Ep #255: A Peek Inside a Referable Business Part 4

Stacey Brown Randall:          We all start a business to help people, but what if what you do is a little bit hard for folks to grasp at first? How do you bridge the gap of bringing on new clients with referrals of course?

Listen in as I talk to a BRB member who is a business and energy coach.

Hey there, and welcome to episode 255 of the Roadmap to Referrals Podcast, a show about helping you build a referable business, I’m your host, Stacey Brown Randall. Super excited to dive in to today’s episode. This is our fourth interview with a business owner who is building a referable business.

We have had a series of these conversations with people who are inside my coaching program, Building A Referable Business, which we refer to as BRB.

This is our fourth one, we have had this great series. We talked to a custom book and magazine publisher, we talked to a franchise coaching consultant. We talked to a real estate agent, and now, we are talking today to a business and energy coach.

Before we get to the interview, I just want to say, if you haven’t listened to the previous episodes, the previous interviews that I have done with other BRB members, there are some incredible nuggets in there about how they are using what they learn to create and build a referable business.

So, definitely go back, starting with episode 252, then work your way through 253, 254, and here we are now, at 255, and just soak in all the goodness, all the tips and the things that they share about what they’re learning and why it’s important and then of course, how BRB is working for them.

So, I definitely encourage you, if you’re a first-time listener, this is the first show you’ve landed on and you’re like, “Oh, this is cool, what else is there?” We don’t always do interviews, we don’t always have people on the podcast, it’s typically me just teaching you every single Tuesday.

But we took a break, and we had this four-part series because I want you to understand what it sounds like from somebody else. So, what it actually is like for somebody else who is putting in practice the things that I teach.

And so, we had four of our current BRB members come on the podcast and talk to you guys. Well, they talked to me, but it was for your benefit. And talked to us about their experience, their success, and how they’re putting things into practice.

So, I encourage you, if you’re a first-time listener and you just found this podcast, you can definitely go back further. We have over 250 episodes for you to check out. But definitely, start on episode 252 and listen in. And I talk to people at different stages within their time within BRB, and I think that’s really powerful for you guys to grasp.

But okay, let’s dive into today’s episode, today’s interview. Today, we are chatting with Nathalie Ekobo. Now, Nathalie is a business and energy coach, as I mentioned earlier in the introduction.

Of course, she’s also a member of our coaching program, building a referral business. And I will, in the show notes, for this episode, we’ll post all the ways you can get in touch with her. And that of course, the show notes page for this episode is staceybrownrandall.com/255 for episode 255.

Now, for some business owners, it is very cut and dry what they do, and actually, they spend their time looking for ways to differentiate themselves from everybody else who does what they do. Think like a CPA or maybe a divorce attorney, or even a travel planner.

For other business owners, though, there is a gap for people trying to understand what they do, and this is the case for Nathalie. While she is a business coach, she also helps people energetically merging intangibles and tangibles.

So, Natalie and I talk about how generating referrals helps her close that gap between bringing on new clients because there is no better way to share what it is she does and how she works with her clients than her clients, her raving fans. So, let’s dive into the interview.

Natalie, I’m so excited to have you on the podcast today, it’s going to be such a fun conversation. A lot of times, and I have people come on the podcast, they may have been in BRB or a client of mine for years and years. And then I finally get them on, and I was like, “Now, I want to bring some people on who are in their first like quarter, their first couple of months.”

So, you were willing, you said yes, I appreciate that. I’m so excited that you’re here and I would love for you to share with our listeners just a little bit about yourself and your business.

Nathalie Ekobo: Well, thank you, Stacey. I’m excited to be here too.

Stacey Brown Randall:          Awesome.

Nathalie Ekobo: Even if I have a few little butterflies because it’s just the beginning for me, for this program.

So, my name is Natalie Ekobo, my accent is French, but I’ve been living 25 years in Arizona now. And I help women entrepreneurs and thought leaders and executives really to hyper accelerate their growth.

And it can be personal growth, business growth, career growth. I really help them energetically and I merge tangible and intangible things together. A few of my clients say jokingly, I’m a psychic with an MBA, it’s really that.

Stacey Brown Randall:          I love that.

