Traditionally, CRMs are for a VP of sales tracking the sales team’s efforts to push deals through a pipeline by the end of the quarter. They don’t have much to say about networking and referrals. But if you get most of your business from networking and referrals, you still want a way to follow up reliably and get the most from your networking efforts.
Because in addition to following up with prospects and turning them into clients, we also need to follow up with potential partners and nurture those relationships.
When we talk with those (potential) partners, are we:
- Empowering them to help us by being crystal clear about who makes an ideal connection?
- Encouraging introductions by making introductions? (Do we have a defined process for making intros?)
- Showing them that we follow up and treat their intros like the precious gifts they are?
- Tracking all this in our CRM?
(If you want to get more intentional about nurturing referrals, without any “ick”, join me on May 7 for a free webinar workshop. Register here.)