Legends of San Francisco 14,
I’ve been sharing with you networking tips since we launched four years ago.
This is the first time I ever encourage you to carefully read a networking tip, re-read it often, make it your mantra, and let it sink in to your soul 😌
The wrong way to think of a testimonial is to view them as an obligatory thank-you note to convey appreciation for a referral 🙅🏻♀️👎
That view is short-sighted and doesn’t serve me because it leads to:
- Procrastinating on giving the testimonial, which takes the form of making the testimonial contingent on the referred business closing, i.e. money entering my bank account.
- Dreading waking up early to guest at the referrer’s home group to give them the testimonial.
- Haphazardly plucking a couple sentences from the referrer’s website to throw together a bare bones testimonial minutes before the PV meeting begins.
- Diluting the testimonial with buzzkill, superfluous meta data like:
🤮 “This testimonial is long overdue”
🤮 “Turned out the referral wasn’t a good fit but I appreciate [the referrer] for thinking of me anyway”
🤮 “I never heard from the potential client but thanks in any case”
That reluctant approach to testimonials won’t get me very far in PV.
It’s self-defeating and it leaves money on the table.
Instead, I’ll get far more value out of my PV membership if I view a referral as two gifts in one 🤩
🎁 Gift #1, which is the obvious part: the potential business.
🎁 Gift #2, and this is at least as important as Gift #1: an opportunity for me to be seen, heard and remembered at a PV meeting.
Gift #2 means the referrer granted me a ticket to guest at their home group, where I will get to use my testimonial as a vehicle to:
🩷 Speak, which is not a guaranteed right at PV meetings.
🩷 Positively reinforce the referrer’s behavior, whether it’s modest (e.g., mentioning me in response to a request for a referral on a listserv) or substantial (e.g., making a warm introduction to the potential client).
🩷 Give such a memorable testimonial that others at the meeting feel motivated to refer to me.
So, when I get a referral, I squeeze every last drop of publicity it can give me, and I do as many of the following as possible:
🌷 Promptly guest at the referrer’s home group and give them a testimonial there (that’s the bare minimum).
🌷 If I can’t immediately guest, apologize/explain to the referrer privately, not during the testimonial.
🌷 Repeat the testimonial if they guest at my home group.
🌷 Repeat the testimonial when we’re both at an affinity group.
🌷 Repeat the testimonial when we’re both at a home group that permits guest-to-guest testimonials, if we’re both guests there.
🌷 Wake up at 3:30 AM to give them a testimonial at their east coast home group meeting.
🌷 Basically make it impossible for the referrer (and other PV meeting attendees) to forget that I take their referrals seriously.
And I’m NOT going to hold the testimonial hostage until:
❌ I feel the referrer deserves it.
❌ Or when something outside the referrer’s control occurs.
❌ Or when the referrer jumps through hoops that I decide are necessary.
Examples of meaningless moving goalposts that stall testimonials to my own disadvantage:
❌ The referrer inquires if I’m interested in a referral and I respond with discovery questions that should be reserved for a consultation with the potential client. The referrer is not my intake specialist and it’s not their job to serve as middle person between me and the potential client.
❌ The potential client contacts me.
❌ The potential client pays me.
❌ Six months go by without the referred client canceling the credit card transaction for the attorney fee payment.
❌ The representation concludes and the referred client leaves me a five-star Yelp review.
The last two examples are hyperbole, of course.
The point: if someone generously initiates the process of sending you business, be generous with the time, manner, frequency, substance and delivery of your testimonial for them ☀️
What that looks like in practice:
🌹 Promptly record referrals so you never forget to give a testimonial. Here’s a spreadsheet you’re welcome to use.
🌹 When in doubt, err on the side of acting as if the referrer deserves a testimonial.
🌹 Go out of your way to make the testimonial a symphony, not simply a task to cross off your to-do list.
🌹 Use the testimonial as an opportunity to take the referrer’s breath away.
🌹 Give the testimonial far and wide and shout it from the rooftops.
Keep soaring 🦅
Saja