Nathalie Ekobo: I’m merging both worlds together because I do truly believe that when we are aligned, we are creating then a bigger impact with more ease and with more grace. So, that’s what I help my clients achieve.

Stacey Brown Randall:          And who doesn’t want more ease and more grace in their life? We all need that more probably than we all have right now. So, that is awesome.

So, tell us then you made the decision to join the coaching program BRB, Building a Referral Business at the very end of last year, the end of 2022. So, you’ve been in it a couple of months at the time of this recording.

But tell us when you’re making that decision, like, “Okay, I’m going to get serious about referrals and I’m going to learn a way to generate referrals that works for me,” and then you’re here doing it with us the way that I teach it. Why are referrals so important to you in the work that you do and in your business?

Nathalie Ekobo: Well, they are so important because it is so hard to explain and to convey properly what I’m doing.

Because I am merging energy work with tangible coaching, executive coaching and business coaching, business consulting.

It’s difficult for people to grasp what they’re going to get and how they’re going to be transported. So, the best way always for me is when a client is going to share that with someone else.

Stacey Brown Randall:          I think there’s no greater, not only benefit, but also, just the way it makes us feel when our clients can talk to someone else about what we’ve done for them. They always can say it in words that we can’t use. They always can convey the sense of this is what happened. This is the reality and I think that’s so very important.

So, yeah, it’s one thing like, “Hey, I’m a CPA, like referrals are important to me because it’s how I grow my business.” But you’re CPA, we get that, we know what goes into being a CPA. You’re going to do taxes and tax planning and tax prep and all the things that a CPA typically offers.

But to your point, doing energy and executive coaching, it’s totally like, “Wait a minute, what exactly does that mean?” And so, you’re right, having the client speak to the people who would be like, “Trust me, you need to hire her,” goes a long way when it’s, to your point, it’s not as cut and dry as to exactly what you know this is going to be.

Nathalie Ekobo: I’m in a transformation business, so how do you convey that, and it’s always better when someone is sharing to someone they know directly.

You know, “I got that result, this is how I transformed myself or my business, or you won’t believe this.” That’s the phrase I always hear from people is like, “Oh, you won’t believe what just happened.” So, it’s easier if they share their own miracles rather than me trying to brag about that.

Stacey Brown Randall:          I think that’s perfect because while it’s genuine coming from you because it’s happening to your clients, it just has a level of credibility coming from a client to a potential client that you just can’t replicate in the same way, so that is awesome.

So, when you think about all the different ways that you do bring in clients, how do referrals stack up to the other methodologies or the other strategies that you do? And why did you decide to lean into referrals as a strategy for this year?

Nathalie Ekobo: I think it’s my best way of bringing clients in and it may be my most effective one, I’m not sure. Close second comes speaking because when I speak to a group, of course, people are going to get curious and then they get into one-on-one conversations, and then we have a really heartfelt conversation, and then we know.

It becomes very obvious if we want to work together. So, speaking is a very great, great one for me but my favorite one is referral because I don’t have to do anything.

Stacey Brown Randall:          You don’t have to stand on stage, you just have to do amazing things with your clients.

Nathalie Ekobo: I just have to receive.

Stacey Brown Randall:          Just got to receive. It’s so true because obviously, we kind of say that in jest because there is work that we do to nurture the relationships with the people who refer to us. But the truth is, it’s not like you’re standing on stage and then having to have conversations with people, so it is different.

But I also think it’s important that people recognize that even though — when they start working with me, I want referrals to be the biggest way. The largest piece of the pie of how you’re going to bring in your clients. It is also important to me though, that you have a diversified business in terms of how you’re bringing in clients.

And people even ask me all the time, they’re like, “Well, I guess all your clients come by referral,” I’m like, “No,” a lot of them do. And they’re easier to usually get them to become clients when they do.

But to your same point, there’s other ways that people find out about me, and I think that’s a diversified business development strategy is a smart one. I just don’t want you spending a lot of time on the other strategies, I want you doing more with the referral piece.

For me, people hear me on somebody else’s podcast, or they may see me speak on an in-person stage or a virtual stage, or they’re just going to stumble across my book.

Either it’s going to be recommended by someone else or they’re going to find it through an SEO search, and then eventually, they work their way into my world. Those were all great ways but referrals is hands down, of course, like most people my favorite way to feel like the client just arrived.

