Developing Your Team of Referral Partners

I’m amazed at the number of business owners who don’t have profitable referral partnerships in place.? It shocks me how many struggling (and even successful) business owners have overlooked the power of building their own strategic team of advisors to grow their business.

Having a team of strategic referral partnerships can offer numerous benefits to a business. Here’s 15 reasons why we consult our clients to develop referral partnerships…

1. Access to New Audiences: Each partner can introduce your business to their customer base, expanding your reach.
2. Enhanced Brand Awareness: Leveraging the networks of multiple partners increases brand visibility and recognition.
3. Reduced Marketing Costs: Referral partnerships can lower the need for expensive marketing campaigns by relying on word-of-mouth and trust built by partners.
4. Shared Resources: Partners can share marketing resources and costs, making campaigns more affordable.
5. Trusted Recommendations: Referrals from trusted partners often lead to higher conversion rates compared to cold leads, as trust and credibility are already established.
6. Qualified Leads: Partners are likely to refer clients who fit your target market, resulting in more qualified leads.
7. Mutual Support: Strong referral partnerships create a network of businesses that support each other, fostering long-term relationships and collaboration.
8. Shared Expertise: Partners can share knowledge, skills, and expertise, leading to mutual growth and improved business practices.
9. Comprehensive Solutions: By collaborating with partners offering complementary products or services, you can provide more comprehensive solutions to your customers.
10. Enhanced Trust: Customers feel more confident when referred by a trusted source, leading to better customer satisfaction and loyalty.
11. Unique Offerings: Partnerships can help create unique value propositions that set your business apart from competitors.
12. Increased Profits: Strategic partners can open doors to new revenue streams.
13. Scalable Growth: Referral partnerships can be scaled up more easily compared to traditional marketing methods, facilitating faster growth.
14. Business Development: Continuous flow of referrals supports steady business development and expansion.
15. Diversified Lead Sources: Relying on multiple referral partners reduces dependency on a single source of leads, mitigating risks associated with market changes or partner issues.

I have developed a simple and effective 7-Step Action Plan to help you develop your very own strategic team of advisors.? If you follow this proven 7-Step plan you will generate more qualified and profitable referrals and see tremendous growth (10-50%) in your business over the next 12 months.???

Like building a championship team, profitable referral partnerships take time to develop unless you have the innate ability to attract the very best players on your team. Most business owners simply must learn the necessary team building skills and implement these 7-steps to build a dominant and profitable team of advisors.

Step 1:? Prospecting for partners

The first step is finding qualified prospects to join your team.? I’ve found the best way to find these individuals is to ask the most successful people you know for a referral or introduction.? If you were building a championship sports team you wouldn’t look for rookies would you??

You want to start with well qualified, proven players and the best way to get to these types of affluent advisors or “players” is to obtain a personal referral or introduction from one of their clients, friends, family members, co-worker or other advisor.??

How do you obtain this referral or introduction?? You ask the following question…

“(Name), do you know of an experienced and highly qualified (enter category) here in town?

If they say “Why do you ask?” you can simply tell them “From time to time I have clients or referral partners who need these types of services and as an added value to my clients I’d like to be able to refer them to a qualified professional in this area.? Do you have someone in mind?”

Step 2: Approaching prospective partners

Once you have a referral or introduction you need to have a solid approach to win over these top players and get the first appointment.? I always approach advisors from the position of power and not need.? I don’t want them to think I’m just looking to serve their clients and I need their referrals.? I always position myself as an influencer by saying “Hi (name), my name is (your name) and I was introduced to you by (referral source’s name).? He (or she) said you were the best (job title) in the area (with a touch of sarcasm added).? Is this true?”?

This always breaks the ice and softens up the prospect for me to set up a meeting to learn more about them and their business.? After a bit of laughter from my previous question I will then say “(Name), the reason for my call is because I was talking to (referral source’s name) the other day about how I’d like to add a well qualified (enter their job title) to my strategic team of advisors so I could refer my prospects, clients and referral partners to another qualified advisor in our area.? (Referral source’s name) said you and I should get together and talk.? Do you have some time this week or next where I could come in and learn a little more about your business to see if your products and services might make a good fit for my clientele?”

This strategy typically gives me a 95% closing ratio on getting a first appointment especially if you get a decent introduction from a trusted referral source.

