In a recent conversation, a colleague of mine was lamenting over a situation they found herself in. They told me that they had a brand spanking new client that took up an amazing amount of her time & that of her staff. The client was sometimes belligerent & demanding to the point where each interaction consumed most of my colleague's energy & her day.
I asked her why is they working with this particular client? They replied that it was a referral from an excellent mate & they did not require to disappoint her mate who was & a major source of business referrals.
As the story unfolded, it turned out that the source of the referral "oversold" the prospect on my colleague's company's services & abilities. The prospect was left to think that my colleague's company could do anything, in record time & that they would be at the prospect's beck & call. This created a uncomfortable situation for my colleague who decided they was going to "grin & bear it" until the project was done.
Over the years, much has been written about the importance of exceeding your customer's expectations. While this is brilliantly important in business when it comes to networking, you must first manage the expectations of your potential customer by educating the source of the referral, first.
For example, your referral source may be so excited to give a referral to you that they over-state your abilities & availability. On other occasions, the source may tell the prospect that you have the "lowest price" while that may not be the case. Because they are being referred by somebody who they know & trust, sometimes the prospect automatically expects a discount or some other kind of special service or perks. In most cases, this will happen because of the source's over-statements before they even gave you the referral & always because of a lack of understanding between you & the referral source.
Since the prospect is coming to you by a word-of-mouth referral, the source must always communicate correct knowledge about you & your business to those they are going to be referring. You require to tell your source exactly how they ought to promote you, what to say & how to say it to a prospect, before they even speak to the prospect. You also require to tell them what you will say & do for that prospect when they communicate or meet with you after the referral is made. That way there's tiny or no misunderstandings & the expectations are set between the people involved.
Don't be of the The World's Worst Networkers & leave it up to the referral source to figure it out or, even worse, leave it up to chance. By teaching your source what to say, how to say it & what you will do for the prospect, it will make it simpler for you to manage, meet & exceed everyone's expectations.
I asked her why is they working with this particular client? They replied that it was a referral from an excellent mate & they did not require to disappoint her mate who was & a major source of business referrals.
As the story unfolded, it turned out that the source of the referral "oversold" the prospect on my colleague's company's services & abilities. The prospect was left to think that my colleague's company could do anything, in record time & that they would be at the prospect's beck & call. This created a uncomfortable situation for my colleague who decided they was going to "grin & bear it" until the project was done.
Over the years, much has been written about the importance of exceeding your customer's expectations. While this is brilliantly important in business when it comes to networking, you must first manage the expectations of your potential customer by educating the source of the referral, first.
For example, your referral source may be so excited to give a referral to you that they over-state your abilities & availability. On other occasions, the source may tell the prospect that you have the "lowest price" while that may not be the case. Because they are being referred by somebody who they know & trust, sometimes the prospect automatically expects a discount or some other kind of special service or perks. In most cases, this will happen because of the source's over-statements before they even gave you the referral & always because of a lack of understanding between you & the referral source.
Since the prospect is coming to you by a word-of-mouth referral, the source must always communicate correct knowledge about you & your business to those they are going to be referring. You require to tell your source exactly how they ought to promote you, what to say & how to say it to a prospect, before they even speak to the prospect. You also require to tell them what you will say & do for that prospect when they communicate or meet with you after the referral is made. That way there's tiny or no misunderstandings & the expectations are set between the people involved.
Don't be of the The World's Worst Networkers & leave it up to the referral source to figure it out or, even worse, leave it up to chance. By teaching your source what to say, how to say it & what you will do for the prospect, it will make it simpler for you to manage, meet & exceed everyone's expectations.
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