Did you know, there are six layers to your referral strategy and on the podcast we've talked about five of them. Now it's time we pay attention to layer number six, you are not just another hustling salesperson, you are the expert, the resource, the valuable partner for your clients and how you grow your business should reflect how your clients see you. Welcome to the road map to grow your business podcast. We generate referrals without asking, build positive client experiences and help you take control of your business. Here's your charmingly sarcastic host, Stacy Brown Randolph. Hey there and welcome to episode 171 of the road map to grow your business podcast. I'm your host, Stacy Brown Randall. Okay, let's dive right in because something deserves its do. And that is finally getting around to talking about layer number six of the overall referral strategy that should be executing, that you should be executing on in your business.

So if you have been listening to the podcast, if you're a longtime listener or at least if you've been listening since the beginning of this year, you may have recognized that throughout this year we have been breaking down the six layers of your referral strategy. So, all the way back at episode 138 we talked about layer number one being the layer of your referral strategy that is focused on getting more referrals from your existing referral sources. So, layer number one is all about how we take care of our existing referral sources to get more referrals and then an episode 141 we talked about layer number two, and that's how do we turn those clients and contacts That we wish were referring us but are not into actual active referral sources. So it's the potential referral sources. How do we turn our clients and contacts into referring machines? How do we turn our clients and contacts into referral sources? And that was an episode 141.

And that was layer # two. Now, I'm going to link to all of these episodes on the show notes page for this episode. So, all you have to remember is just go to the show notes page for this episode, which is Stacy Brown, Randall dot com forward slash 171 for episode 171. And don't forget, Stacy has an E on the show notes, you will see a link to episode 1 38 which is layer number one, and episode 1 41 which is layer number two, Then an episode 147. We broke down two layers together, three and four. And that was really what you do when it comes to your referred and non referred prospects of what it looks like from a language perspective, when you're dealing with referred prospects and non referred prospects. Let me pause for a second and just kind of give you that high level overview of how the overall six layers work together. So on. If you're looking at the download that, we have the one page pdf, the download that kind of outlines these six layers for you.

If you're looking at that on your screen, which you can go get that Stacy brown Randall dot com forward slash layers, that's L A Y E R S, that's layers with an s of course I'm going to link to it in the show notes page for episode 1 71 so don't worry. But if you were looking at that document on your screen or you had it printed out in front of you, you would notice that there's a left side and there's a right side and on the left side or the two layers I've mentioned layer number one and layer number two. And those are the plans that we build to take care of the humans that are referring us or have potential to refer us. And then on the right side you have layers 345 and six. And those are not so much plans that you want operating in your business, but they are language tactics that I want you to know. So they are more hey, when this situation arises, here's what we want to know how to do when it comes to trying to plant referral seeds and turning people into referral sources are getting referrals from folks. And so layers three and four or how you deal with and how you plant referral seeds with your referred prospects and your non referred prospects is kind of how we deal with folks and that buyers journey perspective, then we have Layer # five, which is another language tactic and we talk about it an episode 148 and it is the sticky client experience layer layer, it is the layer about making sure that you were able to get referrals from your client experience and from your clients.

Then we took a pause and that's why now an episode of 171 were looping back around To finishing up the final layer of the referral strategy. And the reason for that is for those of you who listened to the podcast, you know from about episode just after episode 150 through about 100, I think it was 164, We then dove into the client experience. So when we talk about layer number five being this client experience in being able to generate referrals from it. That then lead us into a whole series, about 16 episodes or something, maybe 15 episodes. That led us into a whole series of breaking down the client experience, you actually understand what it even means to be recoverable. And then of course there were some episodes and parts that we talked about our an episode in some parts that we talked about from a referral perspective from that client experience. So The six layers of your referral strategy, we've broken down five of them. It is time to pay some attention to layer number six. Now we're still on the right side of the visual if you will and if you're like, what is she?

Keep talking about it because you're gonna need to go download the pdf, the layers pdf that breaks down these six layers for you. So if you're looking at the visual, we're still on the right side and we're still under language tactics. So again, layer one and layer two or plans that you are executing on within your business for your existing referral sources and your potential referral sources. It's the plans we execute on for specific humans. We've identified whether because they are an active referral source or we want them to be a referral source, layers 345 and six or more language tactics. So they're more situational, they're more like in the moment, these are the things I want to know that you know how to do whether and most of them have to do with Albion is planting referral seeds, which is kind of like the secret sauce of all the things that I teach my G. B. Our students know this for a fact. So when you're thinking about layer three and four for those referred prospects and non referred prospects, it's the a lot of it is that what we're saying and doing with our prospects while they're still in the buyer's journey and then the client experiences though what we're saying and doing the seed, the referral seeds that were planted in the client experience to be able to generate referrals.

