Summer is a great time to take stock of referral partner relationships and figure out who will you focus on in 4th quarter. Yes. I know it’s a busy season with family and vacations and life happening. But who continues to make time for you? Who is continuing to prospect?
I will give you a few things to think about as you sift through your CRM (customer relationship management system such as ACT!, Outlook, Sales Force, etc). Here are the four main categories you should have in mind as you do that review and think about the level of influence of your natural market – those immediately surrounding you:
- Center of Influence: Are they lovely people -great to hang out with but don’t have the influence to refer you? Or are they suppliers – their influence is with middle management, not senior level decision makers?
- Movers & Shakers: This is where the influence begins – these are the people who know who is doing what with whom (as one of my client’s phrases it, they know where the bodies are buried and who placed them there 😉
- Contacts with Clout: This people make a recommendation that is acted on by the end of the meeting. Yes, their influence is that great.
Networking is moving online, and we are finding more people in the ‘room’ of social media. A fun tool I just found that measures on-line influence is Klout. If you take a moment to go to the SalezWORKS facebook page you can find the link and also I shared my Klout score -apparently I just entered the room of social media! Please like our page and follow us for more insights on summer evaluation of referral partners. You can also join us on Twitter!