McDonalds is Fast, Easy & Cheap, Referrals are Not
“In this economy, developing a strong referral strategy is a fast, easy cheap way to build a strong business,” Palzewicz said. “Referrals are more important than ever because people are more careful where they buy and the words of satisfied customers, especially customers that are their friends, can be very powerful and more impactful than any other type of advertising.”
As is my habit, I was reading blogs, press releases, and other material on networking, when I ran across the above quote in a press release. I become very frustrated when I read information that is incorrect or misleading, not intentionally misleading but written by someone who really does not understand what the referral process is. McDonald’s is fast, easy and cheap, but you cannot apply that to a solid referral strategy.
“In this economy, developing a strong referral strategy is a fast, easy, cheap way to build a strong business.” Nothing could be further from the truth. While networking might be considered fast easy and cheap, building a referral process takes time, it is a skill that must be learned, and requires a budget of time and money. When a client comes to me and wants to develop a referral strategy they must have a developed network that we can then develop into a proper referral strategy for their business. McDonald’s is fast, easy and cheap, but it is not the first place you want to go if you are looking for a high quality meal. While it is nice to sometimes have low level leads from fast, easy and cheap networking, it is not the way to sustain your business.
Let’s take a look at why the words of Fast, Easy, and Cheap cannot be related to developing a referral strategy.
Fast – A solid referral strategy is based on a relationship built on trust. Trust takes time, you have to be willing to take the time to build the trust. People are not going to refer business to someone whom they do not trust to make them look good. How long it takes someone to trust you depends, ask yourself, do you trust fast?
Easy – Once you have your systems in place for your referral strategy, it does feel pretty easy. Getting those systems in place and maintaining them is not easy, fast, or cheap. If building a strong referral strategy were easy, there would be a lot more very successful businesses generating high quality referrals. I know this is not the case by the number of businesses that hire me to help them implement a strategy and systems.
Cheap – Another big myth. If you are going to develop a referral system you must set a budget of both time and money. It is not cheap to belong to multiple organizations, have one to one meetings over coffee, lunch and even dinner, set up and implement a system of rewarding your referral partners, pay for travel to events and meeting, and get educated. Is it cheaper than running a TV Ad over and over, yes, is it cheap, no!
Anytime you go at something with the idea that it is fast, easy and cheap, you are bound to disappointed with your outcome. Developing a referral strategy that works takes time, money and effort, but when it starts paying off, it pays in a big way.
In this economy everyone is looking for fast, easy, and cheap ways to build business, but if you apply that concept over a long period of time you are left with less that desired results.
About Hazel
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5 Responses so far.
You are so right Hazel. It is deluded for people to think that a referrals strategy just happens. If you put the groundwork in and do the right things then it should feel easy as referrals start flowing, but a lot of work has to go into it first.
Having said that, put the effort in and develop a strategy to generate referrals and you’ll suddenly find higher quality leads coming into your business more effectively than any other form of marketing.
I completely agree with your article and frustration about the quote that referrals are a fast, easy and cheap way to build and grow your business. As a Realtor, I know and understand, referrals are an important part of any business. It takes great service, trust, knowledge and professionalism to build a solid rapport with people. That in turn leads them to refer people to you. It is definitely not a meet and greet, and then someone is ready and willing to send clients your way. Great post and a great read for anyone.
Thanks for your feedback Tom. There are too many people that confuse getting leads with getting referrals. Leads are cheap and easy, my reputation is not connected to a lead. But to pass a referral means that I must lend you my reputation and that takes time and trust! Glad to hear your network is working for you.
Andy, I completely agree. With the exception of getting leads, they are cheap and easy because they are just slightly better than cold calls. But referrals are a whole different ball game. I am sure you would not be quick to lend your reputation to someone you did not trust. It takes to long to build a good reputation to just refer anybody!
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