In the past few weeks, we learned that we are sitting on a gold mine here at Elevate.
We learned that we can’t just stare at the dirt and hope gold ends up in our pocket.
We learned that we need to set goals for our gold mine to make sure we expend the right effort to ensure a proper return on investment.
We learned that we become the ‘go to’ person in our profession by building relationships over time.
We learned that a better approach at Elevate is to be proactive using all the tactics discussed during these Make More Money Moments instead of waiting for referrals to magically appear.
So now you’ve started receiving referrals, but found some of them are really crappy.
One with no direct introduction, or one to someone that can’t use your service.
I know your first inclination will be disappointment, but forget about that and get your pens ready to learn … because this week I’m going to help you to make more money from crappy referrals.
First, adjust your attitude. Instead of being disappointed that your fellow member gave you a crappy referral, consider this: They thought about you and were trying to make something happen, so that’s actually a really good thing.
And, remember that no one intends to give a crappy referral, so give them the benefit of the doubt.
So how do you make more money from a crappy referral?
Contact the member that gave you the referral; express gratitude for the referral and then educate your fellow member about what are good referrals for you … something like this …
Hey Amy,
I really appreciate you referring me for the dog walking gig, but I don’t really provide that service. Good referrals for me might be referring me to dog walking services who needs a good website. Let’s schedule a quick 121 to do a refresher on each other’s business and good prospects. How’s that sound?
Or
Hey Matt,
Thanks for sending me a picture of the catering truck, but I really don’t do cold calls. I am looking to build websites for catering companies, but I’m looking for warm introductions.
In this last instance, I know that Matt Long, our intrepid wood worker, will accept pictures of beat up wood lobbies and elevators so he can look them up and make a cold call. However, I don’t do cold calls.
So what might be a good referral type for one member: cold calls, might not be a good referral type for another member.
The key here is to make sure you train your fellow members on what are good referrals and referral types for you, and if you do that, you will turn referral lemons into referral lemonade, and I guarantee that you’ll make more money.
