Wouldn’t it be great if you had a relationships with someone that just sent you business consistently day in and day out without any investment of time on your part? I see a lot of people fall down with expecting people to be thinking of them without doing anything remain top of mind with their center of influence relationships.
I have the fun of working with people in a lot of different industries and one of my clients, Marc, is a sales genius who happens to broker airplanes. Our conversation this morning was about what autopilot really does in an actual airplane with wings, an engine, with a propeller-+ that flies. I was thinking autopilot was like cruise control you would set and then pop open the latest best seller, be able to run below and make yourself a cocktail, take a nap or enjoy the in-flight movie. Of course, that is not the case.
I learned there are aircraft in which you have an autopilot that merely maintains level wings and altitude, in other words, it simply goes straight at that same speed. Then there are some aircraft in which you can set the system to basically run your flight from takeoff from once you get it in the air until you are ready to land. The difference is, of course, dependent on aircraft model, features and how much you are willing to spend (since that plays a role in how many bells and whistles you get). But bottom line, there are still systems that if you walk away from the controls, you will fly into the side of a mountain and have no one to blame but yourself.
How does all of this play into referral relationships?
Well, do you find that there are some people it takes more work to stay top of mind with than others? Are there other professionals that come in contact with opportunities for you frequently and you just have to keep fuel in the tanks without a lot of direction? People are all different. It is up to you to recognize those differences and be the pilot to keep them running the way you want and in the right direction. After all, if Marc expected all planes to run the same, he wouldn’t be the pilot he is.
In your next referral partnership take the time to learn about how to best stay in front of your partner and how to help them help you.
Want to learn more about how to create and maintain strong center of influence relationships? Then check out Creating A Referral Network in our Development Store.