Nathalie Ekobo: Yeah, and it’s my favorite way because it’s more natural and it doesn’t feel like work. You said nurturing relationships, yes, but that really doesn’t feel like work, it feels like play, it feels natural and beautiful.

Stacey Brown Randall:          Oh, that’s a great way to talk about it, I love that, yes, I completely agree. So, let’s talk a little bit about what’s happened for your business since you’ve joined BRB.

Let’s be honest, it’s slightly unfair for me to be like, “Tell us what’s happened in the first three months,” because it’s been three months, it’s not like you had the benefit of being in BRB for an entire year. We sometimes have people come on, they’re wrapping up their year or they’re even in their second or third year.

But I specifically wanted to talk to some folks who were in those early stages because I think that’s what people listening that are trying to decide, “Hey, I’m going to join BRB or I’m not or whatever,” like trying to make that decision …

I understand probably what it’ll be like a year from now, but what’s it really going to feel like with just in those first couple of months. So, then I was like, “Oh, I know exactly who I want to talk to about having them address those thoughts.”

So, when you first joined BRB and we did your one-on-one onboarding call, and we established your 90-day sprint, you specifically knew that you needed to have some conversations with some people who had referred you in the past.

So, some referral sources that you needed to have conversations with them about how your business model was changing because either when they were a client, before they started referring you when they were a client, how you coached with them looked different than how you do it now.

In some cases, obviously like your rates had gone up, the packaging had looked different in terms of coaching, so all those things had kind of shifted. So, the very first strategy we said okay, instead of starting with one of our foundational strategies, we actually jumped right into a next level strategy.

And that was we need to make sure that how to have conversations with these referral sources about how your business model had changed. So, that was the very first thing you did. You didn’t even start with foundational, you’re like, jump into the next level, that’s like our third level. Since we go foundational, situational, next level.

So, tell us what that was like for you? What it felt like doing that one strategy? Having those conversations, what that was like for you, like what it felt like? And then of course, talk to us about some of the results that you had from those two?

Nathalie Ekobo: So, first, I was scared, I must admit. It’s one thing to know where you want to go and to know you want to uplevel your offerings and to uplevel your business, and who you are and the type of clients you are going to create. But it’s another thing to really have those heartfelt conversations with referral sources.

And I must say you made it seem so smooth and so sleek, so easy. So, I had those conversations, and it went absolutely fabulous. It felt really natural, it didn’t feel like I don’t know … sometimes when you have sale scripts or stuff like that, it just feels so unnatural. But there, the words were just flowing out of my mouth, and they were responding well, and concrete results out of that.

I had actually six or seven conversations with my referral sources, and I got one referral for a location. I was looking for a place to do some meetings, got that right away.

I had one client reactivated without even trying. She really convinced herself that this was time for her to start again, it was just beautiful. And I got one speaking gig that is going to be scheduled for a little later in the year.

So, I think it went great, and my referral sources that are also my clients, they happen to all be clients. They totally got it, and so it was just beautiful to see.

Stacey Brown Randall:          I love it, because I think you’re right. And I think it’s like when you’re truly thinking about, “Okay, what is this going to look like as I go through this process and I’m going to say these things that Stacey’s teaching me to say,” I think it’s important that you’re like, “Yeah, I was nervous.”

Because everybody will feel that way in some small or a large way, but that’s normal. Even though, we talk about when we’re in our group sessions or question and answer group sessions every week and people are asking about language.

And you hear me just in a couple of months, you’ve heard me say probably more than once, your language needs to be easy breezy. Like that’s the way I like to describe the language that I write, is like easy breezy. Like it’s normal, it’s natural.

It feels good to say because if it feels good to say, usually, that means it feels good to receive. And when it feels good to receive, then it has the intended impact we’re looking for. Now, we didn’t anticipate a repeat client, we didn’t anticipate a client saying, “Yay, let me give you more money and I want to be a client again.”

That’s fabulous, we’ll take that all day long. And then of course, we didn’t anticipate that you would get the location suggested for you or referred to you, and then we didn’t anticipate the speaking engagement, but we will take all of those hands down.

Nathalie Ekobo: Absolutely.

