When talking to my clients about their referral strategy a key question I ask is “Who do you have in your networks? Their default thinking about their network is usually the place where they “do” networking.
This is certainly a network however if we were to place every person we know into a network type, at Asentiv we would say they would come under one of three network headings. These headings are Information Network, Support Network and Referral Network.
Your Information Network consists of your most knowledgeable sources, and the people or resources that can provide you with the knowledge and expertise you need to run a successful operation. You may have discovered already that it is next to impossible to keep up with all this information on your own. There is simply too much of it, and your own inclinations and time limitations steer you toward some kinds of knowledge and cause you to neglect others. For example, you maybe strong in marketing and business planning, but weak in human resources and legal matters.
Fortunately, the knowledge you lack is always someone else’s specialty, so you can turn to others for help. This is what you are preparing to do when you set up your network’s information component—a web of contacts who know and understand what you must do to achieve success in your profession or business, and who have the experience to help you achieve your goals.
In your Support Network there are usually at least a few people who can help you deal with certain issues or special problems that you may encounter in the business or profession you are in, or are interested in entering. If you know you are lacking in a specific area of knowledge, you must know in advance whom to contact and where to go to get the information you need.
The types of issues can vary, think about who would you go when you need to do the following;
- Let off steam or vent?
- Have some fun?
- You need uplifting and/or encouragement?
- You need to brain storm or share ideas?
- You need to share uncomfortable things like money or conflict resolution?
- You need to be inspired?
- You need to be challenged on my complacency?
Your Referral Network is made up of people that for some reason have the ability to refer business to you. They usually come from the eight referral sources which we will discuss in our next blog.
Its important to take a look at you networks and look for people who may well have a connection to your target market clients. A really useful exercise is to list your contacts into one of the three headings and review who has access to your target market clients and also to notice where your gaps are.
You will notice that there maybe some overlap of people between categories too. You need to be cautious that you don’t over task anyone in your network. Therefore, you want to have multiple people in each category of each type of network. This will also make you a key person of influence within your own network.
Going through this exercise of sorting your contacts into their relevant network can take time, however when done effectively it will really help you gain clarity on who the key referral partners are in your network.
If you would like to find out more on how to develop key referral marketing strategies then you can register for our monthly newsletter here.
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To your continued success
Dave