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Don't confuse a referral with a recommendation

 
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11046
Location: Portgordon, Scotland

PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 8:35 am    Post subject: Don't confuse a referral with a recommendation Reply with quote

He'd got his names and I was one of them.

Phone rings -

"Hello. Philip Banks"

"Hello Philip. I'm Joe Consultant from SellUsummink. Does my name ring a bell?"

"No but hammer probably would."

"Pardon?"

"Ring a bell"

"Yeah, right, fantastic! Well, I'm a bit embarrassed now because John Punter is a client of mine and when I was last with him he mentioned your name, in fact spoke very highly of you."

"So he's finally forgiven me for sleeping with his wife. Thank goodness for that!"

PAUSE

"errrrrrr, anyway he thought we should get together for 10 minutes to see if any of my services would be of value to you. When would be a good time tuesday at 10 or would Thursday and 3 suit you better?"

"I think you'd be wasting your time and money to be honest"

"Quite likely, that's why I'm only allocating 10 minutes for our first meeting. Now, when would be a good time Tuesday at 10 or would Thursday and 3 suit you better?"

"Tuesday is fine. Are you sure you only want 10 minutes?"

"Sure, that'll be fine."

"Fantastic! Would you email me your details for the invoice?"

"Sorry?"

"It'll be my mimnimum session fee, £170 + VAT"

"What for?"

"10 minutes of my time"

"Sorry. Misunderstanding here. I wanted to see if there was anything I could do for you. I don't want to hire you"

"So you don't want to come and see me to discuss business?"

"Well.......er ....yes" .......................



We didn't meet and the person who knew me did what many other people do to salesmen when asked for names, he gave the first 3 he could think of for no other reason than he wanted the person out of his office. In business you think you're looking for referrals, you're not, you're looking for recommendations. The difference? The customer calls the business if it's a recommendation.

The life blood of Voice Over work is not auditioning, agents, networking or 300 classes/coaching hours/seminars per year it's recommendations.
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Tim McLaughlin
Contributor


Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 40
Location: Denver, CO

PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 9:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Philip,

I definitely need to remember your responses the next time I get one of these calls!

Great advice as well. I landed one of my biggest long-term clients because of a recommendation from someone else. There is a difference between that and a referral. Thanks for the reminder.
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Tim McLaughlin
Voiceovers by Tim McLaughlin
(303) 915-9317
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bobsouer
Frequent Flyer


Joined: 15 Jul 2006
Posts: 9882
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 2:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Philip,

Another gem. Thank you!
_________________
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Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
ISDN, Source Connect, phone patch
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Lee Gordon
A Zillion


Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 6843
Location: West Hartford, CT

PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 3:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Don't confuse a referral with a recommendation Reply with quote

Philip Banks wrote:
the person who knew me did what many other people do to salesmen when asked for names, he gave the first 3 he could think of for no other reason than he wanted the person out of his office.


You need to ascertain who might have referred you so you can send some "business" his way.
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice
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