Stacey Brown Randall:          It’s always funny to me when people try things that I’m teaching them from a referral perspective and then there’s a surprise factor of sometimes how it works in other areas. And I’m like, “It’s all good, whatever that looks like, it is all good.”

So, being a couple of months in, that was your very first strategy that you started with. You did that in January, you had those conversations, and then you moved into building out your referral plan to take care of your existing referral sources.

So, we went from our next level strategy back down to the foundational strategy that we teach in the GBR, Growth by Referrals training. And that was, “Hey, identify your referral sources, your existing referral sources, let’s create a plan to take better care of them.”

And since then, well, at the time of this recording, you’ve actually executed on two of the touchpoints for your existing referral sources. What was that like for you? Because a lot of people, they’ll ask me, they’re like, “Well, what should my touchpoints be?”

And I’ll always be like, “Well, I only share that with my clients.” What they’re ultimately going to end up being, like that’s what I tell my clients what they should be.

So, you created yours within the framework and the formula of how we teach it, and then with all the examples and things that we give, but the question is always, “But how am I going to feel and what’s the feedback going to be like,” like kind of that unknown.

It’s like not really knowing what to expect, there’s an unknown factor here. So, what was that like for you with executing on those first two touchpoints? And then of course, the feedback that you received?

Nathalie Ekobo: So, I have about 9 or 10 depending on who I count as referral sources. And on the first touch point, at first, I thought it didn’t have that much of an impact at first because I had two, three people, clients talking to me during sessions and saying, “Oh, thank you so much. I really appreciated it, and it was so nice and so sweet of you, and thank you.”

So, of course, I felt good with these clients, but then I was just like, “Hmm, and how come the other ones are not talking about it?” And then the second touchpoint arrives, and I implemented that and then suddenly all of them gave me feedback, text or talked to me and said, “Oh my God, thank you so much.”

And the ones that had not said anything about the first one, then with the second one said, “Oh, and by the way, I really liked what you did the first time.” And I was just like, “Oh yeah, it just needed to sink in a little bit.”

Stacey Brown Randall:          It’s like a surprise that I watch each of you guys unwrap in your own way. So, each of my clients in BRB, I watch you guys unwrap it on your own timetable and in your own way, but you all come to the same conclusions at the end, which is, this is an experience.

The referral plan that you’ve built with me, those touchpoints that you’re going to do for your referral sources throughout the year, we are building an experience for them. It’s not a one hit wonder, it’s not one touch point’s going to give you an avalanche or open up the floodgates of referrals into your business.

It could take time and it could take the building of those touchpoints that happen. And again, we don’t do something monthly, so that’s really important for people to understand when we’re talking about this. It’s going to be five, six or seven for most people, the number of touchpoints they’ll do in a 12-month calendar period.

But when they’re looking at that from that perspective, it’s like we’re building an experience, and each touchpoint builds on the next and builds that goodwill and allows you to occupy space in their mind, and allows you to take care of them, which gives you the opportunity to plant those referral seeds.

And so, I think it’s always so important that when people are having those touchpoints to be executed on, it’s always to recognize that you’re so close to it. You want an immediate response.

You’re like, “Everybody tell me how awesome I am right now. You got it, it hit the mail, I know you got it, I want to hear from you.” But we know when we get things like that, we don’t immediately turn around and thank somebody.

Sometimes it takes seeing them to trigger, “Oh my gosh, I forgot to thank them.” And I always say, even when they don’t give you feedback, it doesn’t mean the impact didn’t happen, it just means you didn’t know about it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there.

And I think it’s really important that we recognize that we’re trying to create better relationships and cultivate better relationships with our referral sources. So, that would make sense that we’re going to do some work.

We’re going to put in some work before we actually start necessarily churning out, referrals upon referrals upon referrals. And some people it’s a snowball, it’s like it hits and it’s boom. And then other peoples, it’s a trickle. And then before they know it, they look back and they’re like, “Oh, the trickle has increased, and I wasn’t paying attention.”

So, I think it’s so important that you shared not only how you felt doing those first two touchpoints, and that’s just in one of the strategies that you’re implementing.

What it felt like and then the feedback that you got, because I think people do have that question of, “Well, what’s it going to be like? Like how am I going to feel? What’s the feedback going to be?”

