So what is a bad referral? Most often, the complaint I hear is, a referral that does not have valid contact information, no phone number or email. The member states - 'I gave them your card.' 'I referred you on Facebook, Nextdoor, etc.' I agreed, these are not valid referrals.
While giving member's business cards to prospects is good, the member should ask, 'May I have them call you.? If yes, then you provide the contact information and that is a good referral. If no, then send the member an email and tell them you gave someone (give their name) your card. If they call you, let me know if they contact you so that I can turn it in as a valid referral. Same for recommendations made on Facebook/Nextdoor.
So what do you do when you get a bad referral? Talk to the person who gave you the bad referral. Ask questions about the referral. Ask for the contact information. If the member says they don't have it or perfers not to give the information to you, explain that you would appreciate next time that they wait until the person is ready and willing to talk and provide their contact information before passing the referral. Refer to Podcasts #281 and #439.
Other steps that can be taken, schedule a One to One. Educate and discuss in detail with the member on what are good referrals for you and what are bad referrals for you. Ensure that you are being laser specific in your weekly and featured presentations what good referrals are for you. So are you receiving bad referrals because you are being to general in your Ask?
When you give a bad referral you are damadging your credibility. From podcast #303 Dr. Misner says, 'The first time I give a poor referral, it's my fault. But the second time I give a poor referral, it's probably the receiver's fault. Why? Because they didn't provide me feedback the first time or they aren't educating me on how to find good referrals for them.'
If you have given feedback to the person who is giving you bad referrals and it continues to happen, go to your membership committee with examples. Chapter Membership Committees can set rules in regards to what is a valid referral. Chapter are also encouraged to have 'Referral Reality' checks each week.
What is a 'Referral Reality' check? The Membership Committee pulls a couple of referrals from previous week's slips and asks the receiver if the referral was a good referral. Typically if it was a good referral, they call on the member who received the referral and ask them to tell about it at the next meeting. If it was not a good referral, then the Membership Committee needs to explain to the giver of the referral the parameters of what defines a good referral. Refer to blog post - 'Definition of a Good Referral' for what is considered a good referral.
Let me know if you have any questions and how I can be of help.
To Your Success,
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