It Comes Down To. . .
You network at public events, attend seminars, participate in workshops, and visit a lot of coffee shops, all in the pursuit of professionals you can develop referral partner relationships with. Referral partnerships are relationships that mutually benefit each partner, and most importantly, their prospects and clients get double the results from the value all partners provide.
Okay, so we all agree that relationships with referral partners lead to positive scenarios for all parties. How can we tell who is a good referral partner? What makes some people stand apart from the others, and what are the best criteria of referral partners?
Target Markets
One of the most important attributes for an effective referral partner is that they know and have strong relationships with the members of your target market. After all, if you’re a residential realtor, would you benefit from a referral partner who is an event planner? Sure, you may have an occasion to do business directly every now and then, but we’re thinking about 3-D relationships. Realtors and their clients are much more likely to get more value from title agents, lenders, home inspectors, and remodelers than from people who coordinate conferences and seminars.
In addition to knowing your target market members, effective partners should also have a high level of credibility with those professionals. You all know that buyers do business with people they know, like, and trust, so develop referral partnerships with trustworthy, credible professionals. When you work with credible companies who do great work, provide excellent service, and charge reasonably, the number of referrals you share and projects you can collaborate on will go way up.
Qualifying New Acquaintances
Over time referral partners will come and go, and you will find a need to replace them every now and then. Hopefully, you won’t have to look too far outside of your networks, but if you do need to select from folks you don’t know well, or have a strong relationship with, you need to qualify potential partners. Because this is a relationship that means a lot to you and your clients (maybe other professionals too) you won’t enter into referral partnerships quickly and lightly. When I’m trying to identify and qualify new referral partners, I connect with candidates at events, meetings, and seminars, and ask lots of questions, and listen. When someone says they’re in a profession that is a natural fit with my business, I tell them I’m looking for people in that profession that may want to establish a mutually rewarding relationship that also benefits our clients. I ask them if they want to have a one-to-one meeting to pursue how we can support each others’ efforts. During the subsequent meeting I delve into their target markets to verify they are working with the same people I am. Then I start to review the other five attributes to make sure our new relationship will be strong and rewarding. Oh, that’s right, there are six attributes of an effective referral partner. Other characterstics include being coachable, wanting to help, having time to help, having resources to help, and of course they have to be referrable, too. Future blog entries will shine a bit more light on each of the remaining attributes.
