Tags: Accountant Referrals, Business Networking, Entrepreneur, Realtor Networking, Realtor Referrals, Referral Key Radio, Referral Network, Referral System
