Are You Referable?

Come on welcome to life blood. My name is George G. Thanks for taking a minute to be here. Let me ask you a question. Are you referral? Yes, no. Maybe little sometimes. Here’s another question. How often? Are you asking for referrals? I was guilty of this one for sure. I went probably years, never asked for referrals early on. And if I’m being honest, it was because I didn’t think that I was referral, but like, I wasn’t doing good work, I felt like I wasn’t having a good enough impact or a big enough impact. So I was not asking for referrals. And you know, what happens when you don’t ask for referrals. You rarely ever get referrals, I would get referrals just because people would have somebody that they knew that needed what I did, and they liked me. So they would give me referrals. And I wasn’t doing a bad job, I was doing a great job, just it was in my head that I was not worthy of asking for, or getting referrals took me quite a long time to get over that hump like a couple of years to realize and recognize that I am doing valuable and important work, I am having a very positive impact on the lives of the people that I’m serving. And because of that, I am worthy and deserving of referrals. So I was probably let’s just call that the first, maybe four or five years of my career. And now I’m into the 21st year. And I think that I’m pretty good at referrals, I definitely think that I’m doing important and good, really high quality work. And at this point, it’s an absolute expectation that my client is going to happily refer me to new potential clients. And that’s what I want for you too. Because referrals are awesome. Without question, the best way to build any kind of a business, grow your company, grow your clientele, grow your practice, grow your whatever. If you’re trying to get more of something, the best way to do it, is by referral. Think about it. What’s the best way to meet somebody to come into your house, your plumber, to meet a plumber, an electrician? A contractor? What’s the best way? Would you rather just Google that? Or would you rather go to the yellow pages like we used to do? Or would you rather get a referral? You’d much rather get a referral? What about for a doctor? What about for a mechanic? What about for your kids? Doctor? We my wife and I, Emily, when we were getting ready to have our first James, we knew that we needed to get a pediatrician. And so the last thing I wanted to do was just go through and try to find a pediatrician. So we asked everybody that we have were friends with that we trusted and we liked Who do you use for your pediatrician. And that’s how we found our doctor. So a couple of key things there that I just said, that you like and that you trust. That’s what’s so awesome about referrals for everybody. Is it accelerates trust? How long it does it? How long would it take you if you meet us, if you met a stranger for you to actually trust them? Potentially a long time, maybe maybe it’ll never happen. But what happens when you are referred to somebody get a referral, you meet them, you have instant credibility, you give the other person instant credibility because you get to borrow the credibility from the person who is making the referral. So that is what speeds up the process of trust and credibility. And again, that’s good for you if you are the one wanting the referral. And it’s good for the person who you are getting referred to. Because the faster we can be honest with one another and trust one another, the easier everybody’s job is going to be and I don’t care if you’re a financial advisor, an attorney, a doctor, whatever it might be the best ways Pro, but even that that’s just scratching the surface. Because if you were trying to meet a romantic partner, how would you prefer to meet them? Well,

I’d rather get referred to somebody. I’d rather be introduced by somebody that I know. Because they know me they know they know that I’m a quality person. And perhaps they met somebody and they said, Oh, you know what you would really get along with George. I think you guys get along great. So it’s a better way than simply randomly going on the internet to randomly going on dating apps. And thank goodness thank goodness didn’t have to date when, during the Age of actual dating apps. But that’s another video for another day. So that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, referrals are awesome. We, we, we want to get them. But if you’re like me, and maybe you’re not comfortable asking for referrals, or maybe you lack a process for doing it, whatever, I want to help you get over that hump. So are you referral? What does it take to be referral? Want to go through? What is it five things, five things that are going to help you to feel referral. And if you do these things, you absolutely will be referral? And then you could start taking more action, proactively start asking for more referrals. So let’s get started. Now we all agree that they’re good. So number one, you have to show up on time. Pretty basic, right? Are you on time? Are you always on time, you’re on time, half the time, it’s kind of a fun thing to say I’m on time, three cores the time worked 50% of the time it works 49%, whatever, you get it, you have to show up on time. Nobody likes to be late. If you are calling on people, I don’t care who it is, if it’s Elon Musk, or somebody who’s 22 years old, just starting their career, their time is valuable. And believe you me, they think that their time is valuable also because it is. And so when you are late, you are wasting their time. That’s right. So it’s incredibly selfish. It’s wildly unprofessional. And that will not make you preferable. Why would I refer you to somebody, if I think that you’re going to waste their time, because you’re going to show up 10 minutes late, or 20 minutes later, five minutes late. So that is a controllable thing. Obviously, if something happens, and you’re not able to be there on time, that’s one thing. But if you’re just in the habit, if that’s your if that’s your MO, just running behind, you need to change that if you want to be deferrable. Okay, it’s rude, it’s unprofessional. And again, people will not refer you because they do not want to inflict an unprofessional person on people that they know. So that’s really simple. So get on time, get there early. Okay, think about that, and then follow up in a timely manner. So we are making agreements with one another all the time. One of the reasons it’s offensive when somebody is late is because we agreed to be at this place, if it’s a zoom call, or if it’s at a coffee shop, or their office or mine at a certain time on a certain day. If you are not there at that time and date you are breaking our agreement. So it’s rude. Same thing goes for follow up. If I tell you, great, John, I’ve really enjoyed our conversation today, I’m going to get you the answers to the questions as well as that other information that we talked about. And I should be able to get it over to you, by tomorrow afternoon. I better be able to get that information over to John in this example, by tomorrow afternoon. This is a function of we need to under promise and over deliver. So if you get it to this person later today, or tomorrow morning, we are over delivering what happens if it takes me two days, or three days, well, then I am again violating our agreement. I am not following up when I said that I was going to now there are things that are beyond our control. So if a proposal that you’re generating is going to take you longer, or you won’t be able to get it in time, within the timeframe that you agreed upon, we’ll just let them know. That’s also part of following up. Hey,

John, I know that I mentioned that I was going to get this to tomorrow afternoon. But I just heard and it sounds like it’s going to be a little bit later probably sometime tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience. Soon as I have it, you’ll have it. Totally understandable, John, and everybody else is going to very much appreciate you proactively following up and letting them know and keeping them in the loop. Okay. So we need to be good at following up. We need to be good at honoring the agreements that we make. This is why we need to be doing that. So which leads nicely into why we need to have an organized sales process. Okay, I think a lot of the time salespeople resist structure and process because we are outgoing. We are free thinkers. We are people that challenge status quos, we just want to be able to to get out there and make things happen. The shift from that to having an organized sales process is not an easy one. But it is a recipe for long term success for you and your business you and your company and also for your clients, and also for your refer ability, doing the same thing, or at least a relatively your sales process from start to finish how you market, how you set your meetings, what you say the first time you meet with somebody how you gather information, how you package up proposals, how you present information back, how you ask for referrals, how you follow up. If you do it the same way every time, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Because that’s really hard. It’s super time consuming. If you have to re think or come up with a new process. For every prospect, you’re going to be wildly inefficient. Following defined system, while it might feel rigid, and too structured, it will early on. But long term, it will give you much, much, much more freedom you’re familiar with Jocko willing, if you’re not, he’s amazing, you’re welcome. Talks about discipline equals freedom. Having a discipline process, once you learn it, once you’re a master at it, that will help you to be much more free, you’ll have much more flexibility within the confines of it, you’ll have much more time. So nothing but a good thing. And again, it will make you much more referral. Think about it. If I could sit down with you, and we’ve just completed our business, I’m going to stick with the name John, John really enjoyed getting to know you and your situation, you and your family, whatever it is that we’re talking about. Thanks for Thanks for the opportunity. And I’m so glad that we’re gonna be working together. And I’m going to be able to help you to meet and achieve and do all the things that you and your business and your family are interested in doing. So super excited about it. Want to I mentioned the first time that we met that the way that I grow my business is through personal introductions and referrals from my new and existing clients, to people that they think might also be a good fit. So that’s what I wanted to do right now was just based on what your experience has been, who comes to mind you think would be a good, somebody that I could potentially talk to? Now, there’s a whole nother video that that we’ve done. And we’ve done a lot of work on how to actually ask for referrals, that was a really abbreviated quick way to doing it. But here’s the thing, you say, Hey, John, I think that you understand the process that we’ve just gone through this the same way that just like I approached you the same way that I’m going to approach people that you also introduced me to the same process that I took you through, that’s exactly the same as the process that I’m going to take them through as well. So I share that because I want you to be confident. And whoever you refer me to whoever you introduced me to, they’re going to get exactly the same experience as you got. Okay, so that will put John, in this example at ease. Because now he knows, he knows, okay, George is gonna take me to the same professional process that he took me through, I know what the work product is going to be I know that he’s going to get followed up with in a timely manner. It’s going to be a great listener, and all that. So, so important, have an organized process. I just I just can’t speak to that enough. And the next thing is to make sure that we’re asking good questions and listening. Part of being a good salesperson is obviously being empathetic. It’s obviously being able to ask questions and listen. After all, we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. And if you find that you are talking way more than your prospect is, well, then you’re talking too much.

The power of a good question is immense, potentially immeasurable. It allows you to have control of the sales interview, which is what we’re doing, are interviewing somebody, you are setting the stage, say I’d like to learn about you and your situation. It’d be alright, if I ask you some questions just to get to know you better. So we’re into it. We’re asking good questions, how’d you get started in this business? Whatever it might be, that you’ve got great questions that you ask consistently. And that’s awesome. So it’s asking good questions, and then it’s making sure that we’re listening. And what that’s allowing us to do is, I am not sitting here waiting for my turn to talk. I am actually actively listening. I’m giving the person that is in front of me, my 100% undivided attention, which by the way, is one of the greatest gifts that we can give to any other human beings. One of the greatest gifts that a human being can give to another is our 100% undivided attention. More so today than ever, without question. So making sure that you’re listening, because they’re going to tell you everything that you need to know in order to do a good job. And to meet their needs. We don’t need any fancy special sales tricks, which need to ask the right question, be able to listen. And then to be able to clarify and get more information when we figure out okay, this is what is concerning to my prospect to my client. This is what’s bothering her. This is the area that we need to be focusing more on and drilling more down to sell. John, that’s really interesting. Can you tell me more about that? Okay, so tell me more about that super powerful, super simple question you can ask over and over and over again. That’s interesting. Can you tell me more? But can you elaborate a little bit more on that? I’d love to learn more about that. What you just said, can you tell me more? And then listen, you know, there’s absolute magic in it again, undivided attention, listening. We don’t always feel heard these days, right? feel like there’s a lot of just information and noise out there. So that you are giving somebody the space to express themselves, ask questions and listen, and then a mote back that Yes, I’m listening, I’m hearing what you’re saying. And I’m, in fact, I’m trying to understand it even better, what an incredibly powerful thing that you’re doing stinks really establishing a strong relationship and rapport. And that really helped me to go far, and obviously help you to be referral. Next thing, final step is to never judge an answer. If you’ve been doing this, for any measure of time, or length of time, you’re going to hear crazy stuff, people are gonna say wild things to you, people are gonna say things to you, that are different than than then then your beliefs are, they might be different than your values are, might be just different from where they came from, and what their perspective on the world is. But it’s not your job to judge an answer. Obviously, if they’re telling you crazy stuff, and it’s not appropriate, or they need to leave, but they are telling you what’s most important to them. And my experience, that’s really what we’re trying to figure out. I’m not trying to put my values on somebody else. I’m not trying to put my solutions on somebody else. I’m trying to help them self diagnose, trying to help them figure out, Okay, I’ve got this problem. I’ve had it for a long time, but trying to deal with it, but I’ve been unable to deal with it. I wonder if there’s anything else that I can do before I just throw my hands up in the air and say, forget the whole thing. And that’s really what I’m interested in doing is bringing that solution says, You know what? I’ve probably tried a lot of things in the past. What have you tried? Tell me what’s worked, what hasn’t worked? Tell me how long you’ve been doing it. And whatever they’re telling you. Not judging it. Just trying to understand. Okay, so, show up on time, follow up in a timely manner, have an organized sales process, ask a question and listen, never judge an answer that will help you to be referable. Again, referrals are great, they’re awesome. They are the lifeblood of any successful enterprise. Always wanting to take on more clients or wanting to take on more quality clients. How do we do that? We do that by making ourselves referral we make ourselves expert that is trustworthy and deserving of referrals. And if you’re doing those things, if you are, you know your stuff, if you’re doing a great job, you’re organized, you’re listening, you’re you’re over, you’re under promising and over delivering your 100% referral. Do you want to dig deeper into this?

If you want help getting a little more organized in your sales process, we’ve got certified coaches that are amazing sales professionals and they have processes that they can help you to learn and master and implement. They can help you develop your system and process for getting referrals effectively and then converting those referrals we’ve also got a lot of great courses if you’re interested in investing that way. We’d love for you to check that out. So you can find all that at lifeblood dot live and we’d love for you to check it out. Appreciate you check out the video. Found value. Be grateful if you would like and subscribe and I look forward to connecting with you again. Have a great day.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai