In our last few Rainmaking blog posts, we’ve covered the active and passive networking components to the Rainmaking process, as well as follow-up strategies. As our most recent blog discussed, following up with new contacts within 48 hours is a great way to let them know you are really interested in getting to know them and would like to continue the relationship. Similarly when a colleague sends a referral your way, it’s great to quickly thank them for that referral. That seems logical enough, but do we really always do it? This Thanksgiving week is a good time to talk about that!
Being Grateful
In the professional service business, many of us rely on referrals from colleagues or other clients. My business is no different. In fact, because I am in a very niche market (multi-state tax consulting), much of my business comes from referrals from other CPAs (in firms that don’t have an in-house state tax practice), attorneys, temporary CFOs, and from current or previous clients. I spend much of my networking time and outreach directed at those kinds of referral partners, because when a trusted advisor recommends me to their client, it most often ends up becoming a client for me. And I’m always very grateful to those who recommend me.
Saying Thank you!
So, what’s the best way to truly say “thank you” to the person who referred you? It likely depends upon the nature of your relationship. Is it a formal referral arrangement, or more casual? Is it likely to be a recurring referral relationship? The way you say “thank you” could depend on the answers to those questions. Following are some possible ways to express gratitude for a referral.
- Depending on the nature of your relationship with your referral source, one way of expressing thanks may actually be to pay a commission. Generally, this is based on a contractual arrangement, so the “thanks” is already built in – in the form of a percentage or fixed type of monetary. So, your referral source is expecting your payment. Thank you very much!
- A simple, non-monetary way to say thank you is to send an email letting your referral source know that you did connect with their contact and that it turned into business for you. In the note, you might promise to keep your referral source in the loop as your project progresses. That allows them to truly understand the value you added to their client and likely keeps you in their thoughts for future projects as well.
- In addition to the email above, I like to further send a hand-written thank you note and include a gift card for coffee or other favorite store. It doesn’t have to be a large monetary amount, but I’ve found that $25 or $50 is a nice token. It lets them know that you really do appreciate them! I’ve been on the receiving end of notes like that, and you really do remember them – because so few people actually do take the time to do it. It’s the thought that counts, not necessarily the dollar value.
- When a referral contact has gone out of their way to refer me and it turns into a really big job for me, I will make an effort to take them to dinner at a nice restaurant, or purchase a larger gift – like a bottle of wine, or something that I know they take interest in.
- Reciprocity! If your referral source is in an industry to which you can easily refer your clients, remember them the next time a need arises for your client. This is probably the easiest thank you around. Think about how good you felt getting that referral project. Wouldn’t it be great to reciprocate and make a sale easy on your referral colleague too? I keep an ongoing list of referrals TO me, and when a need comes up for a client, I look to that list first to see if I can refer business back to them.
- Year-end gifts. Sending your clients and referral sources a gift at year end is also a nice gesture. Depending on your budget (and size of your client list) you might send food baskets, novelty items (with or without your company logo), calendars, etc. My firm has done a variety of these things over the years. Think about what makes the most sense for your client (and referral) base and experiment.
These are just a few ways to thank your referrals. There are certainly others. But the most important “take-away”, of course, is to remember to thank everyone that sends a referral your way. Everyone likes to be appreciated for doing a good thing. And you’ll often find that those random referral sources are likely to become better friends and referral sources when they feel appreciated for doing so.
During this Thanksgiving week and the weeks leading up to the year-end holidays, take a moment to thank the people that help in your success. None of us can do this alone!
THANK YOU, to my readers, clients, colleagues, friends and family for assisting in my success!
Monika Miles is President of Miles Consulting Group, a firm specializing in multi-state tax consulting for middle market businesses. Clients include technology, manufacturing, software and SaaS based companies doing businesses across state lines. Miles Consulting Group assists them in determining the sales tax and income tax ramifications of creating a taxable presence in a state and how to address these issues with the various states. When she’s not assisting clients with multi-state tax issues, she passionately shares Rainmaker strategies with other service professionals, like CPAs and attorneys, among others. Stay tuned for the upcoming “Jumpstart Your Rainmaking” webinar series coming in January 2016! Click here for more information and to sign up!
