A client just told me how he learned about a HUGE opportunity for another firm. He gave the owner a referral to contact the EVP at the other company.  All the information needed to follow-up — name, need, phone, etc. was provided.

Weeks later, he discovered that the prospect was never contacted and a very, very large sale went to . . . a competitor.  (Ouch!)

Why did this happen? Simple. The company he referred the introduction to either:

1. has no referral processing process in place, or
2. no one who can use it effectively, and probably
3. no one (or, mechanism) to monitor if it’s working

KEY POINT:

Referral management, like all things that contribute to your business’ success must be managed. That implies that you have:

1. a process in place to accept, process and track all referrals that you receive
2. the people who know how to use the process to manage referrals
3. a mechanism (CRM?) to monitor referrals and leads to ensure they are processed effectively
   

Question:
How well is YOUR business set-up to address this important, revenue-building opportunity when it comes along?