Dollarmakers.com BLOG

Thursday, March 16, 2006

How to Convert a Non-Paying Referral into a Paid Referral.

One of the questions that comes up in every talk, seminar or Bootcamp I deliver, is the following: “I have been feeding people business and leads for ages and I never got paid. How do I change that now, without offending and alienating these people who are my friends?” It‘s a good question. First of all, as a decent, self respecting capitalist and business person, you should get paid. And secondly, we don’t want to distance our business associates.

For years, you’ve been sending and referring business to people that has been worth, perhaps, tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to them. Now, you realize you have left a lot of money on the table unnecessarily. Here’s the best way I have found to turn this situation around with tact and finesse. It works well. First, you identify the people to whom you want to continue sending business on the understanding that you will be fairly and adequately compensated for it. Then, you do some research homework (usually with their competition) to find out what their profit margins are so that your expectations are reasonable regarding the commissions you expect. These commissions could be once-off or an upfront payment with ongoing residual payments on all ensuing sales.

Once you are comfortable with the commissions you expect from referrals in the future, you set up a meeting with the person to whom you wish to continue sending referred business. At the meeting, you have a simple script to follow that won’t upset the person. This is what you say, even if you have never received any referrals from this person: “You know, Bill, I have been having a good look at the Joint Venture opportunities in my business and I read something that really put me on the spot and I have to apologize to you. Up until now, I never offered you any compensation for any business you refer to me. I realize now that that is not fair to you. We all deserve to be paid for what we do, of course, and it was not ethical of me to accept leads from people without offering to pay a fair and reasonable commission. So, from now on, I will pay you 20% (or whatever is right and generous for you) on any business you send me. And of course, you will do the same, right?”

At this point, if he refuses to pay you for future referrals, or if he offers you too little based on your research, don’t argue or fight. Simply agree and never send him business again. Instead, find someone else to refer your business to. Ascertain exactly how much he will pay you, how it will be determined, be specific, for example an exact percentage gross profit or net profit, will there be payments on all ongoing business or not, should he add taxes, at which point will he pay, will he pay weekly or monthly, etc. Confirm this in writing after the meeting. Also include what you will pay him!

This simple system can be worth a small fortune to you. Joint Ventures work. Join the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum. www.nomoneynorisk.com

Your Unlimited Resources and Potential (Hidden Assets and Other Peoples’ Resources)

Wayne Dyer said, “Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.” This is true in business as well as in life. We don’t have money problems; we have thinking problems. Many people have a “Shrinking Pie” mentality - they think in terms of shortage and limitations. They’re afraid of the competition. The fact is that everything you could possibly require for your business is already, easily available to you.

You can unlock this vault through Joint Ventures. Whatever it is that you need, be it space, advertising, distribution, a sales team, labor, equipment reputation, a database or anything else, as long as someone else has it, you can get access to it! Most businesses have underutilized resources. Not every resource in every business is fully utilized. I visited my printer the other day to discuss the printing of my new book and I found that he also, at time, has excess capacity or inventory. Could people put more seats into their seminars? Add a few more seats in a restaurant? Do they have inventory that isn’t moving? Idle staff members? Of course they do.

Once we realize that these resources are all available to us, be they seats on aircraft, rooms in hotels or credit, Memberships, cars, printers or time, we have to understand how to access that resource with no cost or risk to us. Once we realize that the Law of Reciprocity works very well when understood, just like gravity, we can simply use that law. We can barter, trade, or simply set up simple Joint Ventures to leverage resources. How big do you think? What do you expect? How confident are you? This will determine how much you can get.

If you ask for a million, you might get it. If you ask for a hundred… You simply have to give the owner or controller of those resources a good reason to share them with you. If he gets what he wants, you can get what you want. Here are some real-life examples from Barternews.com:

1. Peter Pocklington acquired 50% of the Edmonton Oilers from Nelson Skalbania in 1977 in exchange for a Rolls Royce, a 15-carat ring, and a Renoir painting.

2. Continental Airlines traded five terminal gates it had at Los Angeles International to United Airlines for several of their gates at the Newark (NJ) airport.

3. Star Wars creator George Lucas’ company Lucasfilm is quietly negotiating a huge barter deal that will see one company having the toy manufacturing rights to a new series of his upcoming films. Offers reportedly approaching $1 billion are on the table with Lucas getting a sizable equity (ownership) stake in the toy company with which he eventually barters.

Your imagination is your only limitation. Together, we can do amazing things. It’s hard to do it alone, and you don’t have to. ASK. “You have not because you ask not.” Be bold. Find out what the other person wants and trade. Everything you need is readily available and waiting for you!
Join the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum - Click here for more information.
Robin J. Elliott is an Honored Member of America's Who's Who of Outstanding Professionals 2006.He is officially included in the International Who's Who of Entrepreneurs of 2002 and was nominated as a candidate for inclusion in the 2004-2005 edition of the International Who's Who of Professionals.