So, I think it’s so great that you shared that and so important that people can understand what it’s like to be in your shoes.

Hey, pardon the interruption. But when it’s time for you to double, triple or quadruple your referrals, like right now, you need to join us inside the Building a Referral Business Coaching Program.

Go to staceybrownrandall.com/referable to learn about everything you receive inside BRB, and to submit your application. Yes, it’s true, BRB is a small community of business owners because I want to know each one of your businesses inside and out.

And to do that, that means we keep the coaching program small. So, you’ve got to apply, we’ve got to make sure we’ve got room, and we’ve got to make sure you’re the right fit. So, you can submit your application, again, that link is staceybrownrandall.com/referable.

Now, let’s get back to the interview.

Nathalie Ekobo: And I just had lunch with a referral source that actually came from out of States. So, we went for lunch, and she said the sweetest things ever. And then we’re talking, and she was referred to me and then she had referred to me two amazing women entrepreneurs.

And so, we’re talking about that, and then she just confessed that they’re talking behind my back about me altogether because they meet and then they say how fabulous I am, and I’m like, “Oh my God.”

And I think that the meeting and the lunch we had together was possible because my mindset has changed already into nurturing the relationships. It feels like I’m giving more. I mean, I was already a giver, but I’m even giving more now than I am in the program and I am also receiving more. And I was not even expecting that warmth right away.

Stacey Brown Randall:          And I think sometimes it’s — I mean, everybody that comes into the program, obviously we set a goal for the number of referrals that we want you to receive in your first 12 months.

But what is really hard to kind of put on there, here’s what you’re going to receive and here’s what we’re going to try to accomplish page, when someone’s deciding if they’re going to join is how you’re going to feel.

It’s really hard on a marketing message or a sales message to be like, “And here’s how you’re going to feel going through this program.” Because that is typically the thing that people find the most surprising and the most unexpected.

But also, having some of the greatest results for them because for some people it’s like, “I had no idea my clients who also refer me feel this way about me.”

Nathalie Ekobo: Yeah.

Stacey Brown Randall:          Like rising tides, it just kind of lift all boats and I think that is just as valuable as the number of actual referrals.

Nathalie Ekobo: Oh, absolutely. The confidence I gained and it’s funny because I’ve been doing this for 22 years, so you might think that by now, I should be a little confident about what I’m doing and I am.

But still, I gained a new level of confidence and a new level of significance. Like, “Oh my God, I am making a difference.”

Stacey Brown Randall:          That is beautiful.

Nathalie Ekobo: And that’s the feedback I got already in just a couple of months.

Stacey Brown Randall:          I know, I just think there’s more to come, I love it, this is so good. So, you’ve shared a lot about what your first — I’m asking you to talk about 90 days, I recognize it’s like a tiny, tiny time.

But of all the things that you’ve shared, were there any other aha moments that you have had as you’re just consuming the training or consuming the different strategies that you’re learning through the trainings or when I’m answering questions within the weekly Q&A sessions? Like any other aha moments that you’ve had.

Nathalie Ekobo: Yeah, I must confess.

Stacey Brown Randall:          Oh-oh, I don’t know what’s coming.

Nathalie Ekobo: There is one; well, my ego got slapped a little bit and it’s good. Sometimes we need to get back on track. So, I realized that … like when we were talking about events and how I create my events and everything, it dawned on me that I was doing these events before to promote my next offer.

And even if it was not a hot sale, because I think it’s not appropriate in this day and age anymore, but I was doing it for me and for them, but I was doing it for me, and for them, but I was doing it for me.

So, with the coaching we had and everything, I realized that actually for my referral sources, it’s better when I really only focus on them, and I forget about me. And I get into that detachment that by the way, I’m coaching my clients onto also.

That if you want to receive more in life and in business, you need to be a little bit more detached about the outcome, and get into that relaxed place and open your heart to really serve without any attachment. And yeah, I discovered that for the way I was doing my events.

Stacey Brown Randall:          And I think for most people going through this, we fall into, I wouldn’t say a rut, but just a way. This is just the way that we do this and as long as it serves us — even if it doesn’t serve us as well as it used to, as long as it continues to serve us on some way, and it’s not like negative that we’re getting back, we just fall into these patterns or we’re like lulled into this way of consistently doing things the same way without realizing, “Wait, what is that ultimately doing and what do I want it to be doing?”

