While some résumé writers are wondering HOW to generate referrals at all, those who are successful sometimes wonder HOW to maximize these referrals for the benefit of everyone -- client, referring source, and you!
Think of it first from the referring person's point of view. How nice to have a resource to refer someone to, if it is outside your area of expertise (this includes job coaches, employment services, recruiters, etc. who don't provide résumé writing services themselves). The flip side to this is that they are taking a risk by recommending your services. If you don't do a good job, they look bad.
Then there is the client. They are often pre-sold by being recommended by a third party. But they might not know much about your services, and you might make the assumption that you don't need to tell them much because they were referred by someone else. But they have a problem that needs to be solved, and they were told that you could help them.
Finally, there's you. While it's nice to be needed, it is frustrating to try and work with clients who really aren't suited to the work that you do or who aren't prepared to do the work necessary to make the relationship succeed. You end up frustrated and ready to toss the "baby out with the bathwater" -- not wanting to take referrals at all.
Let me offer a solution: Educate your referral sources.
Set up a time to meet (bring along a thank you gift for the referrals so far) or take him or her to lunch. Say that you appreciate the referrals and you want to make sure that you are best able to meet the needs of the clients being referred. Share information -- how you manage the resume development/career search process, what clients need to prepare, etc. Give him or her materials he or she can pass along to clients he/she will be referring that clearly outline the process/benefits/your credentials (this might be your brochure or you might have some other communication piece for this purpose).
One nationwide tips group, BNI, has a good way of handling the issues of referrals. They recommend asking, "If I were going to recommend your services to someone, who might be a good candidate?" Find out what common "problems" these clients share, what solutions they are interested in, what they "look like" -- in a mutual referral relationship. As you educate him/her, you also need to know more about the kinds of individuals your referral source interacts with so you can say (to a therapist, for example, who provides career coaching): "When they have narrowed down their job search target to a specific job description and can find job listings that match what they're interested in, they're a good candidate for my services. I'll work with them to develop a focused, hard-hitting résumé to help them specifically get interviews for that type of job." You might also add: "If they don't know what kind of job they are suited for/interested in yet, they're not ready for my services. Those are the kinds of calls I'll refer to you first."
Also, make sure all your referral sources are on your newsletter mailing list (whether it's a print newsletter or an e-mail newsletter) -- continue to educate him/her just as you do your clients and prospective clients! You'll find that the clients that come your way are better prepared to work with you effectively (just as I've found that my best referrals come from clients who actually used my services, rather than from sources as you've mentioned -- such as employment services and recruiters). The quality of my referrals improved once I realized that these individuals often don't know how I work -- but want to make the process work for the people they refer as well.
Think of it from their perspective too -- they're not going to continue to refer people to you if the feedback they hear is that the process didn't work -- and that's a lose-lose situation for everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment