In business.

One of the easiest ways,

to get new business

is by referrals.

I love them when they come.

How do you get more of these,

and why are they so important?

All great questions.

We are talking about

referrals today because

within my Thriving women

community, they asked me

to present them in the

resource that would help them

get better at referrals.

And so within the thriving

women community, when

they ask for things and

it makes sense and I know

it's gonna move the dial in

their business, we deliver.

you're curious about thriving

women community, there is

a link in the show notes.

Go check that out.

not her real name.

Anyway, Shauna runs a $1.8

million business and Shauna.

never done a sales

call in her life.

it pains

all about sales and

I'm all about results.

But what Shauna has done is

something very strategic.

She has corralled her

advocates, her fans,

about 10 of them, she's

calling them her board of

directors, and she catches

up with them frequently.

That is her sales plan.

They connect, they catch up,

they talk about what each

other's doing, and they send

referrals to each other.

is it.

She has a very

successful business.

Based on that, I don't

think we are meant to

be in business solo.

Lonely all the time.

think as human beings, we are

made to be in community with

other people, with people who

can lift you up, cheerlead

you, strengthen your own work

advocate and referers aren't

just the connections, they're

champions of your work.

They see the value that

you bring and they bring

meaningful relationships

into your life.

If they know

exactly what you do.

You need to set your

furs up for success.

I want you to have a

beautiful, engaged network

of people who support

your growth, bring you

opportunities, introduce

you to other people,

and I want you to feel

confident that your

referrals will keep flowing.

But it's not by luck.

It's through the strength

of relationships.

And so I'm gonna ask you a

couple of questions about

your referral network

and what you're actually

doing to nurture that.

You see, I send a

lot of referrals out

into the universe.

Sometimes I get looped back

in about what's happened.

Sometimes I hear nothing,

sometimes there's great

gratitude for each

of those referrals.

It's important to be

grateful when people

are referred to you.

It's important for you to

be clear when you refer

others in about what

it is that you'd like.

There's nothing worse that

when I send a client over

to a referral and I hear

nothing, then the client says,

oh yeah, we started working

together three months ago.

Would it be nice to know that?

Like, close your loop.

Be professional, right?

If someone's handing you

referrals, make sure you're

closing the loop, please.

Top referrers are absolutely

invaluable in your business.

They are the champions

who advocate for you.

They introduce you

to potential clients.

they help you grow.

They help you with.

Business growth.

a strong referral network

can open doors in media in

speaking all the things, it

doesn't happen on autopilot.

You actually need to

understand and plan for

your relationships, your

referral relationships.

Right.

What we know about

research is that.

The research consistently

shows that referred customers

tend to be more loyal and

have a higher lifetime value.

According to Nelson, or

Nielsen, 92% of consumers

trust recommendations from

people they know more than

any other form of advertising.

Additionally, a study from

the Wharton School of Business

found that referred customers

are 18% more likely to stay

with the company long term.

It is really worth

getting this sorted.

And you need a plan.

You need a plan to make

sure that you are nurturing

your referral network.

Now, you might say to me, "I

don't have any referrers." I

don't think that that would

be What we actually need

to do is Step one: identify

your key referrers just.

Make a list for me while

you're listening to me.

Make a list of the

top 10 people who

consistently send you work.

It might be just be

small bits, it might

be conversations.

And if you don't know,

you've got some work

to do, my friend.

Because when someone gets

on a call with you, you

should be saying to them, how

did you find out about us?

I'm nine years in and

I still say, how did

you find out about us?

More recently, I have had

a. Random things like, oh,

chat, GPT told me to call you.

I'm like, oh,

that's so random.

Okay, cool.

Thank you.

Chat.

I'm not sure how you would

reward a referer like

chat GPT, but anyway,

don't worry about that.

So what I want you to

do is I want you to

go right, who am I?

The top 10 people who

consistently send me work?

And if you don't know, go

to your current clients and

said, how did you find me?

How did you find me?

What does it look like?

You need to note what

their businesses are

and you need to note why

they're referring you.

It's really important

to understand who your

top 10 referrers are.

Of course you can extrapolate

this out, but let's just

start with 10 to keep

it super simple, right?

You need to then figure

out what type of referrals

do they usually send?

Are they good?

Are they bad?

Because sometimes they're

not very good and they're

not very good because people

don't really know what you do.

They just know you're a

nice person, so therefore

you just have to do a

little bit more education.

What is it that you know

about their business and

their personal interests?

If someone is referring

work to you and you are

not referring, work back to

them, that's not very fair.

Let's make it win-win, right?

How do you be a really

good referrer and accept

really good referrals?

So step two, we wanna

set up a system.

We need a system

for this, right?

It's either a

simple spreadsheet.

kind of CRM that you've got,

but we need to track where

your referrals come from.

There are so many people

who go, oh yeah, I dunno

where they came from.

Well find out, find out where

they came from because then

you can go back and one,

show some gratitude and thank

the person that sent them.

And you can also make sure,

you know, to nurture that

relationship, you need to

set reminders to follow up.

You need to check in.

If I send a referral

on, I always wanna know

what happens at the end.

be professional and tell

the person that sent them

what's actually happened.

So the question for me

for you is, how will

you track referrals?

Will you do it

on a spreadsheet?

Will you do it in

notes in your phone?

Will you use a CRM system?

Whatever it is.

And then how often

will you check in?

