"5 Reasons why referrals are absolutely the best type of lead for your business,"
by J.D. (John) Davin

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If you say you need more leads for sales for your business, you're not alone. The fact is every business needs new leads to keep their business growing and profitable. That's the bad news. The good news is you have many options. Some options being better than others. Some options are more more expensive than others. Some are more demanding on your time, and the quality of some of the leads you receive will be better than others.

T he key is to find as many new leads as you can, as inexpensively as possible, then pre qualify the lead, make them happy customers, and start all over.

In this case, I suggest you try referrals for building your business. For both the short run and the long run, but especially the long run. Specifically the referral you get from a friend, fellow business associate or from your membership in a networking group.

Remember, any referral is the best source of leads because:

1. The lead is Prequalified by the person who makes the referral.

2. It cost you nothing to give or receive a referral unless you set it up differently.

3. The lead trusts you because the referral comes from a trusted friend or associate.

4. You are rewarded or can reward others for being a good business person.

5. You will receive more referrals as you build your reputation for delivering a good service and for providing leads to others in your group! The referral you make or receive for a friend or business contact on a no-fee basis can be looked at in two ways. You can do a favor for a business person who does a great job of serving clients, or you can do the customer a favor by referring them to a great company!

The second way to give a referral where you do not get paid for making the referral is in an organized club, called a networking club. The members of the club get together once a week over breakfast or lunch, and if the group is doing well, you will have one professional from each industry, such as an accountant, a web site developer, housing inspector, etc. it should be easy to make and receive valuable, sales making referrals each week.

Joining a network club is great because you now have a chance to get out and meet people who also want to make new business contacts and referrals. The goal is that you simply make referrals to the people you feel confident in referring, and they do the same. Of course you have a chance to make a small 1-5 minute presentation on your business each week, and you'll be kind enough to listen to the other presentations so you will be able to make referrals confidently.

Of course you can start your own networking club, but the concept works so well that there are many independent and national referral networks in existence today.

If you'd like to know more about networking groups, we cover this concept in more detail in the chapter on Internet marketing. We can even tell you how to start your own referral network. But if you would like to join an existing, national referral group, check with your local chamber of commerce to see if they have a local group.

Otherwise, if you'd like to start your own network group, a similar up and coming network group can be found at http://www.dailynetworking.com

Remember, because virtual networking is done on the Internet, there is not traveling expense or georgraphical limitations on who you can invite to be a speaker.

You can contact the author of this article when you visit the website.

So, happy networking and remember, done correctly, you will be rewarding businesses who work hard for their clients.

John Davin

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Best regards,
John Davin

http://www.dailynetworking.com

Join a virtual referral group today!