I talk on here a lot of about one-on-one referral generation efforts. And while I'm 100% a huge advocate of that... ...one of the biggest challenges we have as a small business owner (or commissioned sales professional) is is TIME. We come across so many different people in our lines of work, and only a small percentage are going to be a fit for true one-on-one referral partner status. So what happens with all the others? Do we just ignore them? Well the answer for a lot of people is...yes....
8 days ago • 1 min read
Tatyana is an amazingly talented mortgage loan officer I've coached in the past. She had this to say to me once, about the referral question I taught you last week: "I had a green light conversation with a realtor today. It went extremely well and I learned what they liked about the lenders they've used, and what they didn't like about the lenders they've worked with in the past. Turns out the referral partners moved away and we were scheduled to have lunch next week." That's what it's all...
15 days ago • 2 min read
Let's talk about the power of powerless communication for a minute. (If you want to learn more about it, check out Adam Grant's Give and Take. Powerless communication puts people at ease, and makes you more trustworthy and likeable. Some easy ways to do this?: Be humble. Ask for help or advice. Pair relatability with competence. Give people space to drive the conversation. Ask questions and get people talking about themselves. We're going to try to work all four of these, subtly, into one...
22 days ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, do you want more referrals? Great! Of course you do. So does everyone else. Now tell me what your referral script is. (I'll wait...) ... ... ... You know, I asked this same question to a roomful of people a few years back... ...and not one person was confident in sharing what they say. So let's recap here: Everybody wants more referrals. But when I ask how you ask for these referrals you want so bad, not a hand goes up. Why is that? Well, let’s get to the root of it... How does it...
29 days ago • 1 min read
Let's play the Connection Offense to start getting you more referrals. But first, let me ask you this: If you go to an event... If you're on the phone with somebody... If you go to a one-on-one meeting... ...What's the common denominator in all these interactions? Conversations. There are conversations happening. And today we're going to talk about the different types of conversations you can have. It's so important to understand what type of conversations you're having, so you can understand...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
If you've been with me for a bit (and even if you haven't), you've probably heard about a little best-selling book by my friend and colleague John Ruhlin. It's Giftology: The Art and Science of Using Gifts to Cut Through the Noise, Increase Referrals, and Strengthen Retention. Well, now his newest book is being released posthumously, and I wanted to be sure you got a sneak peek. John and I spent a lot of time talking about the concepts in this book (and I'm incredibly honored to even get...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
So. About that USEABLE database of yours. (Don't have one? Check out last week's email.) Once you've gotten all your connections in one spot, you've gotta prioritize them. Why? I want to be careful but also blunt here. Because my belief system says all people are created equal, and we're called to love on all of them as individuals. So, with all the love in my heart, I say this: Not everyone is equal when it comes to creating referrals for our businesses. I'm not saying to hate on people....
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
As I promised last week, over the next few emails I'm going to give you a system for connecting with people. The goal at the end of this is to help you get clarity on who you should be talking to. (And at the core of it, how you should talking to them.) But before getting into all that, we need to talk foundations. Because before you gather all your people, and connect with all your people, (and connect them to other people), you need a place to PUT all your people. To put it simply? A...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
We tend to overcomplicate business. But at the heart of it, there are three "simple" things every business has to do: ➡️ You have to Create opportunities (Which is Marketing) ➡️ You have to Convert those opportunities (Which is Sales) ➡️ You have to Complete those opportunities (Which is Operations) When you think about creating opportunities, one of the things your mind probably jumps to is advertising. Now, it's going to sound like I'm anti-advertising, but I'm not really anti-advertising....
2 months ago • 1 min read