Money Does Grow on Trees

by Danny Wood, Sandler Training by Danny Wood Enterprises

What’s the most profitable tree you can plant that will grow your business for years to come?

Not sure? It’s a referral tree!

Think about how many referrals you've received over the past 12 months.

Why did you get them? Were you being proactive? Were you utilizing a system for generating them? Did you make a point to ask clients to send referrals your way?

Or did the typical referral come your way while you were in reactive mode, passively waiting for something good to occur?

You may want to consider doing more when it comes to proactive referral generation to grow your referral tree faster. There is a serious bottom-line advantage to increasing your referrals.

Closing a referral is roughly five times easier than closing a brand-new opportunity with whom you have no shared connection.

It’s essential that you create a referral-generation process you can consistently use. This process needs to create a steady stream of introductions from people who know what you and your company do well. They need to understand who in their network would benefit working from you.

It is uncommon for people to volunteer referrals. You should ask everyone! Realize that some will not be comfortable, maybe now or never, to provide referrals. That’s OK; you know now.

I’ve worked with salespeople who have landed large deals and significantly increased their sales revenue as a result of a proactive referral process. It was a key component of their sales behavioral plan.

Start generating introductions by looking more closely at your LinkedIn or

“Referral generation is not an event. It’s a process!”

Facebook contacts. See who you are connected to and determine who they can connect you to.

At its simplest level, referral generation is a matter of keeping in touch with your “raving fans” -- and asking them who else in their world you should be meeting. Why wouldn’t you want to do that on an appropriate, regular basis?

There are lots of ways to water your referral tree. The important thing is to do it consistently.

Referral generation is not an event. It’s a process!

Make a commitment to grow your referral tree. Consistently follow through on that commitment. And the money will come.

Danny Wood, owner of Sandler Training – Danny Wood Enterprises, works with individuals, entrepreneurs, and corporations providing training, coaching, and consulting services to grow market share, shorten sales cycles, and increase revenue. Clients look to Danny to help them develop and implement processes that create a sales-driven, client-centric organization. dwood. sandler.com | 201-842-0055 | mailto:dwood@sandler.com