Inadequate Referral Sources Can Hurt Your Business

Inadequate Referral Sources Can Hurt Your Business

Dr. Linda Hancock

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Hancock has written a regular weekly column entitled “All Psyched Up” for newspapers in two Canadian provinces for more than a dozen years. Over the years, her readers and clients have said that they have benefited from her common-sense solutions, wisdom, and sense of humour. Dr. Linda Hancock, the author of “Life is An Adventure…every step of the way” and “Open for Business Success” is a Registered Psychologist who has a private practice in Medicine Hat. She can be reached at 403-529-6877 or through email office@drlindahancock.com

Published

February 22 2011

Every business needs to have a steady stream of new clients in order to grow and have a solid profit. In order for that happen, you need to develop a variety of referral sources that you can trust in a number of areas.

It is important and you can depend on your referral sources to:

1. Refer clients on a regular basis

2. Pay you a fair fee for your work

3. Pay you in a reasonable timeframe

4. Provide you with appropriate referral information

5. Ensure that you have necessary forms

6. Protect your reputation and promote your services fairly

7. Offer you training for new policies and procedures

8. Provide and respect confidentiality for you and your clients

9. Allow you adequate time to work with clients and submit requested reports

10. Reply to your communications in a timely fashion

11. Respect you and your methods

12. Review your fee on a regular basis and increase it when appropriate

13. Offer consultation personnel when requested

14. Correct errors they might have made without complaint

15. Inform you of errors you might have made in a healthy manner

16. Ensure that referrals match your competency

17. Problem solve with you when necessary

18. Respect your time off and personal life

19. Request your opinion about changing policies that will affect you

20. Accept your decision if you feel that a referral is not a good match for you

It usually takes quite a long time to develop a relationship with another person and doing so with those who will be sending your referrals is not different. In fact, due to staff turnovers in large companies you might find that it takes even longer to build your reputation and relationship with some sources. The rewards are worth it though for if you are competent and consistent in your work, you will find that the referrals will be sent over and over and over again for years to come.

And remember, as you build your relationship with the referral source, you are also building your relationship with the clients that they send to you. Satisfied clients, whether they are individuals, families, groups, or organizations will talk about you to others and help to build your practice without you even having to pay for advertising costs.

Treat your referral resources with respect and ensure that you give them good service so that in the end everyone will win!