Ep #226: My Super Complicated Referral Success Formula

Stacey Brown Randall:          The title for this episode describes the referral success formula as super complicated. This should be fun, let’s go.

Hey there, and welcome to episode 226 of the Roadmap To Grow Your Business Podcast, a show about helping you build a referable business. I’m your host, Stacey Brown Randall.

Guess what happens on October 15th? Just a few days from now. Do you know what it is?

You lose your early bird pricing opportunity to join me for my Refocus Retreat. So, if you still want to save some dough and snag your spot, you have just a few days left to do it before the early bird pricing disappears.

My Refocus Retreat is featuring my reverse goal-setting methodology, and that great early bird price is only available for a few more dates, until October 15th. So, like I said, let’s save you some dough, and snag your spot.

This is an intimate event. This is not a ballroom full of people. It’s just you, me, and a few other amazing business owners, and sales professionals who are ready to give 2023 the fighting chance it deserves. You can find all details at staceybrownrandall.com/goals.

And just a little insider scoop, there may be some corn hole and some foosball happening with people who think they can take me, and I would love to show you my competitive spirit.

So, please come of course, because we’re going to do some amazing things as we are reversing your goals. But I can guarantee you’re also going to have a great time having your belly filled with amazing food, and then of course, hanging out and having some fun during lunch and our breaks as well.

Again, all the details are at staceybrownrandall.com/goals.

Okay, let’s dive into this episode. This episode should have been titled; My Super Complicated Two-Step Referral Success Formula, but it was too long for the episode image so, I had to shorten it. But I am really about to give you my super complicated two-step referral explosion formula.

But first, can you hear the sarcasm? Hopefully, it’s charming. Can you hear my sarcasm? Dear Lord, I hope so, because getting referrals is the furthest thing from complicated, and it is definitely not complex.

I know people think it is, and I know for some people, the skimmers of the world who like see the episode title for today’s episode and they’re like, “I’m not listening to that, it’s complicated,” and they don’t understand me, they don’t know the sarcasm.

I know some of you who are my long-time listeners, you saw that title and you’re like, “Stacey’s super complicated referral success formula, okay, this has got to be a joke.” And you’re right, and this is going to be full of sarcasm, and you’re right.

So, I know there are some people who just skimmed right on by that and kind of missed the whole point of this episode.

But I’m 200 something episodes in, sometimes you just got to have a little fun with this because I think people sometimes take ourselves too seriously and we take the things we do too seriously, and I just wanted to have a little bit of fun. We’ll see if this goes over like a led balloon, or if it lands and hits the spot as I had intended.

So, here’s the thing, there are a lot of people who will teach you that getting referrals is complicated. Now, they’ll tell you that it’s not, and then they’ll teach you their strategies and you’re like, “Oh my gosh, this sounds complicated,” but it shouldn’t be.

And there are people who will teach you that generating referrals is as simple as you walking up to just about anybody, and asking them to give you a referral, which is not complicated.

To walk up to somebody and say, “Hey, give me a referral,” that’s not actually complicated, but it is miserable to do. So, it’s why we don’t do it. It’s why we don’t like it. It’s why you guys are here because there’s a different way, a better way, a much better way.

So, there’s lots of things that are taught out there in the land of referrals. Whether that is that it is complicated, it’s not complicated, it’s complex. You just got to do uncomfortable things, no. Getting more referrals, it isn’t complicated, and it’s not complex.

So, are you ready for my two-step formula? It’s actually the two-step easy referral success formula. Okay, here you go. Ready? Take some notes.

Number one, identify your referral sources.

“Say what? Oh my gosh, Stacey, I’ve never heard that before.” Did you hear that sarcasm too? Yes. You’ve heard me say this.

It’s like I’m beating a drum constantly, consistently, all the time, about how you’ve got to identify your referral sources. It is the starting point of all starting points. Obviously, it’s the number one thing that all of my clients do when they join either one of my online programs, whether that’s Referring Machines or Growth by Referrals.

