The Opening Playbook by Andrew Dietz

Author:Andrew Dietz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGraw Hill LLC
Published: 2014-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

12

BE A BETTER TEAMMATE

Coach’s Commentary

Any business endeavor that succeeds has to overcome dozens, even hundreds of hurdles. Logistical, financial, bureaucratic … no matter how imposing these hurdles seem, they all boil down to a single element: relationships. As we’ve discussed before, build relationships and you build the foundation for a successful business. Rivers flow only one way. Relationships shouldn’t. Make sure that your best referral sources know exactly how much you value them.

Consider this: in 2013, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson bought his offensive linemen snowmobiles to thank them for their assistance in helping him craft one of the best individual seasons in NFL history in 2012. That’s a pretty tangible way of demonstrating just how valuable someone is to your own efforts and how much you value that person’s contribution to your life and your business. Now, you don’t necessarily have to come up with snowmobiles, particularly if you live anywhere south of Minnesota, but you ought to consider the best ways you can reward those who have helped you along the way. There are no assumptions, no givens in referrals; do right by them, and they’ll continue to do right by you.

Note the ways in which Candace taps her own inventory of relationships to grow The Open Note through word of mouth (and text, and Facebook, and Twitter, and so forth). How does one carve out a space in a crowded marketplace? By distinguishing oneself and by making sure everyone nearby knows exactly what that distinction is.

Remember, Candace views The Open Note not just as a way for her clientele to get great coffee and pastries, though that’s certainly its initial drawing card. No, walk deeper into the café and you’ll see Candace’s true vision: a way to serve entrepreneurs’ and rising professionals’ need for networking and knowledge. The Open Note is designed as an informal environment for this express reason: to help create and strengthen connections between people who all too often can feel disconnected in our current wireless society.

The Open Note’s customers are its best forms of advertising. A professional who finds both spiritual regeneration and financial remuneration from a visit to The Open Note has every reason to spread the word about its many benefits. And it’s not just people who walk in the front door; Candace can connect with those who come in the back door—the suppliers—to create additional value for herself and her enterprise.

Let’s drill down to the heart of this. What are the differences between prospects and referrals? Prospects are the targets of a direct relationship, a direct campaign. You seek out and cultivate prospects yourself. Referrals, in contrast, involve a middle party of some sort. They’re indirect relationships. You don’t have direct control over the process, which means you have to be even more prepared—and, it must be noted, arm your referral sources with even more information about yourself.

Referral relationships can be loose, in which case you connect only when you or your contact has a potential client on the line and needs help reeling it in.

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