The Referral Engine
Author: John Jantsch
Publisher: Portfolio
Price: $32.50
John Jantsch’s, bestselling author of Duct Tape Marketing, most recent book, The Referral Engine, touches on the importance of putting processes in place to make collecting referrals (as well as increasing them) a reality.
Referrals account for more than half the revenue my company generates, and even more so for the talent resources we attract, so the realities are quite relevant. The cold lead has odds close to those of the OLG lottery, so anytime a lead is gathered as a referral from a friend or customer, or simply word of mouth, it’s a virtual foot in the door.
“People make referrals because they need to” says Jantsch, but at the same time “All business involves risk.” It’s one thing to make a referral to a professional service such as an accountant or staffing firm for example, versus to a restaurant for the most authentic Thai, there is less risk involved in the latter exchange.
Jantsch discusses the social currency attached to making a referral. It works twofold: Firstly, you become seen as the ‘go-to’ person for (quality) referrals, which of course builds the relationship you have with the business or person who benefits from your referral (the person you are referring them to). Secondly, the end user — the person who requested the recommendation — perceives you in a positive light, provided they had a positive experience.
This book shows you how to make your business market itself.
– Craig Lund, a director with the staffing firm Marketers on Demand, can be reached at craig.lund@marketersondemand.com
