Hi –

All kinds of attention gets paid to generating referrals, and rightly so. They are the #1 way both investors and advisors prefer to connect with one another. This month I've outlined some simple, inexpensive ways you can create more referral opportunities for yourself.

They are all about doing a better job of uncovering, organizing, and synthesizing information into intelligence that helps get conversations started... something exceptional advisors excel at. As you read consider what you are doing to create opportunities for more frequent interaction with clients and COIs. If your conclusion is not as much as you should, then give me a call; let's talk about how you can change that.

I'm trying something new this month: abbreviating articles and including links to the full text. Why? To avoid overzealous spam filters from preventing delivery (there's more below on what you can do on your end).

Simple, Smart Ways to Enhance Your Referability

The night before my MDRT presentation in June, I sat in on a terrific talk by Bill Cates of Referral Coach International titled "Referrals: The Key to Building Your Business." Bill offered a ton of practical how-to advice that got me thinking. (You can order a CD or audio tape of it at http://www.mobiltape.com.)

One of his themes: if you want more referrals, make yourself more referable.

In other words, recognize that a steady flow of referrals and introductions isn't a function of memorizing a magic phrase. It's a byproduct of providing impeccable service and keeping yourself on your clients' radar screen so that when opportunities for an introduction naturally occur, you're positioned to capitalize on them.

Think about the last time you received unusually good service. Weren't you inclined to tell someone else about the experience?

Maybe you did. Or maybe life intervened, you got distracted by more pressing issues, and the desire to tell your friends and colleagues what happened came and went.

This spring we had our house painted. The guy did a terrific job. He was fast, thorough, professional, reasonably priced… everything you'd want in a craftsman. When he was done, I was so pleased with the result that I asked him for a business card, intending to post his name in our neighborhood email newsletter.

But then a trip took me out of town and before I knew it, I was on to the next thing.

And guess what, he never followed up.

Which is exactly the point. Unless you're positioned to step through a window of opportunity when it opens, you're cooked.

So how do you... how do you begin anticipating those opportunities before they happen? Or better still, cause them to happen? By making time to identify and map out what your unique windows of opportunity are... and then executing successfully when they open.

Birthday cards are a classic example. You send them out to all your clients, right? But you don't expect someone to call and say, "Hey, thanks for the card; here's someone I've been meaning to tell you about." Still, you never know where a conversation can lead... and whether or not that happens, you've made a thoughtful gesture.

How about anniversary cards on the date each one began doing business with you? Or "Thank you for your business" cards at Thanksgiving? LongTermClients.com, a resource I've written about before, can help you automate either of those processes -- or the birthday card process -- very cost-effectively.

Once we started working this process, Susan, one of my coaching clients here in DC, had her summer intern identify every major client anniversary date (5, 10, 15, 20 years of working together) coming up for the next two years so that the opportunity to recognize those milestones wouldn't come and go unheralded. She's figured out ahead of time exactly how she wants to celebrate it, what gift is appropriate for which timeframe.

I showed her how to use my knowledge journal concept to organize and index all that information in a single place and now she's literally two clicks away from whatever Web page she needs to visit to order the gift, arrange the dinner, make the donation, whatever.

Very smart. She's creating a system, one she can delegate the management of to someone else.

What about daily events? Ever tear an article out of a paper or magazine and send it to someone you know would be interested as a reason to be in touch? Most major newspapers today will send you an email digest of top stories for nothing more than the cost of registering at their Web site. Isn't that worth doing?

Google Alerts takes that capability a step further. Google News Alerts is a free service that will automatically notify you when stories containing key words or phrases you identify appear in any of thousands of news sources Google tracks: information that might give you a reason to pick up the phone, send a quick email, or jot a personal note. Your own personal clipping service… with zero overhead.

Like I said, windows of opportunity.

Or maybe an important announcement gets posted on a client's company's site, or by one of their competitors, or an association or trade group they're involved in… or tickets go on sale for their favorite rock star's show in town later this year… and bang, you get notified and can act. All because you were smart enough to monitor content at chosen sites with a tool like WatchThatPage, which I described in the October 2005 issue.

Or even a newsletter like this… tailored to the needs and interests of your clients and circle of contacts. Professional, personal, trackable… so you can pick up the phone when you see someone's opened it.

Are you beginning to see the possibilities?

Some dismiss approaches like these as too complicated, too technical, or too much work. That's a shame. Because in the right hands they're the ultimate secret weapon for enhancing referability.

And there's not a person out there in this business who doesn't want to do that.

Ways We Can Help You Improve Results

One-on-One and Team Coaching

With more than half the year gone is your business where you want it to be?

Answering these five quick questions will help you decide...

• Am I on track to meet my production and profitability goals for the year?
  
  
• Am I working the hours I want to?
  
  
• Am I delegating all the work I can so that I can focus on the rainmaking that only I can do?
  
  
• Have I provided my team with the training and development they need to help me achieve my goals?
  
  
• Do I feel in control of my business and my future?

Keynote, Breakout, and Workshop Speaking

If you're involved in booking or recommending speakers for national or chapter events at AICPA, FPA, NAIFA, NAPFA, the Society for Financial Service Professionals, or any other industry group... please keep me in mind. My sessions offer the kind of practical, innovative, take-it-back-to-the-office-and-put-it-to-work-immediately value attendees are looking for... useful content that will save them time, increase their income, and improve their effectiveness.

Maybe you work for a product or service provider and you're currently planning a national sales meeting, due diligence road show, or sales force training calendar. Let me show you how to increase your meeting ROI by delivering tangible, value-added content that draws advisors closer to your firm and helps both you and them do more business.

Either way email or call me at 202.364.6913 to explore how I'll assist you in getting more mileage from your event. I'd be happy to schedule a webinar with your and your colleagues to see and hear my material firsthand.

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Until next time wishing you all the best,

Kip Gregory
The Gregory Group: Teaching Clients to Leverage Their Time, Talent, and Technology to Increase Productivity and Profit
202.364.6913

http://www.kipgregory.com