As a referral based business, I was recently asked about the source of our referrals. Obviously client referrals are a big part of any professional services business, but our relationships with other trusted advisers are also very important to our success.
One of the most common mistakes I think people make is that they take a ‘breadth’ rather than ‘depth’ approach to meeting with people and trying to build relationships. They can also try to rush or force things because they get excited that the other party they meet deals with their target market/s.
Our view is that any relationship takes time to build and the most powerful partnerships will tick 10 boxes, which are outlined as questions below:
- Where does the potential referrer sit on the ladder of influence – are they a trusted adviser to their clients?
- Do they have influence over the types of clients / decision makers you want to deal with?
- Do they have a similar position in the market (eg – boutique, premium quality)?
- Do they seem to have a similar business philosophy and values?
- Do they enjoy deep relationships with their clients, where they extend beyond ‘transacting’ and into questioning?
- Do they seem interested in what we do?
- Do they ‘get’ our positioning, philosophy and how we can help their clients?
- Would we refer work to them or use them ourselves (regardless of anything in return)?
- Do I actually like this person and enjoy spending time with them (would I invite them to a BBQ with my friends)? Never underestimate the like factor!
- Do they have the capacity or ‘margin’ in their work life to focus some time on relationship building and leverage (or are they too busy doing work)?
Obviously to be able to tick all the boxes you need to spend more than a little bit of time working on each relationship, but initially you can use these questions as a guide to who you decide to spend more time getting to know. I suggest starting with the friends and contacts of people you already know and like.
And don’t get too caught up trying to meet everyone in town or connecting with every person online. You need to create the time and space for yourself to build deeper partnerships with a few, not shallow relationships with many.