There’s nothing wrong with promoting things that you have going on in your business. What we talk about though, inside BRB, is we just separate out those sales promotional conversations from the times when we’re trying to make this about the relationship with our referral source.

And for you, it was the aha moment of like, “Oh wait, those need to be separate because I’m always combining them.”

Nathalie Ekobo: I had never done that before. I had never put them separate before.

Stacey Brown Randall:          So, this will be exciting to see how that rolls out for you this year.

Nathalie Ekobo: Absolutely.

Stacey Brown Randall:          So, what’s your favorite part about being a member of BRB?

Nathalie Ekobo: Oh wow, well, I would say my favorite part is you.

Stacey Brown Randall:          Thank you.

Nathalie Ekobo: Sometimes you buy a program and yes, people are coaching you through it and everything, but they are not as involved as you are. And I must say I’m very impressed.

I have that level of standard when I coach and when I help my clients, and I was so happily surprised to see that you have the same level of standard. Like you are here for us, you hold our hands, you just are so present and so committed to my success, that’s my favorite part.

Stacey Brown Randall:          I think you’re going to make me cry. I don’t know if I ever cried on my podcast episodes before. Oh my gosh.

Nathalie Ekobo: It’s true, it’s so precious. When it happens, I think we need to recognize it and acknowledge it and shout it out because it doesn’t happen everywhere, let’s just put it this way.

Stacey Brown Randall:          Yes, you know what’s interesting? I wish I could tell you that I woke up and was like, “This is who I’m going to be for all of my coaching clients, it’s going to be amazing.” But the truth is, I went through some programs of my own and I would feel this very different sense of wow, super invested in my success.

And over here on this side, could they have any more boundaries or rules or guidelines or ways of how they kept themselves from being bothered? And that’s what it felt like. I don’t think that’s what they intended, like, “Oh, don’t bother me.”

I think they kept it as, “Hey, there’s a bunch of you and I don’t want all my time spent helping you,” that’s how it felt. And so, over the last couple of years have really paid attention to how do I feel when I invest in something in terms of not just the results which yes, are important, we all recognize that’s how we judge things.

But even in some cases, even if the results weren’t there, if I learned more and if I felt seen and I felt heard, and sometimes the aha moments that I would have aren’t … you can’t tie dollars to them.

Nathalie Ekobo: Yeah.

Stacey Brown Randall:          You just can’t and so I started recognizing where I wanted to show up with the things that I had ultimately purchased within my business and the things where I was like frustrated and irritated, and didn’t want to do and was like definitely not continuing.

And then I was like, I want people to feel exactly how you said and exactly how I felt when they decide to invest in BRB. Because while it’s not like a massive amount of money, it’s also no small investment either.

And I want people to be like, “Yes, and Stacey is there for me every step of the way.” Like that to me is the greatest — I think legacy is probably overused in this situation, but I think that’s the greatest thing that I can give my clients for the time that I’m allowed to be a part of your life and a part of your business.

I want you to know that I am 100% here for you. And I think ultimately, it feels the best for me and how I show up. I have tried it in the past where there’s boundaries and rules and you only get so many calls and all this, and I’m like, “Ugh, I don’t even know what the rules are.”

And then I found myself bending them, like, “If you need a call, just schedule it.” I found myself bending the only rules I had made, and I was like, “We’re just not having any rules, that just doesn’t make any sense.”

And ultimately, it’s working because you are feeling the way I want you to feel. And one of my drivers for my client experience, is I always want my people to feel cared for. I always want them to know that I care about them, and that they’re important. And I love that that means it’s working, that I’m doing something right. So, I love what you shared, thank you very much.

Nathalie Ekobo: It is, and then if I may add something that comes quite second to that, is you have an answer for everything.

I’m always stunned by when we are in group and then people have other questions and other questions and it’s just like, wow, you have an answer for everything, and the way you use language, words to put it so simply and it’s effective and it’s simple.

So, I really just love that, it’s just like, wow, you make those words seem so natural.

Stacey Brown Randall:          Thank you. I do feel as if God did not gift me with a ton of things, but one thing he did was the language piece. It really does come very naturally to me and easy, which is probably why I have an answer for everything.

My kids would say I have an answer for everything too, they’re just not positive about any of the things I have answers for. So, hey, I appreciate that.

So, let’s imagine that there is someone listening right now, and they are trying to decide is BRB right for me? Maybe they’ve applied but haven’t joined, maybe they haven’t even applied but they’re considering joining.

What would you say to the person who just can’t decide and just can’t pull the trigger to help them understand why BRB could be the best next step for them?

Nathalie Ekobo: Well, first if we’re thinking in terms of referrals and referral programs, I think it’s the best referral programs out there. Like by far. I’ve seen stuff before and I’ve read books and it is the most flowing one, the most natural heartfelt one. So, that’s that.

Second is a program like that, it’s going to serve you for your lifetime in business because let’s face it, referral, this is the best way to grow your business. It’s the easiest, smoothest, nicest way because we don’t have to work. Once again, it is not work, it’s play, it’s nurturing relationship.

How does it get any better than this? And the tools we learn in that one year, we’re going to use those tools over and over and over and over again. Whether you are five years in business, 10, 30, 40, 60, I don’t know.

Because they won’t age, it’s relationship, it’s true heartfelt relationship. It is not a strategy that’s going to have to change because technology’s changing or because whatever, social media is changing or whatever. It’s forever true, and I think what we learn, we can get better and better at this which is making it more fun and more joyful along the way.

Stacey Brown Randall:          Yes, absolutely. Oh my gosh.

Nathalie Ekobo: That’s why I think it’s a no-brainer. I’ve been in business 22 years, you might think, well, she doesn’t need it and maybe I don’t need it. But quite frankly, now that I’m in it, I’m like, “Ooh, there are other ways to do this, and they are actually better.”

And I can fine tune myself, I can refine the way I’m talking to people and make it smoother and easier for me and for them, I can get better at this. It doesn’t mean I was bad at it, but I can get even better and better.

Stacey Brown Randall:          Yes, that is so awesome. Thank you so much for sharing all of that, I may find myself listening to this on repeat. It’s just when I’m having a bad day or when the when the technology decides to be a little bit of a pain in my bottom, I’m like, “I’m just going to go listen to that conversation,” that would be awesome.

So, please share with the listeners who are listening where they can find you, where’s the best place for them to find you, so if they’re interested, they can reach out?

Nathalie Ekobo: So, they can go to my website, which is my name, nathalieekobo.com.

Stacey Brown Randall:          And I’ll definitely link to that in the show notes as well, so they can just go right to the show notes for this episode and click on it, awesome. Alright, well is there anything I should have asked you that I didn’t?

Nathalie Ekobo: I don’t know, no, even after just one quarter, I’m floating on the little cloud already.

Stacey Brown Randall:          Well, and you made me floating on a little cloud just listening all the benefits that you’re getting and then how you’re feeling and the lovely things you said about me.

Well, thank you so much first, for putting your trust in me and becoming a client inside BRB, and then also, for sharing your thoughts with us today on the podcast, I really appreciate it.

Thank you, Nathalie for being on the podcast with me and sharing all those amazing tidbits about your experience with BRB and with me.

Success in BRB comes down to a few key ingredients. Each of these business owners that I’ve interviewed in this series, starting with episode 252 and then 253 and then 254, plus this one, share in those few key ingredients, those key ingredients for success that each of my BRB members believe in and have or alignment with the philosophy and the methods that we teach inside BRB.

They’re willing and do the work. They’re not just willing to do the work, they actually do the work, and they trust in the process and understand there are always going to be ebbs and flows.

While this wraps up our four-part series on sharing a peek inside business owners who are doing the work to build a referable business, I have more BRB members lined up to bring you another series like this soon.

But keep listening every week right here to the Roadmap to Referrals Podcast as we teach you how to build a referral business. Again, the show notes page for this episode is staceybrownrandall.com/255.

And coming up next week is episode 256 and we’re going to be discussing your referral ecosystem, I bet you never thought of it that way. Don’t worry, you’re going to have fun with this episode.

Until then, you know what to do; take control of your referrals and build a referral business. Bye for now.