And of course, it’s the very first thing, the pre-work that my Building A Referral Business members do before they’re about to engage in working with me for an entire year.

Guess what they do first too? Yeah, they identify their referral sources. It doesn’t matter to me if you have 2 or 22 or 62, like the number doesn’t matter. It’s your ability to identify them that matters so very much. And when you take the time to identify them — and then we have so many podcast episodes and other resources on this.

If you go to our freebie’s page on our website, it’s staceybrownrandall.com/freebie. And if you just go to that page, like right there, it’s in the section on that page where it’s like you’ve been in business more than a couple of years, and it’s actually how I teach people to identify their referral sources. And then it’s the foundational piece of everything I teach, and it’s based on where I teach from.

It’s this idea that you know who your referral sources are because knowing who they are means then you can do, what is the second step. So, again, if we know who our referral sources are, that’s step one, then guess what?

That allows us to figure out step number two, which is take care of them the right way. I wish I had a drum. Did that sound right? Did that sound like I was hitting a drum, like mic drop?

That’s it, my friends. That is my not super complicated two-step referral success formula.

Number one, identify your referral sources. Number two, take care of them the right way.

Now, how you take care of your referral sources in the right way has everything to do with who they are. Everything to do with who they are. And if you want to hear me talk more about taking care of them the right way, and what that actually means, and how you arrive at what your taking care of them should look like, I want you to go back and I want you to listen to episode 222.

Because episode 222, which was just released a few weeks ago — well, at the time of this recording, at a time you’re listening to this, if you’re listening to it when it was dropped, this episode.

But episode 222 goes through you understanding the how you take care of them, where that starts. And the where it starts is based on who they are. You can’t know the what and the how until you first know the who. It was kind of like journalism 101. For me when I was in college, I was at broadcaster’s major.

It was always the who. We always started with the who. Because that’s where the story is. That’s where the connection is. That’s where we’re going to relate, it’s going to start with the who, and then the rest of the details flow.

And that’s really what this two-step referral success formula is all about, is identifying your referral sources, and then taking care of them the right way. It’s you cannot identify the what until you’ve identified the who.

But you need both steps. And now, a granted, this formula is based on the idea that at the end of the day, when you look at who your referral sources are, that’s actually going to inform what you do.

So, when I’m working with — whether you’re in my self-study course, my self-study program Growth By Referrals, or you’re working with me in my group coaching experience, Building A Referral Business (BRB), regardless of which one you’re in, once you’ve identified who your referral sources are, then we get to work and I teach you the four-part framework of how you look at the touch points or the outreach, or the care that you will give to your referral sources.

We talk some about commonalities, and we talk some about … and commonalities can mean lots of different things. But it can also mean location. How you’re going to take care of your referral sources if they’re local, it’s going to look different than if they’re not local. But then we really actually talk about this science behind showing care to our referral sources.

And that is the biggest key here, is how we’re going to take care of them has a lot to do with who they are. And so, I would encourage you to go back and listen to episode 222, but I would also encourage you to sit down and go through the process to truly identify who your referral sources are.

Actually, I’m going to link to it in the show notes page, the exercise of how you identify your referral sources. So, when you go to the show notes page for this episode, which is staceybrownrandall.com/226, when you go to the show notes page for this episode, I’m going to link right there in the episode to your ability to download the referral source identification exercise.

It’s not a complicated exercise. You can make it as complicated I guess, as you want to make it, but it’s not complicated.

You just go back a year or two, maybe three, and you actually identify who your clients are, and then you identify where they came from, and those that were referred to you; you identify their referral sources name, and then that will give you an idea of who your referral sources are.

Now, some of you will look at this list and be like, “Wow, I don’t have a lot of referral sources.” That’s okay, just means you have a different starting point. But a lot of you will look at this list and you’ll be like, “Wow, actually, I have a fabulous number of referral sources, and now, I get to decide if I’m going to take better care of them.”

The truth is some people second guess the basics because the basics are just so damn unsexy. They’re the basics. They want a silver bullet solution instead.

There isn’t one when it comes to referrals. If there was one, trust me, somebody in the last 30 years would’ve created it, and it would work, and we would all follow it, and we wouldn’t listen to all the other ways we could consider getting referrals because we would’ve found the way.

Now, truly, I believe this is the way, the way that I teach it, but I don’t teach a silver bullet answer. I don’t teach a silver bullet solution. I teach a pretty uncomplicated two-step formula, which is identify your referral sources and then take care of them the right way.

And of course, there’s more that goes along with that about how you identify your referral sources, which I just walked you through, and I’m linking to a free resource you can download on the show notes page for this episode. And then I said, you got to take care of them the right way, but who they are dictates what the right way is for you.

So, I do teach my clients the four-part framework of how we craft the right touch points, the right outreach for your referral sources – not my referral sources, your referral sources.

So, I do believe that some people, they just second guess the basics. They just ignore them because they really aren’t sexy. I totally get it. Like the basics aren’t necessarily super sexy. They’re looking for that silver bullet solution instead, and it just doesn’t exist. So, stop looking for it.

But I also think others avoid the basics as some kind of form of rebellion. Like if everyone else is doing it or if other people are doing it and it’s working, then I’ll do the opposite, even if it sabotages their business.

But I think at the end of the day, this all comes down to people avoiding work, and there’s work to be done to identify your referral sources, step one and step two, to then take care of them the right way.

Not only build what that right way is for your referral sources, but then execute on it. Maybe that’s five times, six times, seven times in a 12-month time span. So, there’s work involved, and I know that’s why some people just ultimately, avoid it.

So, as you’re thinking through what this looks like for you, you’ve got to make some decisions about referral sources. You’ve got to make some decisions like we are friends, we are in fourth quarter. Like this year’s going to be over, and we’re going to be onto a new year like we do every year, but it’s coming to an end.

And at the end of the day, you got to decide, am I going to end 2022 with a different perspective and strategy, and plan for referrals? And am I going to start 2023 in a different way because I’m actually going to take care of my referral sources in a very different way.

So, here’s what I want for you; I want you to recognize that this episode was 100% sarcastic. There is no super complicated referral, two-step referral success formula. It’s pretty simple.

And step one is identify your referral sources. And step two is take care of them the right way, but you’re going to have to figure out what that right way is for you. And if you want my help in that, my friend, I am here.

You can join one of my self-study online courses like Growth by Referrals, or you can come work with me inside Building A Referral Business.

You’ll have to complete an application first because we do only have a small group of folks who are in that program at any one given time. And the end of the year is a big rush for people to be like, “I’m going to do something different.”

So, definitely, if you’re interested, submit your application so that you can get your spot inside Building A Referral Business. But I’m here to work with you if you would like my help, nothing would make me happier.

Quick reminder; show notes for this episode, staceybrownrandall.com/226, and I will link to that resource of showing you how to figure out who your referral sources are. I will link to that, and I’ll also link to the episode — episode 222, where I talk about figuring out what you’re going to do for your referral sources. I think that episode will be enlightening for you.

Quick reminder though, another one, if you are a member of my Growth By Referrals Program, and you want to work with me live and in person on your 2023 referral plan, go check your inbox for details on our Refocus Retreat. You get a two for one special.

The retreat is part all-things referrals and part reverse goal-setting, and we’re doing it over a day and a half. If you’re not a member of the Growth By Referrals Program but you want to learn my reverse goal-setting process — so if you’re not a member of the Growth By Referrals Program, but you want to learn my reverse goal-setting process, and you want to hang with me in December, maybe you want to take me on corn hole or foosball, then join me. I would love to have you join.

Early bird pricing is available for just a few more days through October 15th. So, sign up now and reserve your seat. Just go to staceybrownrandall.com/goals.

Coming up next week is episode 227, and we’re talking about the metrics that should define your referrals.

Until then, take control and grow your business. Bye for now.

Thanks for listening to the Roadmap to Grow Your Business podcast. To
access all resources and links mentioned in today’s show, and to
connect with Stacey, head over to www.staceybrownrandall.com.