Why a Referral Business Works

May 14, 2010 by 3 Comments

My business model is referrals. I “matchmake” best in class vendors with clients looking for great partners.

Now, there are lots of ways to find suppliers. You can Google, make phone calls, field incoming sales calls, sit through capabilities presentations, go through an RFP process, vet vendors, pick one and hope it works….you know the drill. Inefficient, time-intensive, risky.

Or, you can get a referral from someone who understands both sides of the equation.

Here’s the non-secret: People are hungry to work with someone they trust. A referral from a trustworthy source can bypass all kinds of unnecessary effort and mitigate risk.

Can you build an entire win-win-win business on being trustworthy, knowledgeable, and helpfully connecting people? Yes – a very secure business. With very little competition. Either as a solo operator, or a trustworthy business.

Because trust is not a commodity.

You can settle for being a cog in someone else’s wheel, a commodity employee. But why? Can you create something for yourself, built on trust, on connections, on referrals? Something unique that puts to use what and who you know, and how you operate?

I’ll bet a lot of you can…

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Filed under Business, Trust

About Steve Woodruff
Steve Woodruff is a blogger, a Connection Agent, and a consultant in the pharma/healthcare industry. He specializes in helping people and companies make mutually beneficial connections.

3 Responses to Why a Referral Business Works

  1. Pingback: Impactiviti Daily 051410 – Referrals « Impactiviti blog

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  3. Karen Swim says:
    May 15, 2010 at 9:11 pm

    Steve, inspired thinking indeed and I am glad to see these discussions open up so that we can add structure to an age old formula. Referring people we know, like and trust to those that have a need is truly a win-win-win.