This is my first article as a relationship-based referral marketing expert. I am delighted to start this journey of sharing ideas on how entrepreneurs can build an amazing business and a spectacular life.
We network every day with people from different segments – be it your clients, associates, vendors, staff, competitors. The question is do we measure our relationships with these contacts?
This was a big question mark for me too two years back until I explored by learning new ways to measure relationships in business. Life relationships are linked by blood relation and marriage which bring together two unknown families. These are linked with emotions and there is sharing and caring amongst the family members. Some relationships don’t last because they are transactional and people look at what’s in it for them in terms of property, money, ownership in organisations. Even marriages fail due to a transactional model of relationships – the WIITM ( What’s In It For Me ) Syndrome. In the same way, a lot of business relationships don’t last long due to their transactional nature. There is no repeat business from clients and the growth remains stagnant.
When businesses are built based on transactions, we tend to forget people after the deal is done. The deals are also done on the basis of low commercial value. Experts say selling at a lower margin will drive your business nowhere. A lot of businesses shut down due to lower margins, which is not viable to run a successful organisation.
On the other hand, what if businesses are run on a relationship mode, where like-minded people are attached emotionally there is no need to even ask other vendors for a quote as they know why they are in business and how they can make a difference in their product and services? Experts say 80 percent of business can come from relationship-based referrals. Relationship-based referrals take less time to get qualified and there is a constant flow of referrals. This saves time for your organisation to work on new products and services to be offered as the industry changes.
Relationship-based referrals are based on mutual liking, trust and desire to help each other. They are not commission-based, rather they are trust-based. More than just referral sources, there is a referral partnership. It is such partnerships that lead to building an amazing business and a spectacular life. Besides doing good for society through their business, such entrepreneurs are also able to give more quality time to their family.