There are some businesses, some products and some people that are just easier to refer. How do you, as a business, make yourself more referable? To answer this question, let's talk about why you might NOT get referred on:
What all of these boil down to is that you might make the referrer look bad in front of their friend or acquaintance. When a person refers someone else they are essentially putting their name to your business and this is a risky thing to do.
If you can prove yourself to be a success story then you are going to get more referrals. You can do this by:
Doing High Quality Work Every Time
Producing the goods not only for the person who might refer you, but also throughout your portfolio makes you a lot more referable.
Being Really Reliable
If you answer every email within a few hours, pick up the phone when it rings, show up to meetings and deliver when you say you will, you'll find your refer-ability will skyrocket.
Price Yourself Right
There is a place for really high prices, consistent referrals is not it. If you are aiming to be referred over and over you will either need reasonable prices combined with quality or reliability, OR low enough prices that you're a steal even if you don't produce the best work around.
Be Likable
Clients don't need to love you, but they do need to find you pleasant and easy to deal with. Most people don't want to refer a freelancer who is patronizing, rude or just offensive. I'd like to say this is probably a life lesson, but if not for everyone, at least curb it for your clients! __________________
So to be more referable you must either reduce that risk or make the pay off big. Here is how you do this __________________
- You aren't very good at what you do
- You aren't reliable
- You are unpredictable
- You aren't very likable
- You are overpriced
What all of these boil down to is that you might make the referrer look bad in front of their friend or acquaintance. When a person refers someone else they are essentially putting their name to your business and this is a risky thing to do.
If you can prove yourself to be a success story then you are going to get more referrals. You can do this by:
Doing High Quality Work Every Time
Producing the goods not only for the person who might refer you, but also throughout your portfolio makes you a lot more referable.
Being Really Reliable
If you answer every email within a few hours, pick up the phone when it rings, show up to meetings and deliver when you say you will, you'll find your refer-ability will skyrocket.
Price Yourself Right
There is a place for really high prices, consistent referrals is not it. If you are aiming to be referred over and over you will either need reasonable prices combined with quality or reliability, OR low enough prices that you're a steal even if you don't produce the best work around.
Be Likable
Clients don't need to love you, but they do need to find you pleasant and easy to deal with. Most people don't want to refer a freelancer who is patronizing, rude or just offensive. I'd like to say this is probably a life lesson, but if not for everyone, at least curb it for your clients! __________________
So to be more referable you must either reduce that risk or make the pay off big. Here is how you do this __________________
Tags:
Report as inappropriate
