One of the quickest ways to get more clients by getting referrals from your network and to get out there in a BIG way is to start telling your Centers of Influence (COIs) what you’re up to in a face-to-face meeting. This can be in addition to sending them the introduction letter and this can be either in a café or at their office (where they have their Rolodex handy).
Centers of influence are people who like and respect you and who come in contact with enough people on a daily and weekly basis to be able to regularly refer you to the right people. They are some of the most influential people you know, natural networkers who seem to know everyone, “bridgers” who love putting people together, just for the fun of it.
If you’re looking to get more clients from the people you know best – the center of influence is the way to go. These are business people who are well established, are great networkers and who can lead you to the kind of clients you are looking for.
You want to surround yourself as much as possible in the network of several Centers of Influence to get more referrals and get more clients.
Just one meeting with some of these COIs over coffee or lunch (your treat), on a regular basis will start revving up your reputation and referral engines. People will start hearing about you and you’ll probably get new clients this way fairly shortly.
Your Client Attraction Assignment:
Make a list of the 20 most influential people you know. These are usually natural networkers who run into lots of people and would be happy to tell others about you when appropriate. Call five of these COIs this week to set up coffee or lunch in the next two weeks. Do the same the following week, and so on. Educate them on what you do for clients, your System and who your Ideal Clients are. And of course, offer to do the same for them.
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Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System®, the proven step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to attract more clients, in record time…guaranteed. To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her weekly marketing & success mindset articles on attracting more high-paying clients and dramatically increasing your in.come, visit www.attractclients.com.
My clients and I seem to talk a lot about implementing referral systems in business. Once a client and I have set up a few of the 10 steps of the Client Attraction System®, there always comes a time when referrals (or shall we say, the lack of them) becomes the hot topic to focus on in our coaching.
In fact, almost everyone I speak to about his or her business does almost nothing to generate referrals, preferring instead to wait for them to self-generate. Problem is, these referrals don’t always come as quickly as we’d like, right? And for many people, it often feels awkward to come right out and ask (although I have ways and systems for that too.) (more…)
To dramatically increase referrals, it’s important to educate the people you consider personal advocates (those who know you, like you, trust you, love you, and want the best for you), and let them know what you’re up to and who your best clients are.
If you’re just starting out, it’s a letter of introduction; if you’ve been in practice several months or years, write an “update letter” on how your practice has grown or new services that you provide.
The fact is, most people who are your personal advocates will be happy to help (people LOVE to give referrals and to help a friend in business, especially when the person is a trusted friend). It makes them feel good, yet most of us somehow feel that we’re being a burden on our network when we do this. The good news is, it all depends on how tastefully it’s done. (more…)
