While daily cold calls and sourcing out new business is essential to every Sales Person, you can never under estimate the power of Referral Business. There is great power attached to it. No matter how big or small a business or corporation is; Referral Business is the key to maintaining meaningful relationships in the Business World.
It all starts with reaching out to like- minded companies, who have the ideals, goals, and customer oriented structures as your own. By reaching out to these companies, you are showing potential customers the type of business you are involved with. It helps to establish trust, which goes a long way. If a client trusts you and believes in the product you are selling, then you can count on that business relationship lasting a very long time.
So how do you go about building these referral relationships? First you reach out to companies that do the mirror image of what you do. So if you help business development in Canada, maybe reaching out to partners who develop business in the States would be a good start. Secondly you reach out to companies in the past that have referred business and work on continuing a good relationship. Lastly, as you are making your cold calls always keep in the back of your mind whether this prospective client would actually make a more suitable referral partner.
Of course maintaining these relationships is the most important step. Once you have reached out to potential referral partners keep them in your planner as a call every couple of months. That way they don’t forget who you are and most importantly what you can offer.
Christina Ramalho / Sales Consultant / PEO Canada