Solutions for Mistakes Made in Building Referral Partners

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Solutions for Mistakes Made in Building Referral Partners

Written by Colleen Stanley

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Five Tips to Put the "Win" Back in Your Sales!

Plain and simple: people do not want to be “sold.” Instead, they want to “buy,” and they expect salespeople to help them through the buying process, not simply move them along the sales cycle. In the past, vendors and their salespeople were the main – and very often the sole—source of information for the customer. The Internet has permanently altered the market environment and rendered traditional sales processes obsolete.

There are thousands of dollars invested every year in creating a compelling brand. Once created, well designed pieces of collateral hit the streets through different venues; email newsletters, direct mail, blogs and videos. All important strategies and tactics for generating qualified opportunities.

Building Good Referral Partners
There is another strategy for generating opportunities that requires little money. It’s called a referral strategy and the upfront investment is the willingness to invest time in people and relationships. In a world gone flat, everyone is bombarded and overloaded with information. It’s more important than ever to develop referral partners and strategic alliances in order to push past the clutter and be considered for the next opportunity. Unfortunately, most salespeople and companies don’t execute a referral strategy very well. The intentions are good, however, methodology is poor. Let’s take a look at the top three mistakes made in building referral partners and their solutions.

#1: No alignment.

When looking for potential referral partners, put on your sales hat. Good partners are like good prospects; they must be qualified or disqualified. One of the key qualifiers for referral partners is how well they align with your company values, goals and objectives. Ask yourself the following questions when qualifying potential partners:

How does your potential partner treat their customers? Do they create ‘raving fans’ or are they just in business to collect commissions?
Who is your potential referral partner target customer? If you need connections in the Fortune 500 world and your potential partner calls on mid-market, there is not going to be a lot of opportunities for exchanging leads.
Is there a match on the target prospects psychographics? If your company sells on value and your potential referral partners sells on price, you can be assured the only opportunities generated will be cheap and negotiated.
Take a look at the relationship your potential partner has with their current clients. Are they treated like a vendor or trusted advisor? If they are treated like a vendor, chances are you are getting introduced into companies where there is not a values match. Companies who treat vendors like vendors generally have a corporate culture where people as a whole are not valued. As a result, relationships are not a value add in the selling proposition and you are now in the price game.

#2: No match on partnership philosophy.

Think about good friendships and marriages. They are grounded in trust, full of give and take and a real concern about the other person’s welfare. Business partnerships are no different. The problem with most salespeople in building relationships is that they operate in efficiency mode and don’t take the time to get to know their potential referral partners business. Go beyond the basics such as size, demographics and problems solved for clients.

Why are you in business? (And don’t settle for the money reason.)
What’s the number one reason clients do business with you over your competitor?
What have you done or changed at your company to add more value for your customers?

Good referral partnerships are based on generosity and reciprocity. When a good referral partner walks into a networking event, they look for two opportunities; one for themselves and one for their partners. Good partners are willing to do the work in building relationships. Instead of shooting off an email off that says, “Call Joe and use my name,” a good partner will pick up the phone, call Joe, deliver your ’30 second commercial’ and qualify or disqualify the opportunity for you. It takes time and it’s the willingness to invest time that separates the salesperson that has a lot of contacts from the salesperson who has relationships. Here’s a rule: processes and systems are efficient. People are not.

#3: No follow-up.

An introduction to a referral partner’s best client or colleague is a gift wrapped with a nice bow. Research shows the increase in close ratios for referrals is double that of a cold call or leads generated by marketing. Don’t be a stranger after receiving an introduction. Ask your referral partner how they’d like you to stay in touch regarding the account. Some partners like to be included on all emails, others a monthly progress report and others just a final recap. Keep track of success stories and share with your partner. It is important for them to know about the wins you are achieving for their contact.

Qualify your partners and be a good partner. It’s a great marketing strategy.

Interested in more strategies for networking? Click here.

Colleen Stanley
		About the author:
		Colleen Stanley is president of SalesLeadership, Inc. She is a monthly columnist for the Denver Business Journal, co-author of 'Motivational Selling' and author of 'Growing Great Sales Teams: Lessons from the Cornfield.' Colleen is a popular speaker for Vistage International, Women’s Leadership Exchange and was the featured speaker on sales for the 2006 New York Times Small Business Summit. She is on the board of directors for The Tennyson Center for Children, Association for Corporate Growth and National Speakers Association. .