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Referrals are often considered the cream of the crop in any service business.

They come to you directly, have already been vetted, and the best part? Prospects are ready to buy.

This helps clear out time for you to focus on the clients you already have and you don’t have to worry about sticking a specific business development plan.

Many organizations claim to be completely referral grown. That’s awesome for them if it’s true, but it’s usually not a strategy most would recommend.

With Referrals, You Have No Control

You can’t control when referrals come in and that makes it hard to plan for the future.

Of course, none of this is to say you shouldn’t accept referrals, because you definitely should.

Just be sure to not rely on referrals and referrals alone.

Clients are the best place to start when you build your networks.

Plus, you can make it easy and even fun for them to refer you.

When you have a plan, you can increase the chances of clients and partners actually referring you, and then you can count on referrals to represent a good chunk of your growth.

The Spin Sucks Podcast

In this week’s podcast you’ll learn about:

• • The myths about referrals
  • How to ask for referrals strategically
  • How to time your referral requests
  • Real-world examples of great referral requests

About Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, a Chicago-based integrated marketing communications firm. She is the lead blogger at Spin Sucks and is the founder of Spin Sucks Pro. She is the co-author of Marketing in the Round and co-host of Inside PR. Full bio