Giving Referrals Unconditionally

Have you heard the saying,

"What goes around, comes around"?

My good friend and mentor, Richard Wilkins, asks:

"Do you really believe that what goes around, comes around? So what have you got going around? What are you giving out to the universe"

In the world of breakfast networking, there is a mantra that is repeated across the world - 'givers gain'. (I think Dr Ivan Misner of Business Network International - BNI - came up with this one.) In other words, the more referrals you give, the more referrals you'll gain.

This is an excellent approach to follow. It's certainly better than 'show me yours and I'll show you mine'. That should be left at the playground and not brought into the business environment.
As much as I like this approach, I am convinced there is something even more profound than this -

'Give (referrals) unconditionally'.

From the givers point of view, there is no better feeling than to be able to give referrals that have no conditions attached. No pressure on you to have expectations that may or may not come to fruition. Furthermore, you are not putting your life and relationship on hold waiting for that ever-elusive payback.

From the referral receivers point of view, they are not made to feel pressure to give back; nor are they of the view that their are strings attached to your referral.

So where does that leave you, the giver?

By giving unconditionally, you have done two things:

- You have elevated the value of you in the eyes of your network.

The most precious resource that you have is your time. When you are giving your time up to connect people, then you are seen as a valuable asset instead of a commodity. Thus, the more you give, the greater will be the value of you to your network. Period.

- You become more referable.

People will want to refer to you. They will see you as someone who is a giver and, therefore, they will want to give you more referrals in order for them to gain in the long run.

Works like a charm. Give it a shot for a month and let me know how you got on with it. If you are worried that you will not get referrals, then there's a few things you can do to make yourself more referable. More about this in a future blog on your 'expertise' as a connector.

Want to find out more about how you can boost your business referrals, then why not book yourself for the Referral Sales Summit on Tuesday 27th June 2006 in Birmingham, UK?