1, 2, 3 Grow

1, 2, 3 Grow

Building your business in 2012 is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Getting back to basics is the easiest way to meet new customers and generate new revenue.

Six Degrees of Separation

From Wikipedia:
Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy and popularized by a play written by John Guare.

Old Concept is Reborn

The six degrees of separation concept seems to be at the core of the LinkedIn value proposition. LinkedIn has the ability to let us explore and leverage three degrees of separation. It is an awesome tool that empowers us to reach out.

The Old Way

This powerful concept is an updated twist on a very old and easy prospecting method that everyone can practice with or without technology.

Before we had computers, cell phones, websites, blogs and social media top sales producers practiced asking for referrals from customers, associates and friends. A simple question like: “Do you know anyone who might be interested in and benefit from my product or service?” kept savvy salespeople busy with warm leads and drove new business.

A Numbers Game

Selling always was and always will be a game of numbers. More sales calls equal more sales. Calling on warm referred leads increases the odds of success and makes sales activities easier. Would you rather call a total stranger or a friend or associate of your customer or friend? The answer is always the warm referral.

Why We Don’t Ask?

Asking for referral leads is rarely done by the average salesperson. There are some sales jobs that routinely practice asking for referrals. Some even pay the source for a lead that converts to a sale. Here are four examples.

1. Vacuum Cleaner Sales in the Home. Decades ago, a friend of mine gave my name to a vacuum cleaner salesman. All I had to do is see the demonstration and he would earn a $25 referral fee. I let the guy do the demo. My friend got $25 and I purchased a $300 vacuum cleaner. Then I asked 12 of my friends to see the demo. They did and I had myself a free vacuum cleaner.

2. Life Insurance. My first real sales job was selling life insurance. My days were full of prospecting calls and my nights were dedicated to sales visits. It didn’t take long to learn that the top producers didn’t have to work the phones as hard as I did because they had built a customer base, a network of people who knew others and, when asked, would cough up warm referral leads.

3. Auto Sales. For a very short time (90 days), when I was in between things, I sold cars. I wanted the experience, I wanted to see how hard it was and I was in a “figure things out” period of my life. Many of my peers actually paid people who referred car buyers. The finder fees were $25 or $50. This was a great way to bring in sales that is still being used today.

4. Computer Systems to Doctors. In a ten year period, I sold a lot of computer systems to doctors. These systems were used for patient and insurance billing. My best estimate is that I sold 500 or so of these big ticket items in a decade, or one a week for ten years. Not bad. My prime tactic was to give something of value to a doctor who referred a friend. A free printer or a couple of free months of support would usually do the trick. I always had warm referral leads.

Now You Do It

You can solicit warm leads on LinkedIn or with some other social media tool that I don’t know about (as of yet). Better yet, skip the technology and call three of your customers, business associates or friends and ask them for the names and contact information of someone they know that would appreciate what you have to sell. Make sure that you can use their name as the referrals source and reference. That would result in nine (9) people to call, visit and sell.
When you contact the 9, and at some time in your experience with them, ask them the same question. Ask for the names of three people in their world that might want or need your stuff. Now you have 27 new targets. Ask those 27 for three and you have yourself a lot of work to do processing 81 warm referral leads. Can you see how crazy this can get?

Real World Example

I recently gave a Mentee of mine the names of three people that I figured would be highly interested in his offering. He contacted them and they were. I hope that he asks each of these contacts for three warm leads and so on and so on. His life will get much easier and his business will flourish.

Start Today

Six degrees of separation is a great idea and a concept that all salespeople should be aware of and leverage to develop business. Start asking for referrals today and make it routine. You will be rewarded.