What Do You Want?

There nothing better than meeting with a person and coming out of that meeting with a LIST of people I need to tell about that person....or introduce that person to.

That happened today.

I met with Cassie Egli, owner of Super Suppers, a dinner preparation business here in Perrysburg, Ohio. Cassie and I talked at the WEN (Women's Entrepreneurial Network) meeting the other day. She mentioned that she was somewhat frustrated because she didn't think her fellow BNI members were working on her behalf, when she's working diligently for them.

I'm pretty good at figuring out why people are having those problems, so I thought we could share a cuppa' coffee. After we talked, I left the hour-long meeting with all kinds of people on my list that need to know Cassie. She left with a better idea of how to be more specific with her weekly commercial. She also is going to introduce me to her former boss who might be interested in Certified Networker. Oh yeah, she is also going to consider being a sponsor for a community event that I'm working on, too.

Here are the types of people I'm going to connect Cassie to:

1) Girl Scout Council program director
2) A partner in a CPA firm that wants to have dinner with her children during tax season
3) A Realtor who is a self-described member of the sandwich generation
4) The executive of the Safety Council of NW Ohio
5) The owner of a home care agency
6) The HR director of a very large local company
7) Same above description, different name.
8) An insurance sales person

And it doesn't end there. One of the people I emailed about Cassie, emailed me back immediately saying "Yes, yes, I want to meet her. This is right on. Thank you, thank you!" So I get to look like a hero.

All it takes is little time, two listening ears and the confidence that my contacts will react positively. Without the one-to-one meeting, this would not have all happened. Without Cassie becoming more specific, this would not have happened.

Give us a story about someone you met with that ended in a similar fashion.

Focus for Fulfillment

Recently I spoke with a group from Lima, OH about how they could gain more referral business by narrowing their focus. I took them through a process that I developed about four years ago called the referral triangle. The triangle shape is positioned on the paper with the point at the bottom.

At the top is a request for do business with "anyone, everyone or someone." (that doesn't paint a picture for anyone trying to help!)

As the spaces get narrower each step down, the idea is to refine the request so at the end the last little pointed area is the request for a specific name.

One of the participants in the exercise, Sue, wanted to increase the referral business she receives from one specific doctor in the community. Guess what? Sitting right next to her today was the wife of that very doctor. While the wife said she didn't know how much she could help, at least there was a connection. Because the wife has an accounting business Sue had not thought of her as someone who had doctor connections.

It goes to show that the more specific you become with referral requests, the more likely it is to have a helpful offering.

What the most unusual connection you've made as a result of asking for a specific referral?