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What drives referral based business more, people you know or people who know you?
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5 Answers
Referral business is driven by us--asking the people we know to refer us. Asking for referrals is a proactive, intentional, disciplined sales prospecting process and is built on personal relationships.
Do people know us and find out about us through our reputation and through social media? Absolutely. However, waiting for people to find you, waiting for the phone to ring, is not proactive. Some people call this "word of mouth."
Instead, use social media to find out who people are, who they know, and how you're connected. Then, pick up the phone and talk. Before you ever meet with a referral, you should talk to your Referral Source and learn as much as possible. This is just good sales behavior. It brings "social intelligence" alive and current.
I agree with Leanne that we must clearly describe our Ideal Client and look for opportunities to refer others. People refer people they know, like, and trust. Period. (Old news, but true.)
It used to be very much who you know but the bigger social marketing becomes it is becoming as much people who know you. Reason I say this is because now someone may refer someone to another person but they will then Google the person's name to validate the quality of the referral.
As social media continues to grow it is the reason why it is essential for everyone to be spending time developing a social media footprint.
I agree. It's people who know me. Every time I write an article, attend a networking event, do joint venture teleseminars, contribute to a blog post, or tweet something, I get more followers which leads to more people signing up for my services. They don't know me, per se, but they know "of me".
The referrals are a direct result of leveraging "me 2.0" through social media channels.
This answer may be a little out of the norm, but what drives referral based business, in my opinion, more is:
1. Educating your contacts as to what makes your best "ideal potential customer"
2. Using the "givers gain" philosophy of making referrals
3. Consistent integrated marketing (as Marylou suggested)
People that know me.
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