How to Build Relationships That Lead to Valuable Referrals With Matt Ward

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Episode 61!

More referrals are the holy grail for entrepreneurs and sales professionals. But how do you get more? That’s what I discuss with Matt Ward in this episode. Matt is an author, speaker and referral coach that teaches service-based small business owners by showing them how easy getting more word-of-mouth referrals can be if you just have the right mindset.

The first thing Matt shared is the more we care, the more referrals we get. Check in with your network frequently, care about their success and what they’re doing. When you do that, you’ll build mutually beneficial and valuable relationships that will result in referrals. If you’re not getting referrals, it’s because you don’t have close relationships with the right people in your network.

How do you build those relationships without being “salesy”? One way is to check in with them regularly just to see how they’re doing. This is something as simple as and email simply saying “Hello! How are you? I just want to check in.” You can also send the same message in a handwritten card. Not many people do that these days and you’ll stay top of mind with whomever you send the card to.

Why don’t people do that? They’re often too busy chasing the next sales instead of investing time to build relationships. A common quote is “People do business with people they know, like and trust.” Matt believes that people do business with people they know, like, trust, and care about. That only happens when you develop deep relationships with people and forget about the transactional mindset.

Taking it a step further, Matt believes that people should give without the expectation of getting anything in return. That can be a tough habit to create. When you give like that people are going to want to be around you. They’re going to care about you because you’re brightening up their lives. With time, they will be happy to send referrals to you.

In this episode we also discuss:

More ways to develop meaningful relationships.
What NOT to do while networking and developing relationships.
Why it’s better to ask for introductions to referral sources than potential clients.
How to stand out from your competitors
…and more golden nuggets of advice!

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About the Guest

In 2002 Matt began working with business owners through his digital marketing agency, inConcert Web Solutions, to improve their bottom line, gain more clients, and grow their respective businesses. He then sold his agency in 2018 so that he could focus on helping businesses get more word of mouth referrals! He’s the author of “MORE…Word of Mouth Referrals, Lifelong Customers & Raving Fans and, “The High-Five Effect: How To Do Business With People Who Bring You Joy”.

Matt believes that creating deeper and more meaningful connections will result in more word of mouth referrals. He personally uses this philosophy in his own business. Matt is a professional member of the National Speakers Association and he and his companies have received numerous awards, including: