Is referral marketing more successful if meetings take place every week?

05 Dec Is referral marketing more successful if meetings take place every week?

I’m going to stick my neck out here and say a resolute ‘no’.

Seeing someone regularly makes them more referable

Some people would argue that a weekly meeting helps to build a stronger connection between members and keeps the key messages of the businesses present and front of mind. Whilst this makes complete sense (providing you have the time and additional expenses to attend weekly meetings), it really doesn’t take long for two weeks to pass by for a busy professional, even an organised one, so the extra time gained in between a bi-weekly meeting is often appreciated.

But why do you need to meet weekly in order to stay front of mind? The short answer is ‘you don’t’.

If a set of business people, advocates in the case of NetworkIN, trust each other and are educated sufficiently in what makes a good referral for their colleagues then weekly or fortnightly meetings are irrelevant! If someone needs a product, service or a piece of advice that a credible and likeable advocate offers then you are going to refer them, regardless of whether you see them once a week or every two weeks. In fact, individuals who ‘get’ the power of referral marketing talk to each other outside of meetings so they probably communicate several times each week. It just doesn’t take two hours face-to-face, the cost of a meal or the extra petrol money.

Multi-tasking isn’t good for you

You don’t need me to waffle on about the hyper-speed society you live in today with phone calls, emails and meetings coming out of your ears – that’s without the constant tugging-at-your-sleeve-interruptions formerly known as mobile notifications. You simply don’t have enough time to concentrate on everything life throws at you and especially as it’s now been proven that multi-tasking is bad for you. Plus, when it comes to referral marketing fortune is always in the follow up. 

It takes time to nurture a prospect into a paying customer, so you also need sufficient time to compose your approach before engaging with the opportunities passed to you from fellow colleagues. Blundering idiot springs to mind if not. Therefore, too many opportunities combined with limited time resources could result in a lackadaisical approach or a slippage in the mind!

The pressure to meet weekly also increases the pressure to provide contributions to fellow members – double the pressure. And as an upshot, this kind of pressure provides only lukewarm opportunities that aren’t worth the paper slip they’re written on. 

Spend quality time with quality people

You can surely see where I’m coming from. The crux of the matter is that you don’t need to be sitting in someone’s lap every week in order for them to refer business to you. If you ensure you are referral worthy and are specific when delivering minute messages or presentation opportunities then you will always spring to mind as being the ideal person to refer to when those signs, signals, bells and whistles appear … providing you gel with your colleague that is. 

No amount of time spent with someone who you have a clash of personalities with is going to improve the chances of recommending them (and vice-versa) because you just don’t get on. Be honest with yourself! When was the last time you were in a room with someone that gave you the heebie-jeebies or rubbed your back up the wrong way? Thought so…