Paula Hope, who is a referral-marketing expert, did a presentation at our February meeting and said relationships are the real DNA of the business world. Yet, very few business people see their relationships as a personal core asset that can be cultivated, nurtured and expanded into a key method of creating ongoing opportunity for themselves, and everyone they encounter.

During the meeting, group members explored the road map by which they could maximize their biggest asset – their relationships. Here are some highlights from Paula’s road map to referral success:

• Create a Compelling Message
• Evaluate Your Network
• Identify 100 Online and Off-Line Tools
• Develop and Implement Your Relationship Plan
• Isolate three Strategic Networks
• Select Your Referral Partners Carefully
• Define Advanced Referral Marketing Tools
• Create a Full Referral Marketing Plan (22 components).

In the January meeting, Experion members worked on an exercise to help them create a compelling message. In February, the exercise was to evaluate their network by placing members of their network into three key categories. Here they are:

• Category 1 – Visibility – People who know, like, and trust us but know nothing about our business.
• Category 2 – Credibility – People who know, like, and trust us know about our business and have some level of confidence in us.
• Category 3 – Profitability – People who know, like, and trust us have a lot of confidence in us and will create conversations about our services.

The March meeting will be dedicated to identifying the most popular tools that are available to Experion group members to advance their network members into Category 2 or 3.