How to Get More Home Business Referrals

Do you get nervous or apprehensive about asking for home business referrals? Does that keep you from asking for them? Here are a few tips that work really well for me and my team, and it will crush that fear you might have.

It’s always a good time to ask for referrals after someone has looked at your business and turned down the opportunity. Pay them a complement first like, “Well, you are pretty well-connected…” or “I totally understand if this isn’t the type of thing for you, but you probably know some people I should be talking to…”

Be Specific About Home Business Referrals

When most people ask for home business referrals, they don’t get specific enough. This is what most people say:

“Let me know if you think of anyone who might be interested.”

“Do you know anyone who would be interested.”

Instead, be specific and ask if they can think of two or three people who would be open to earning extra money if it didn’t interfere with what they were already doing. The key word were are:

“two or three people” – this makes it more simple and and asks for a specific number of referrals. It also gets them to think about specific people rather than people in general.

“would be open to” – these words are money when it comes to getting more people to look at your home business. It also implies that they are not open to earning extra money but you are  looking for people who are “open” to it. If they already looked at your business and said no, this usually makes them rethink their response, especially if they start thinking of people.

Bring Someone Referrals or Business First

If you want to increase your home business referrals, look for ways to bring other people referrals first. People will be so much more likely to bring you referrals if you have already done the same for them. They will almost feel obligated first. Plus, approaching it with this mindset should eliminate any apprehensiveness about asking for referrals.

This has been huge for me. Now, when I think someone would be a good referral source for me, I immediately start to think of how I might be able to bring them business first.

Really get to know people so that you can figure out how you both can bring business to each other. Ask them what kind of people would be good referrals for them and how you might go about referring those people. This will help you get into that prospecting mindset when you go about your day.

Finding a mutual benefit will help so much to create an on-going referral system. You are consistently looking to refer people to them and they are doing the same for you. The key is to make the effort to learn each others’ business.

Join a Networking Group

Networking Groups can be an awesome place to get and give home business referrals. That is, of course, why they exist. People who regularly attend network groups are usually in industries that are very well connected. Examples are network marketers, realtors, personal trainers, sales people, etc.

Meetup.com is a great place to find local network group meetings. Can’t find any in your area? Start one.

Get with a few people who are close to your industry, find a place to meet, and start inviting people to visit the meeting. Good places to hold a network group meeting are back rooms of restaurants, because the restaurant will usually reserve the room for you if you commit to holding he meeting there weekly.

Detail Your Ideal Home Business Referrals

When asking someone to refer people to you, make sure you tell them exactly the type of referrals that will be good for you. Most people need more detailed information than you think they do. Remember, they don’t know your business as much as you do.

For example, if you are a personal trainer, it’s probably not enough to just say a good referral is anyone who wants to lose some weight and get healthy. Be more specific. Maybe it’s women who just had a baby and want to shed that baby weight. Maybe it’s someone who has been injured and wants to slowly get back to the shape they were in before the injury. Maybe it’s parents who want their kids to be more active, lose some weight and eat healthier foods.

Offer Referral Bonuses

If you just can’t find a way to refer business to someone, then offer them some sort of referral bonus. Figure out how much the referrals would be worth to you and agree on a referral bonus or program. You can even take this online and create referral links so people can send referrals that way. Take it a step further and create an affiliate program.