We all attend meetings to gain new work by referral, it is one of the fundamental reasons for being n a networking meeting.
But, not all referrals are created equally!
We have all been given referrals that are not referrals, they are at best weak leads and time-wasting contacts.
The person to blame for a bad referral is yourself!
Your role at the meeting and in recon meetings is to educate the members of the group about how to identify and qualify a referral for you so that when a recommendation is made it doesn’t waste everyone’s time.
Do this consistently and effectively and your fellow members will learn how to spot a genuine opportunity. It is far better to get a high quality, qualified referral every two months than to receive time wasting contacts every week.
When you are passed a poor quality or un confirmed referral it is essential to give feedback to the member involved.
It is a difficult conversation to have with someone, no body likes to hear they made a mistake, but, if you handle it effectively you can turn it into a positive experience for everyone.
Start by thanking them for the effort they made and then explain the areas in which the lead didn’t work out. But don’t do it in a critical way, after all, it is their lack of understanding about your business and the kinds of referrals you are looking for that is the root cause of the issue, so you need to approach the conversation you have with them in an open and educational way.
One easy way to reinforce peoples ability to find referrals for you is to invite them to a recon meeting. What often happens as a result is that the member will often recognise that the poor referral they gave you was not what you are looking for and acknowledge it without you having to say anything.
The main thing to remember is to do it in a private, non-threatening way. Giving bad feedback in the public forum of the main networking meeting is never a good idea as it may cause other members to avoid referring you as they do not want to risk making mistakes.
In the same way you must give feedback for weak referrals, it is also essential to say thank you for the successful one.
This you can do in public as it is great to be able to publicly thank someone for their effort in helping you. Again, this has reproductions with other members as it shows that you are appreciative of referrals, so people are more likely to refer you.
As part of your preparation for each weeks meeting you should review the referrals you have received and take some time to contact the referring member and give them feedback about how the referral is progressing.
The beauty of systems like Refur is that it makes it easy review the referrals you have received and track any comments that are relevant to the member who provided the referral. Good or bad it is essential to give feedback on referrals you receive.
That is why it is essential to use the refur system to pass the referrals to your fellow members, it makes lots of things easier to track.
So in conclusion, do not be afraid to give feedback, it improves everyone’s ability to find the right referrals and see effort rewarded.