Referral Tracking: An overlooked opportunity

We salute all of you out there who are trackers of all things.  Whether it's tracking the number of calories you consume each day or tracking the number of putts you take in a round of golf, some people just love to track things.  

In the digital age, data has become a ubiquitous force shaping the way we live, work, and interact. Whether we realize it or not, we generate and interact with vast amounts of data every day. From online purchases and social media interactions to health metrics and business transactions, data is the lifeblood of the modern world. However, the mere existence of data is not enough; harnessing its power requires effective tracking and analysis.

Most would agree that a referral or recommendation from a trusted source is the most coveted form of business lead known to mankind.  Yet it's rare to find business professionals who do a proficient job in tracking the number of referrals and recommendations they both give out and get in return.  

Over the past 20+ years of training sales professionals who rely heavily upon referrals to meet their sales goals, I have found that most simply don't track their referral activity.  This seems odd due to the fact that the number of referrals received can either make or break one's annual production.

I have found, in most cases, that people fall off of referral tracking because they don't see it as being frequent enough to form the habit.  In other words, in the life of a service professional, inbound referrals happen every now and then so the enthusiasm to track them falls by the wayside.

Two sides: Giving & Receiving

What is missed by most is that the referral "game" is two sided.  The fact of the matter is that this game is much more about giving referrals than receiving them.  It just simply works out that the more you give the more you will get back in return.  By giving out referrals and recommendations you are tapping into one of human nature's greatest powers:  the sense of reciprocity.

This great human power can be strengthened if the person receiving something of value clearly knows who the other person was that provided the value.  Think about the last time you received a nice gift or had something really nice done for you.  When you saw that person next what did you feel?  I bet you felt very strongly that you needed to do something nice in return.

The key, in that example, is that you very clearly knew who did it and what they did for you.  There was absolutely no confusion.  

For example you could recommend someone to a service professional you know and it could turn into $50k worth of revenue for that service pro.  Many times, in cases like that, you might not even get so much as a thank you note.

This just highlights the importance of tracking.  You can give out business all day long, but if the people you are giving it to don't know it was you, or forget over time that you gave them that business it won't return itself.  You need to be diligent and consistent in your tracking so that you can maximize the opportunity.  

NuOp is a tool for business professionals to track and exchange referrals and recommendations they exchange with others.  It's a dynamic system that takes this valuable information and proactively uses it to gently remind those you have given valuable recommendations and referrals to; therefore increasing business referrals & recommendations in return.

There is no longer any reason to allow the business you give out and get in return to go untracked.  NuOp makes it easy to do and also provides you with a vibrant community to track in so that your peers will take note of your ability to create business for others.  If you fail to track at this point, it will truly be a missed opportunity.