Ever do something (or not do something) even though you know better, Reader?

I did that once.

(Well, let's be real...it wasn't the first time, and won't be the last time. 😂)

You see, I teach a little something called The Greenlight Question. It's a way to find out how likely someone is to refer people to you. In a no-pressure, non-awkward way.

More of a conversation, than a sales pitch.

​Below, I talk about a time a boofed things up by not asking it when I should have.

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I was hosting an event for business professionals. A real estate agent, incredibly polished and successful, showed up.

We had a conversation at the event...

...which led to a phone call...
...which led to another phone call...
...which led to a one-to-one...
...and finally, a lunch. At a nice restaurant.

Maaaybe one of the nicest restaurants in the area.

4 of us. Me and a person from my team, her and a person from hers.

And that's when I decided to finally ask The Greenlight Question.

Her response?

"Well, my daughter's in the business, and we work with her."

Oof.

Altogether it was about 3+ hours, plus lunch at a really nice restaurant...

...only to find out, AT BEST, we'd be in a backup position for referrals because their daughter's in the business. 🤦

Had I known, we could have loved on her in different ways—inviting her to events, etc.

But instead, a lot of time, money, and effort was unnecessarily spent cultivating a referral relationship that just wasn't going to happen.

There are 4 lessons in this:

1. (The obvious one) Ask your Greenlight Question sooner than later.
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2. (The less obvious one) By not having (or working) systems, you're probably wasting WAY more time and money than you think. And as they say, time IS money.
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3. (The even-less-obvious one) It's easy to get starry-eyed with a potential prospect or partner and throw your systems to the wind...to your detriment.
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4. (And finally...) None of us are perfect, even those of us who teach! So give yourself grace, pick yourself up off the ground when you stumble or fall, and keep. practicing.

Here's to getting 1% better every time,

Brian

Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. Work with me to transform your referral relationships. (Booking into Dec - let's talk)
2. Get your own board of advisors with ACCELERATE Boardroom (See if it's a fit here)

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