And now we're on layer number six and this layer is the networking layer and this is the layer that I believe, whether you're brand new in business or you've been in business forever, it's a situation or it is the layer that everybody needs and everybody can access. So if you're looking at the pdf where I'm explaining to you, layer number six, which is the networking right? It has two bullet points of things that you need to know how to do and that is knowing how in networking situations to plant what I call engagement referral seeds. And then of course, making sure that you know how to flip non referrals or what we call almost referrals into actual referrals. So, in networking situations, remember, language tactics are based on the situation. In the networking situations, there are some tactics that are language based that I want you to know how to do. I want you to know how to start a referral conversation without guess what, Making it sound like you're starting a referral conversation with somebody else.

I want you to know how to answer the question that is always asked with the start of almost every conversation. I want you to know how to answer it from an engagement referral seed perspective, which in that question is and some of you already know it because I talk about it in my book and we talk about it in other places in my program. But it's the how do you answer the house business or how's it going? So there are times when we are in networking situations and networking opportunities and whether that's virtual or in person, when there's opportunities to start a referral conversation and there are opportunities to plant referral seeds. When somebody asks you how's business now, of course there are other opportunities that arise as well. But these when when you think about planting engagement referral seeds and really what I mean by engagement referral seeds is trying to engage in a referral conversation so you can plant referral seeds within the context of networking opportunities, which means the person you're talking to is more than likely not an existing referral source of yours and maybe not even a potential referral source you've identified.

This is when you are out at your be any groups or your chamber of commerce groups or your National Association of Women business owner networking groups or you're at your International coaching federation group or you are just at a business owner, get together right. Whatever it is when you are with people and I said business owner, but doesn't have to be business owners, right? But when you are with people where you would consider it networking, there are times when we need to know some strategies that we can just talk into our park it and pull out when we're in that moment where we don't know exactly who we're talking to, but if we know how to plant some engagement referral seeds, we may be able to start something to grow in terms of future referrals from that person. So again, this is situational. It's typically done when you're in those networking opportunities, that doesn't mean it can't be happening at the neighborhood barbecue or at your kid's soccer game or baseball game. Absolutely. These are told, I want you to talk into your toolbox and pull out when you deem them appropriate.

But it is your ability to plant engagement referral seeds, which really means how do you start a referral conversation? Like how do you engage in a referral conversation and keep that going? And do you know the context for that? And then of course making sure you know how to answer the house business question. Now, if you've read my book, you already know the answer to this. So I'm gonna give it to you anyways. Um so you may just have to listen to it again. Maybe you're using it, Maybe you're not. But the house business question is typically asked at the beginning of every conversation that we seem to have with people, whether we're sitting in line at the local coffee shop or we are hopping on the phone with him for the first time in a long time or we're seeing them out about and they're like, Hey, what's up? How's business, how's it going? I just want you to answer that question whether referral seat opportunity. So instead of answering how's business and you saying, oh my gosh, it's awesome. It's amazing. Thank you so much. I want you to say business is great. Thank you so much for asking. In fact, and then I want you to insert something about your referrals and before I give you an example it needs to be your truth.

It has to be real. You cannot lie. So don't just use this. Don't rip and steal this. Well it's not stealing cause I'm telling you, I'm telling you to borrow it, but don't just rip this straight out of what I'm saying and then go say it even though it's not true. But if you are receiving referrals and the next time somebody says, how's business instead of saying great, so busy? Oh my gosh, I'm like overloaded with client work, which don't tell people you're busy because, and sometimes they may not want to refer you. But that's another conversation for another day. What I do want to hear you say is business is great. Thank you so much for asking. In fact, I was actually just looking at the last handful of clients that we brought on board and I was amazed that 90% of them were actually referred to us by other clients or by other centers of influence or whatever it is. Right? I was just amazed that X percentage or the number, you know, we just brought on five new clients in august and we just bought on five new clients in february. And it's amazing to me that three of them were referred to us. All five of them were referred to us. It is awesome to receive referrals for the work that we're doing. It is how you answer the question, how's business plant a referral seed?

Who knows where the conversation will go. And in addition to that, it's also to always understand how do you engage somebody in a referral conversation where it doesn't feel like you're forcing it or making it happen. So those are two things to consider there. The other thing to consider under the networking opportunity when the networking layer of your referral strategy is making sure, you know, the language to use to flip almost referrals into referrals. And I think that this is such a lost and missed opportunity for so many people, I can't tell you how many people have come up to me and they're like, oh my gosh, someone just told me that they told three people three weeks ago that they need to hire me, but those people have never called me, what do I do? And I'm like, I don't want you in that situation to begin with, I don't want you to be in a situation where you run into somebody and they're like, oh my gosh, I told somebody a month ago that they should totally higher you. I'm sure they're going to follow up and you're like, who, who is this mystery person who you've told they should hire me because it doesn't put you in the driver's seat when they're not an actual referral.

And you guys know this the definition of referrals personal connection, which means you're connected to the prospect by the referral source and the need has been identified. The prospect knows that they're the prospect. They have a need that needs to be solved and they recognized you are the solution provider that is being recommended and referred because you were trusted in those moments when people come up to and they're like, oh my gosh, I just talked about you the other week, Somebody needs to hire you or something to the effect of they connect you to somebody and you have no idea why you're being connected to someone. You're just being introduced for the sake of being introduced or they say, hey, you should totally follow up with these people. They totally need what you do when you're like. But I don't even know who these people are, even if you give me a name and a number of those aren't referrals. They just feel like them and in this day and age we use terms like word of mouth buzz or introductions or warm leads interchangeable with referrals that we think those are all one and the same and those are four separate and distinct terms. And what I find in situations is that people don't know what to say.

To flip that word of mouth buzz or that introduction or that warm lead into a referral. And so these are happening all the time and made and they're usually happening because you're running into somebody in a networking or just an out and doing life situation where it triggers to them. Oh, that's right. I did tell someone that they should reach out to you, but they never connected that person to you or they are connecting people to you and you have no idea why. So we put what we call the flip scripts as part of this networking layer. Now I believe that you understanding how to flip a non referral? Word of mouth buzz introduction. Warm lead into a referral is probably one of the easiest things you could ever learn how to do. It's one of the easiest scripts to learn how to, what to say in the moment. As long as you can identify what you're receiving, if you know what you're receiving his word of mouth buzz, it's very easy to be like, oh yeah, here's the three sentences I say, to try to flip that into a referral or if you receive an introduction here, here's the three or four sentences, I say, to flip that into a referral or get more information to see if I can flip that into a referral, I think it's something that's simple that even if you're like, hey I don't, I'm not going to take the time to have layers, layer number one and layer number two plans in place to take care of my referral sources.

I get that some people at different places in their business in different places and what they want to invest in and what they want to actually execute on and make time and space for. So if you're not gonna have this fully functioning referral strategy, this idea that you know how to flip it, almost referral into a referral is key and it's something you just need you to tuck it in your back pocket and you need to understand the definitions and then what you say to flip those into a referral. We actually have a mini program. And when I say mini program, I mean it's a mini program and it's called saving lost referrals. And I think you should check it out. And the one of the main reasons why I think you should check it out because right now it's $37. So like if this is like the tuck in your pocket, like I need some scripts to know how to flip. Word of mouth, buzz or introduction or warm lead into a referral. It's $37. When you go check this out, I don't know what the price will be, but if you're listening at the time that this is coming out, obviously it's $37. And a link to the saving lost referrals mini program on the show notes page for this episode which is Stacy brown, Randall dot com forward slash 171.

That's for 171. And Stacy has an E. But in the saving lost referrals program like this many program we teach you how to identify the what is word of mouth buzz versus an introduction versus a warm lead versus a referral. Then we teach you what what you need to understand of the language peace and exactly what to say to flip those three things into an actual referral. And then there's actually some role playing videos that I did with one of my GpR students who was a great sport who was willing to role play those scenarios, that that conversation point of those scripts that we gave you the flip scripts so you could see them in action. And then of course there's some really other cool bonuses that go with it too. But it is a mini program and it is one of those things where you're like get the tactic, get the language, memorize it, tuck it into your back pocket and then use it when the need arises, which is what the language tactics are, layer 345 and six of your six layer referral strategy.

So again this is the networking layer layer number six, we're breaking down knowing how to plant engagement, referral seeds and knowing how to flip non referrals or almost referrals into referrals. And I want you to go check out the savings lost referrals mini program. I will link to that where you go to find information about that and to um to purchase that $37 mini program on the show notes that Stacy brown Randall dot com forward slash 171. Okay, if this stuff has been helpful for you, by all means, hit reply on any email and let me know. I love it when I get your feedback back about how the podcast is helping you. In fact, I got an email just the other day from a lovely, loving person who I'm so appreciative of who took the time. It's Nina who took the time to email me and say I love your podcast, it's so incredibly clear and inspiring. Which is awesome. I love getting that feedback from you guys. I love seeing the ratings and reviews pop up on your different podcast listening apps as well about how beneficial this podcast is for you and the episodes that we do.

But if there's ever a topic you want to see us cover that you don't think I've covered let me know guys as much as I love teaching on this podcast. I also want to make sure I'm always teaching what you want to know. So of course, you know what that means. We had another episode coming up next week, episode 172, and we're gonna go on another journey with another business owner who decided to finally take control of his referrals. So until then take control and grow your business. Bye for now. Thanks for listening to the road map. To grow your business podcast, to access all resources and links mentioned in today's show and to connect with Stacy, head over to www dot Stacy brown Randall dot com.