Out of the Blog, Into the Light

Create a Referral Binder

Add More Credibility With Prospects
and Clients (and Green too)
Set up A Referral Binder

Do you belong to a networking group?

Or have a group of business cards in a holder for referral giving?

Take this process one step further, improve your referral giving process AND your client/prospect connection.

How?

Set up a three-ring binder. I call mine simply, “My Referral Binder.”

What is the purpose of my referral binder? The purpose is to provide more information than just a business card.

It has greater impact...

It has many uses too…

If you have a physical office space, display it in the lobby. Have a conference room, use a flip binder and display it. Too many people in your office display it on a side desk in your office. Even if you add it to your book shelf within handy reach, it works.

Displaying it in plain view does always work best though. It also reminds you to mention it. If you have to interrupt with a phone call, hand it to them before you take the call.

Place your strategic partner’s information in plastic sleeves and add it to the binder. Add additional information about their services or products so people can take one. Their brochures, flyers, bios, whatever is important for giving a referral.

Label the folder something along the line of, “Strategic Partners We Recommend”. Add, “Take one.” You may also want to add, “Let us know when you remove the last one so we can replenish.”

At a recent networking event, the dentist gave a presentation with handouts. I picked up the extras left on the table, created two sleeves and added the additional information to my referral binder. Later that afternoon I was visiting a prospective client. I brought the binder. During the close, I said, “I have many strategic partners and have brought their information along with me. Is there any services you are looking for currently?” And I handed her the referral binder and took a restroom break. She flipped through it and saw the dentist handouts, took one of each. I have found out since that my now new client has visited the dentist. When I asked her what was the deciding vote on hiring me, she said, “It was the referral binder.” I wanted to work with a marketing coach who actually did what they said, and not just talk about it.

Conscious NOTING

Let's think together outside the box today...

We all think of creating a daily or weekly to-do list but have you ever thought of creating a NOT to do list?

A NOT to do list is a list of items you want to stop doing. It can be something simple to help change a not so fulfilling habit, for instance, leaving your desk messy when you close up shop for the day.

Many times doing the opposite can be a great way to shake up old patterns.

Why? Because doing the same to-do list the same way can seem boring, can turn off our minds to actually using it to movtivate, stimulate, and change our results.

Try this out for a week -- or more...

Write a weekly list of what you are doing each week that you want to stop. Make it a NOT to do list. Do you waste time somewhere? Are you involved in an activity that you don’t enjoy? Are you tired of dinner being interrupted by someone or something?

Taking back control of your leaks in the dam begins with a conscious awareness of what you want to stop. Go ahead; write three things down that you don’t want to do any longer. Place them on a sticky, individually or grouped, and place them in prevalent spots of where it occurs.

Come back to this blog at the end of the week and tell us what you did and how it worked. The list of readers, and myself, would love to hear what you have to share.

Your support coach in life, Catherine Franz

Mixed Bundling

DO YOU OFFER MULTIPLE PRODUCTS TO YOUR CUSTOMERS?

YES…

THEN BUNDLING MAY BE AN OPTION FOR YOU TO CONSIDER…

Let me share with you how...

As a business coach, I get to have great conversations with fantastic people. Time and time again, people ask me about bundling. Just today I had one such conversation with one of my professional speaking clients. And a few days ago I sat in a local coffee shop discussing the topic with a friend and had six other people join in the conversation in minutes.

I gathered from this reaction, this is a topic of interest.

So, I thought I would put my mind to getting some information about creating mixed bundles down on paper and out to my private email list today.