Step 3: Analyzing the partner’s needs and potential

This part is the best part for me as most business owners enjoy talking about their businesses. I simply ask them interview-like questions that help me discover their highest value needs and potential for long term profitability as a strategic partner.??

I typically will ask them about their experience, background, business goals, staff and then I give them the BIG question.? I simply ask “What’s the one big goal you’d like to accomplish in the next 6-12 months?”

Write down their answers to your questions and then be the first one to say you need to get back to the office to meet with another client to close the meeting.? If you feel like they are a qualified partner prospect go ahead and ask for a second appointment and tell them you’d like to share some ideas with them on how you think the two of you could benefit from working together.? Don’t go into details on how, just say you have a few ideas you’d like to share with them.

Bottom line is you need to be perceived as being busier than they are or they will not be attracted to your business and you need time to develop your presentation.? I have found that power players like to network with other power players and if you don’t give them the feeling that you are a power player you’ll be hanging out with all the people who have more time than they do money.

Step 4: Presenting solutions

I typically try to present my solutions during the second appointment and I try to do it in person so I have their full attention.? The goal of this presentation appointment is for you to communicate what you can do to help them solve their problems and help them to grow their business.??

My partnership presentation typically revolves around my Strategic Team of Advisors program and how I assist my partners in growing their businesses.? I talk to them about how I can help them through joint marketing, lead sharing, etc. and then I go into detail on how I serve them and their clients on a 5-Star level of customer service and what my expectations are from my partners.

Once I’ve adequately shown them what I can do and what I expect from them as a partner I conclude the presentation by asking them if they feel like we have a basis for a strategic partnership.? If they say yes, I ask for a possible next action such as a joint marketing effort or an introduction to a client or referral source.? If they say no, I ask them for an introduction and referral to someone they think would be a good fit for the program and wish them the best.

Step 5: Overcoming objections?

The very best referral partners will most likely have objections and they will most likely already be on someone else’s team.? I’m not bothered by this as I know how good I am at what I do and it’s only a matter of time before they know the difference between what they have and what they can have by becoming a member of my team of advisors.

The best entrepreneurs I coach are those who have the best responses to the standard objections.? I use the “feel, felt, found” method (Name, I understand how you feel, some of my best partners felt the exact same way before working with me and my team.? Here’s what they found…) for overcoming objections.

You simply have to acknowledge they have objections and know this means they have some interest in working together or they would have just told you to go away from the beginning.? Being prepared with educated responses will determine your ultimate success with networking with affluent advisors.??

Step 6: Gaining commitment

Once you have overcome all of the prospective partner’s objections and you feel like you have a basis for adding them as an advisor on your team, go ahead and ask for their commitment by offering them a strategy or opportunity to help each of your businesses to grow.?

You want to be the leader of the team if possible.? This will require you to “call the plays” (i.e. joint marketing strategies, sales tactics, etc.) that will help the team win. If you don’t call the “plays” the team will just stare at you unless you have a proactive advisor who really wants to win the game.?

From my experience, most advisors will wait for you to call a “play” and then give you feedback on whether or not they want to participate in the “play”.? Over time you’ll learn strategies that work best for each team member and how to work best with each member on your team.??

Step 7: Adding value and asking for opportunities?

The final step in building your Strategic Team of Advisors is the ongoing relationship building activities you do for each of your advisor partners.? To add value to my strategic partners I play lots of different roles (Revenue Enhancer, Recruiter, Mentor, Advocate, Publicist, Loan Broker and Purchasing Agent) to help them succeed based on whatever challenges they’re dealing with.??

If I succeed in adding value I feel I deserve an opportunity and therefore I ask for one at that time.? Opportunities could be a joint marketing strategy, a referral and introduction to a client/employee/other prospective partner (in another business category) or anything that would add value to my business.??

Entrepreneurs often feel sales reluctance because they ask before they give.? I have found when I give value to someone I often don’t have to ask for much because I usually gain more value in return naturally.??

Isaac Newton’s Law of Cause and Effect states “for every action there is an equal or greater reaction”.? This scientific law tells me that as long as we add value to other advisors we will create the “causes” that will generate the “effects” we need to succeed in building a profitable and strategic team of advisors.