“We imagine a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every day inspired, feel safe wherever they are and end the day fulfilled by the work they do.”

If you visit Simon Sinek’s website (simonsinek.com) the quote above is the first thing you will see on his home page.

It’s a cracking mission statement all round, however I love the last nine words, they are the ones that really resonate for me.  “end the day fulfilled by the work they do.”

Whether you are self employed or employed having a sense of fulfilment of having spent the day doing something you enjoy is so important, otherwise the feeling of doing something you don’t like for long periods of time can really have a negative effect our lives. This negative effect will them permeate to all aspects of our lives affecting our family, friends and our own mental health.

This leads me to a common topic of discussion I have with clients and people in business. Does it matter why you do what you do? Do people really care whether you’re engaged with what you do or do they just want a good product or service at a good price?

The question of whether people really care about what you do is a secondary one. What really matters is do YOU really care? If not, then why are you doing what you do? What are the bigger benefits that keep you doing a job or running a business that you’re not emotionally connected or engaged with?

I think there is a spectrum of care as whatever we do we care enough about it as we continue to do it. We are getting a benefit of some sort that keeps us engaged enough even if we don’t like what we do.

If we really care about what we do and we are fulfilled in our job or business then how can we use this to create long lasting referral relationships that will benefit us?

Below is Simon Sinek’s famous golden circle. You see in the picture below how Simon suggests we use our Why, How, What when crafting our message to potential clients.

that really resonant with me “end the day fulfilled by the work they do”

Here’s how you can engage your network using Why, How, What when you are trying to educate them to bring you referrals.

WHY

Explaining why you do what you do and why you want to make the difference you want to make for your clients to your network, is a great way to engage with people who “get” you. Explaining what drives you helps you discover people who want to make the same difference as you and so they will be more likely to promote what you do as why you do it resonates with them too. It will also subconsciously push away who don’t get you too. This is good as it means you will be spending your time with people who are more likely to refer you.

HOW

Now you know your why and why it benefits your prospective clients. It’s time to explain how you go about delivering on your why to your referral partners so they can refer you with ease to your ideal clients in their network. How do you work with your clients? What are the steps you take to deliver your product or service? Think about things like:

·        Delivery of product or service

·        Resources for client

·        What is your sales process?

·        How are payments made/collected?

WHAT

This one is so important for you to understand. Quite simply what are the benefits to your clients and your referral partners in engaging with you. Remember here we are looking at benefits (how your clients/referral partners lives will be better after engaging with you) rather than features. Features of your business usually include things that you think are great about your business. Things like your customer services, years in business, quality of products the dreaded “price” benefit (more about that one another time).

While these things are important, as buying decisions their impact can be lost as these are the type of things many business owners talk about so buyers are used to hearing them and they can become too blah blah.

The benefits can best be described as what is going to make the biggest difference to that client or referral partner by engaging with you. They only way you can find that out is by talking to them and asking about what they are looking for. Then listening to their challenges, wants or needs and then explaining how what you do will address those challenges, wants or needs.

For your potential referral partner the big benefit is a quality referral partner in their network (you) and access to your network and that networks clients.

There is my take on how you can generate more business through your referral partners by following Simon Sinek’s Golden circles model of Why, How, What. I hope you enjoyed it and I’d love to have your thoughts.