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Referral Mastery Tip Series - March, 2005In this issue:
Referral Mastery Tip Series - March, 2005
In this issue: 1. Using the Easter and Passover holidays to generate referrals
2. How to capitalize on the tax season to build alliances with CPA’s
3. Upcoming Discussion Board: Forging Stronger Bonds with Clients
4. Referral Mastery Workshop in cities across North America
4. Helpful resources
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Use the Upcoming Easter and Passover Holiday to Generate Referrals
The upcoming Easter and Passover holiday provides another opportunity to demonstrate caring and discover the networks of our clients in a subtle way. Before the holiday, simply say,
"What plans do you have for the holidays?"
And they will tell you with whom they will be spending the holidays. They will provide you with extensive information on their networks-if you listen and ask a few follow-up questions. After the holiday, simply ask,
"With whom did you celebrate the holiday?" Listen, take notes, and ask a few follow-up questions.
You demonstrate a caring for that which is important in their lives.
AND you expand your knowledge of their networks, which you can use to further qualify and get referred in subsequent meetings. Tax Day - Hassle or Opportunity?During the weeks immediately preceding Tax Day, advisors must respond to a wave of questions as clients prepare their tax returns. To many advisors, it’s ONE BIG HASSLE. Some even take off tax week just to avoid the trouble. If you stick around and provide this service, you can get marketing value from doing so. If you’re attempting to cultivate relationships with CPA’s either as clients directly or as potential referral sources, you can find out a lot about CPA’s this season. At the very least, you can make sure your client records reflect who the other advisors are. When you clients call in with tax questions this week, consider asking:
"By the way, who is your accountant? Clients sometimes ask me to refer an accountant. Tell me a little bit about yours. How long have you worked with him/her? How did you find him/her? What do you know about their practice? Do they have a specialty?" If you are at a stage where you want to add CPA’s to your network and your client describes attributes that are attractive to you, you can take the initiative to make contact and demonstrate superior service.
"Let me save you some time. I’ll call your accountant for you and gave him/her the tax information. Do I have your permission to share this information?" If you don’t want to go that far, you can just make a note of who they are and contact them after tax season.
"You and I share some common clients. We should probably know more about each other’s practice. I may have other clients who may need your expertise." As you attempt to develop relationships with other advisors such as CPA’s, keep in mind that not everyone is a good alliance partner. Identify the characteristics you want in your network of complementary service providers.
Here are a few to consider: *** Wants to grow. Unless they want to grow, they are unlikely to see the value in developing a relationship with you or invest in collaborative marketing efforts. *** Willing to partner: This means they are willing to give as well as receive. *** Serve a market that you find attractive. If you are targeting a certain type of business owner, strive to establish a relationship with an accountant or attorney who serves that type of business owner. As a result, you may complement each other’s expertise and offer a more robust expertise package. In addition, it is much easier to develop marketing initiatives to which both of you can contribute and derive benefit. Strive for a few solid relationships, rather than many weak ones. *** Deliver high quality service. You want people who will treat your clients very well and will agree to certain standards of reciprocal communication.
Helpful Resource #1
The first is the Referral Mastery Lesson Series. This lesson series is a year-long learning and development process where you construct a powerful referral system on a step-by-step basis. In the next year, you will receive 26 lessons (1 every other week). Each lesson is a building block in constructing a comprehensive system that you will use to move up the profitability staircase. It is very inexpensive. For details, go to Referral Mastery Lesson Series
https://ssl.cgicafe.com/clients/referralmastery.com/mini_lessons.html
Discussion BoardHorsesmouth.com will present a special discussion board on "Developing Clients into Advocates Who Will Promote You" beginning on Monday, March 28. They asked me to be the featured host. Please join the discussion if you are a Hosesemouth.com subscriber. If you want a copy of the article "Developing Clients into Advocates", just email me at mike@referralmastery.com
Referral Mastery Workshop in a City Near You
I will be conducting the Referral Mastery Workshop in Ft. Worth, Dallas, Scottsdale, Nashville, Little Rock, Bethesda, Washington D.C., Phoenix, Charlotte, Milwaukee, in the next few weeks. Consider joining us.
Meeting Resource
Managers and Meeting Planners: Charge up your meeting or conference with a high-impact, productivity-driving workshop. Call 800-865-2867 or see ReferralMastery.com for programs and resources.
Helpful Resource #2
The second is the Referral Mastery Coaching Program. You work 1-on-1 with an experienced coach who will design a referral process that is tailored to you, your personality, and the type of referral you desire. You will learn the most powerful and state-of-the art strategies. Then your coach will guide you to implement a comprehensive system that consistently generates exactly the type of referrals you desire. Your coach helps you sort through team member’s roles and responsibilities, how to structure your database to capture the right information, and how to use network information to get precisely the referrals you want. Your coach supports you in changing behaviors and helps hold you accountable. The typical performance gain for advisors who commit to the Referral Mastery Coaching process is a net gain of $15-40 million in new assets from referrals within 24 months. And it’s GUARANTEED.
For more information, call 800-865-2867 or go to http://referralmastery.com/coaching_program.html
Explode your performance and income with a coaching program tailored to you and your goals
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TO CONTACT MIKE: Michael Brizz, CMC
The Center for Professional Achievement, Inc.
Creators of the Referral Mastery System
18912 Chillicothe Road
Chagrin Falls, OH 44023
800-865-2867
mike@referralmastery.com
www.referralmastery.com Productivity Workshops - Advisor and Team Coaching - Productivity Tools Copyright: Center for Professional Achievement. 2005. All rights reserved.
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