Thoughts for Odoo Partners #11 - Should you ask for referrals?

Welcome to the eleventh edition of The Launch Pad - Thoughts for Odoo Partners.

TLDR; In today's edition

1. What is this? - A quick thought, insight, or a tool that has helped me, another Odoo Partner or client
2. Thought of the week - Should you ask for referrals?
3. Opportunity Cost - Saying yes means saying no to something else

What is this?

Each week I will share a thought, an insight, or a tool that has helped me, another Odoo Partner or a client. Standing on the shoulders of giants, and learning from those before us is the shortcut to growth I wish for all of us.

Each edition will be short and quick to read.

Thought of the week

Should you ask for referrals?

Over the last 10 years of Odoo we have never been short of work, if anything too much! (Always a good problem they say). There have been lots of reasons I can think of but one I want to talk about today is.. referrals.

When we were starting to run low on work we could call up a few clients and just ask if they knew if anyone thinking about Odoo.

Who better to ask for referrals than people who know you, like you, and have friends who want to have the same success they are having?

They always said the same thing to me.. "just make sure you don't get too busy for me".. haha. "Give this person a call, they are exploring Odoo".

Having clients that love you makes all the difference, but what does it take for your clients to love you?

In my experience.. (and no not everyone loves me, but enough that I think this list is helpful)

A personal connection - I have always enjoyed having a personal connection with our clients, their businesses, goals, and lives.

Responsive - Always there for them. To be honest this one has been harder when things get busy, but worth pushing to deliver on at every moment you can.

Depth of knowledge - The depth you have in both Odoo and their business is invaluable. Where those two meet is where you can deliver the greatest value.

On-time - This doesn't always mean to the original schedule, but not having any surprises when things need to change.

Be a real person -

People love people, not businesses

Be a real person to your clients, and connect with them, you will do better work for them, and they will want to look after you too.

Would your clients refer you?

You have to ask to find out.

Do your clients love you?

Don't be afraid to ask for good and bad feedback from them.

You want your clients to succeed, and they want you to succeed. That's what a personal connection creates.

Opportunity Cost

Saying yes means saying no to something else

If you are running a business, or implementing business systems, you are likely a driven problem solver that likes to be involved in everything! (That definitely describes me)

There are only so many hours in a day, only so many team members to delegate to, and only so much brainpower before we need to rest.

When we say yes to one opportunity, it will mean saying "no" to another opportunity, maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but eventually.

If we don't have our goals and objectives in mind, we will say yes to everything, and then when the opportunity we really need to say yes to comes up, we will be booked up, allocated, worn out and will have to say no.

Do you say no, so that you can say yes to the right things at the right time?

Do you know what your ideal opportunities look like?

Happy Odoo'ing

Chris White

OLaunch