Word of Mouth Marketing

Why do we pass referrals to other people? I have been asked that question twice recently. What motivates us to take up our valuable time and put our reputations on the line to connect two other people together, often without any discernible personal benefit?

Earlier this week I must admit that a tear or two appeared after the postman had been. No, it wasn't my income tax bill but an advance copy of my new book, Recommended: How to Sell Through Networking and Referrals, direct from the publisher, Pearson Education. 

I hadn't anticipated such an emotional response to a book landing on my doorstep, but when you consider that the project has been more than 18 months in the making, perhaps it's not so surprising. 

It's not how you want to start your Sunday. Waking up on a rainy morning, checking your phone and finding your email inbox inundated with messages from strangers. Overnight you've been subscribed to a Facebook group by a well meaning friend and now every message posted on that group's forum has found its way into your email inbox. 

The problem is, you didn't ask to be subscribed to the Facebook group. You weren't invited to join, you had no option or decision to make. Someone else took that decision away from you and just put you in there.

In January 2009 I wrote about why membership incentive schemes don't work. My argument was based on health clubs who promote special deals for members who refer them, while neglecting the simple things day to day that keep their customers happy. The key point was that people are not likely to refer to their friends, family and clients when they are not content with the service they receive themselves. Irrespective of the temptation of a free iPod!

This article originally appeared in The National Networker

This article originally appeared in The National Networker

Finding and inspiring people to refer you is not always that easy. Losing the prospect of more referrals from established sources takes very little effort at all. 

I was out with friends last week. I knew that they had referred some very good business to a mutual contact of ours, and he had gone on to win the contract. I mentioned that I had spoken to our mutual contact the week before and helped him with some introductions which would help him deliver to his new client.

Complacency and assumption are two of the biggest challenges to any successful referrals strategy. We become complacent that our happy clients will refer us, as will the people in our referral networks. We assume that those people who are closest to us understand what we do and are able to recognise opportunities.

Very often neither are the case.

Following the stream of backbiting and bitchiness in global diplomatic circles revealed on the WikiLeaks website over the last couple of weeks, BBC television's This Week programme asked the question on Thursday night, "Do you make your reputation, or do others make it for you?"

This is a very important question and one that all businesses must take seriously. In many of my talks and workshops I ask delegates how much time they spend working out what they want other people to say about them. No one ever admits to considering this at all.