Yesterday I wrote about civilians, who they are and why they don’t always refer us as much as we’d like. Today, I want to start with step one of educating your civilians.
Yesterday I showed that civilians don’t automatically make connections and think about what you and I think are obvious referrals. You can help them (and yourself) by giving them clear triggers to spark referral ideas in their minds.
First, as with all good networking messages, you will need to be specific. Take the characteristics of the client you are asking to refer you and ask them for introductions to people like them. Did they just get married? Ask for others they might know who just got married. Do they have kids? Ask for introductions to other parents at their daycare center. Everyone responds better to specific requests. But it’s critical with civilians.
Keep in mind that civilians might be more comfortable making an introduction to a referral source than to a potential client. That reduces the risk for them. So if you are in the health field, ask for an introduction to a family doctor instead of asking for sick friends. Would making a presentation to a bunch of parents be useful for you? Ask for an introduction to a PTA President.
You can also use visual or auditory triggers. For example, “If you see someone wince in pain when bending over, hand over my card.” This gives something specific to look for and a call to action. Or perhaps, “When you hear someone talking about buying or selling a house, mention me.” If my old Realtor had said that to me, she would have received more referrals.
Yes, these things may seem too obvious to you, but they do work and will get you more referrals.
Tomorrow we’ll educate them on what doing business by referral means to you.
