We have discussed how you can gain more referrals for your
business, even making it based mostly on those referrals. Then, you can stop cold calling people who do
not know who you are or what you do or why they should speak with you. You can add clients from the referrals of
your known clients, prospects, friends, and family. You can base your client search on the
referrals of known and “happy” clients.
Based on what you know about yourself, you should ask the
question: “Would you refer business to you?”
First, let’s examine how you do business. Do you place the needs of the prospect before
what you want to sell to them? Do you
ask them about themselves and their business, and do you listen to what they
say to you? Do you watch what they do
and how they act towards others? Do you
examine their habits and their actions?
Second, do you apply the same questions and examination to
yourself and what you do? Have you
listened to the greeting on your voice mail lately? Does it identify you, and your business,
clearly and concisely? Is it even up to
date? Does it sound positive and
welcoming? Would you leave a message if
you were greeted by it? Perhaps have
someone listen who has never heard it and tell you how they react to it.
If you are busy with an appointment or meeting, let your
voice mail answer callers. That is why it
is there. Show your appointment that you
value their time by turning off your cell phone and letting all your calls go
to voice mail. Then after your meeting,
return those calls promptly. One of the
better tag lines that I have heard is: “I answer my phone or return all voice
messages or emails as soon as possible.”
This is simple and very powerful.
Do you return voice mails promptly and intelligently; do you
listen to voice mails before you return the call? There are people who never return calls, even
when you have been referred to them and you leave a voice mail message letting
them know why you are calling. These are
not people that refer to others since I do not believe that they value referrals. Don’t hide behind your voice mail; use it to
answer your calls when you are busy with others and then return those calls,
armed with the information from the message that was left.
We all need to look at ourselves and examine what we find in
ourselves. We need to “see” how we
appear to others. If they have the wrong
impression of us, maybe that is our fault; maybe it is how we “show” ourselves
to others. We just need to examine
ourselves, and how we live our business and personal lives, and see how we
appear to others. Think outside the box
in which you live and work. Maybe you
will like what you see; maybe you won’t.
If you don’t believe that you can be objective about your
life, how you live it, and how you do business, perhaps you should regularly
ask your networking partners for their thoughts. None of us is perfect, and all of us have
something that should improve. Our
partners have a vested interest in helping us be to better; they should be
willing to be honest with us and help us improve. The first step is to ask for their help.
So what do you think about this? Do you believe that your business actions are
perfect and can’t be improved? Have you
taken a good look at yourself and how you treat the others in your life? Please let me have your comments, or email me
at Jim@SOC4Now.com, or call me at 360-314-8691 so we can share with others. Karma should rule our lives, and we should
strive to be professional, passionate, and personal in our dealings with
others.
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