Referral Partner Success Strategies

​​I was just in Raleigh, NC where I spoke at the Achieve Systems conference on how to develop strong referral partnerships to grow business. Over the years, I’ve had some amazing, ongoing referral partnerships that really kept a steady influx of clients coming my way.  These partnerships have literally sent me hundreds of thousands of dollars in business over the years and I would love to share my strategies with you so you can have similar successes.

​Here’s a picture of most of the attendees at the event, what a great crowd for our first conference in the area.  I’m looking forward to building on those relationships and going back next year.

​(Keep your fingers crossed that we will have a new Women, Wine & Wellness chapter there soon.)
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​My first and most magical referral partnership grew from the very first networking event I had ever attended (you can read about my first experience networking here). What makes it magical was that I had no idea back then or a strategy behind it, it simply happened naturally.

I met Marty at that first networking event and shortly thereafter, he and his wife hired me for personal training twice a week.  Marty is an accountant with his own practice and his wife, Lori is a partner of an accounting firm in Denver.

Once we began working together, Lori started getting results and others in her office noticed and were asking her what she was doing.  She started to share my information with people and she also got me into the office gym to provide free equipment orientations for people who wanted to use the company gym.  I started holding a couple of workout groups there and private training sessions as well.

Marty also started sharing how I was helping them as a couple improve their fitness level with both his clients and his business network.

At any given time over the past 9 years, their referrals were equal to a large percentage of my business.  What they did for me and my business was simply amazing!  And this is just 1 example of the many power partners I’ve had over the years.

Looking back on it, I can see the components that made this process very successful and very duplicatable.

• Have enthusiasm: I LOVE my clients and everyone knows it.
• Deliver results: Once someone achieves the results they’ve been striving for, they become raving fans.
• Offer various offerings for all budgets: Although Lori and Marty could afford and made health a priority in their budget, not everyone is in that place financially.  Offering various price point options make it easy for others to refer you.
• Have regular conversations or a keep in touch strategy that shares what you offer and who you help: This keeps you at the top of mind as well as educates your power partners on how to talk about you and your offerings.  In this case, since I saw them so often, these conversations were very easy and came up naturally.
• Have business systems in place so it’s easy to serve people: This simply shows you’re a professional and builds trust within the relationship that you will take care of the referrals they send you.
• Build in a win-win: Although my network wasn’t nearly as big as theirs, I definitely also tried to find ways to send Marty as much business as I could (If you need a great accountant for small business, I've got one for you:)).  I also wished I had sent them more thank you cards and gifts, people really like to be appreciated.
• About the power partners: Lori and Marty happen to be two very solid, honest, likeable people. Both accountants, both from farm families in Nebraska… You get the idea! They both have large networks and their connections trust them and are likely to act on their recommendations.

When you put these pieces together, create multiple relationships that support a system like this, it makes for a winning team of powerful referral partners that will help give your business a consistent stream of customers.

Thanks for reading!  Please leave a comment below, I love the feedback. 

Would you like help building a referral network that continuously sends loads of business your way?  Get your Networking for Success Strategy Session FREE (valued at $97) by emailing me at sharimitteco@gmail.com  

Cheers to Your Health!
~Shari