So you've got your

list of 10 referrers.

know your business well, you

know their business well.

How often will you connect

with them, whether that's a

text message or a coffee, or.

A meal, whatever it is.

I've got one client who sends

me a lot of referrals I don't

send her hampers of food or

any of that stuff, but what

I do do is I take her to

random comedy shows or I take

her to book launches that

I think she'd like, or she

loves the comedy festival.

So we'll go and do

a comedy festival.

it.

That's nurturing a

relationship right now.

I have to think outside

the square on that because

that's a whole lot of

calendar management.

But is it worth it?

You bet your bottom

dollar, it's worth it.

And I don't just

do it for that.

She's actually a

really lovely person.

I love hanging out

with her anyway, right?

So there's that as well.

So, relationships,

relationships, relationships.

Even with your referrers.

So step three, we

wanna create a bit of a

personalised touchpoint plan.

So every quarter,

choose one of a few

ways to keep in touch.

You either send a thoughtful

gift, make a personal call,

have lunch with them, share

a resource that they might

need, feature them publicly,

put them on your email list.

There's so many things,

sorry, not put them on your

email list, but highlight

them in your email.

That you send

every week, right?

Like do a spotlight on them.

People love that.

It just takes a

little bit of thought.

So what is your personalised

touchpoint plan?

And yes, you do it with

your 10 people and then

you'd see how you go.

What's the best way to

show appreciation to

each of your referrers?

Because appreciation

is where it's at.

You need to have some

gratitude and also

what feel most aligned

with your own brand and

your own personality.

So you need to kind of

figure out what's going to.

feel good for you.

then step four, providing

value beyond business.

So looking for ways to

support your referrers

outside of direct referrals.

Introduce them to

them, to new clients.

Introduce them to, to

partners or resources,

a media opportunity.

Invite them to

exclusive events.

Invite 'em to mastermind.

Offer behind the scenes

insights or VIP access.

There's so many ways to say

thank you and to provide

value beyond business.

what value can you offer

your referrers beyond

just thanking them,

basically, like, be better.

Don't just go, thanks.

And then how can you

help their business grow?

So if someone is constantly

sending you they obviously

think you're pretty

good at your job, right?

How about you go back and

go, what can I do for you?

about you are on the

lookout and you do business

development for them that you

can send them clients as well.

That's a beautiful

relationship.

Number five.

Step five.

You wanna build a

community of referrers.

So you need to almost

consider that group of 10,

what will you do with them?

For me, I would take them

for dinner once a quarter.

I'd get them together.

I'd introduce them

to each other.

'cause you never know,

and for me, it's about

creating community.

Right?

So how will you build a

community Of your referrers,

would your referrers benefit

from some kind of networking

in a specific space or Would

they benefit from a private

introduction, someone that

they have wanted to meet

and can't get a hold of

someone that would drive

their business forward?

And how can you facilitate

more connections between

you and your referrers?

Number six.

Step six is my favorite.

It's called Surprise

and Delight.

If you've listened to this

podcast, you would know I'm

very much around how do we

surprise and delight all

the people in our world?

So that's about going

above the expectation.

It's about unexpected

recognition.

It's about handwritten notes

or knowing that they love.

Coated chocolate.

So you send them a bunch

of coated chocolate.

It's just knowing

who they are.

It's getting to know the

personalities and the style

of the person, and how

can you add that little

element in the surprise and

delight for each of your

referrers 'cause people

like to feel appreciated.

Basically that when

it comes down to it.

And then step seven is

keeping it reciprocal.

Wherever possible, refer

business back to them,

promote their work.

Ask them, how can I

support you right back?

How can I support you

in a way that feels

natural and generous to

me and works for you?

And then my final step, which

is the creme de la creme,

you gotta make it a habit.

It's gotta show

up in the diary.

You've gotta block time out

every single month to go,

here are my top 10 referrers.

Here's what I'm going

to do with them.

We wanna systematize

so that this.

It sinks in as a habit and

a process as a reminder

to you at some point in

the month, take a look

at your top 10 referrers

and do something with it.

So you might look at your

top 10 referrers and you

might've spoken to five

of them in the last week.

Great.

What about the other five?

What do you need to do?

Make sure you've got

a system and a process

that works for you.

So What have we

discussed today?

Number one, you have to

identify your top referrers.

Number two, you need to set

up a system for recognition.

Number three, you need

to create some kind of

personalised touchpoint

plan that you can stick to.

Number four, you need to

provide value beyond business.

Number five, build a

community of referrers,

however that looks for you.

For me, it's lovely dinners.

Step six.

We wanna surprise and delight.

We wanna just have that

element of surprise

all over the place.

And number seven, we

wanna keep it reciprocal.

gotta be win-win.

And our final step should

be about creating a habit,

a system, a process that

keeps it front of mind.

it for today.

Hopefully that helps

you work out what your

referral system is.

One thing I didn't

talk about is delivery.

When you get a referral,

you better deliver well,

because if you don't, it

breaks the relationship.

So deliver.

Well, the second thing I

didn't even get to talk about

today, we'll have to do it in

another episode, is my take on

affiliates versus referrals.

Not even gonna start that

conversation, but let's

just say we keep the focus

on referrals today, and

I'll talk about affiliates

in another episode.

And by the way, thriving

women is where it.

you want a community that

helps you these resources

where you can actually say to

me, Emma, I need a resource

on a, my goodness, thriving

Women is where it's at.

Come join the community.