Ep 176: How To Get Referred On Repeat Without A Huge Network

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We share a simple system to turn referrals from random to reliable using clear positioning, fast community engagement, a signature talk, and steady partner touchpoints. Clarity beats volume, and speed plus usefulness earns trust and repeat mentions.

• defining a one-line positioning that states problem, audience, and method
• putting positioning everywhere for repetition and recall
• answering niche community questions quickly using keyword alerts
• prioritising speed, usefulness, and a narrow lane to build equity
• crafting a signature talk with one problem, one audience, one outcome
• pitching talks with a clear promise to borrow trust
• scheduling quarterly referral partner catch-ups with an ask and a give
• keeping relationships warm without sales pressure
• using existing networks and systems to make referrals predictable

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Chapters

• 1:08 Welcome And Focus On Solo Consultants
• 1:36 Why Referrals Fail: Clarity Over Luck
• 2:43 Positioning Everywhere For Recall
• 5:28 Visibility Plus Usefulness Equals Trust
• 8:20 Speed, Narrow Expertise, And Keyword Alerts
• 9:56 Signature Talk As A Referral Engine
• 12:35 Pitching Imperfectly With A Clear Promise
• 13:55 Quarterly Calls With Referral Partners
• 14:32 Referrals On Repeat Workshop Details
• 16:23 Closing And Next Steps
• 16:35 Systematize Referrals With Existing Network

Transcript

Why Referrals Fail: Clarity Over Luck

Positioning Everywhere For Recall

Visibility Plus Usefulness Equals Trust

Speed, Narrow Expertise, And Keyword Alerts

Signature Talk As A Referral Engine

Pitching Imperfectly With A Clear Promise

Quarterly Calls With Referral Partners

Referrals On Repeat Workshop Details

Closing And Next Steps

Systematize Referrals With Existing Network

SPEAKER_00 0:36

I'm Serena Block. This show is made for solo consultants who want to get booked out without burning out. If you've ever thought, I just want this to feel easier, you're not alone. Around here, we focus on simple, sustainable growth that actually fits into your life so growth feels doable instead of overwhelming. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to episode 176. I am Sarah Nawellblock, and this is the Tiny Marketing Show. Have you ever heard someone who says, I know someone who does that and realized it wasn't you, even though it should have been? Referrals don't fail because people don't like you. They fail because people don't remember you clearly enough. So here's the thing: referrals are not luck, they are about a positioning outcome. People need to just understand what you can do and repeat it at the drop of a hat. So today we are going to talk about how to become the default name that comes up when your specific expertise is mentioned. Referrals are triggered by clarity, not volume. So people don't refer to the best, they refer the clearest person. So here's how referrals actually happen. Someone is in a conversation, a specific problem comes up, and then your name either fits instantly or it doesn't. So how do you make sure that your name is one that pops out of someone's mouth? You need to use your positioning everywhere. So why does everywhere matter? Because repetition matters. People need to see your position in multiple places and multiple times in order to remember it. So this is what your life probably looks like currently, because it was my life also for a little while. I would have connection calls. There were like 15 to 20 minutes with people that I met in networking groups or niche communities, things like that. LinkedIn. We would have a conversation, and then they forgot I existed. I could have been the perfect person to solve their friend, their coworker, their competitors' problem, but they didn't remember me. And it was because my positioning was either unclear or they had no reason to remember it. So I started building out a system to make sure that people remembered my positioning. So when you find that perfect positioning, and positioning should be something like the problem that you solve, who you solve it for, and how you solve it, one sentence, make it super clear. It should feel like almost like a tagline. So you can use it in as many places as possible. So I like to use my positioning statement in my niche community bios. So that headline that you see right next to my name. So you automatically associate me with the thing that I do in my social media headlines, the ends of my social media posts. So as a super signature, I have my positioning in there. Right in my email signature. So every single email that I send out, there's a reminder of what I do, who I do it for, and how I do it. So this process of sharing your positioning everywhere, it is not annoying, I promise, because not a lot of people are even going to notice that you do it. It's you being memorable. It's how people remember. They need to be able to see that thing associated with you multiple times in order for it to get in their head. So if someone read one random thing of yours, would they know exactly who to refer you to? Think about that. Think about the last LinkedIn post that you posted. If someone were to read that and they didn't know you, would they know what you do, who you do it for, and how you do it from that post? You need to be as easy to refer as possible. Next, you want to be quick to answer questions in niche communities where your ideal clients are hanging out. So the key idea here is visibility plus usefulness equals trust-based referrals. I've seen this in one of my communities. There is a woman in there who does sales training. And anytime somebody asks a question about sales, multiple people are tagging her in that. Like, you need to talk to this person, you need to talk to this person. That is such a great example of what happens when people understand your positioning. It's automatic, multiple people are tagging her when anyone asks that question. And here's the reason why they do that. She is the first person to answer questions related to her expertise. She probably sets keyword alerts so she can be there as fast as possible. She speaks in these communities. So she's an expert speaker who comes in and does master classes and trainings for those communities. So she is showing up regularly. She's showing her expertise and she is building trust with that community. So when people have that question, of course they're going to tag her. The biggest missed opportunity you can have is when you're a lurker or you wait for the perfect moment or perfect question to answer. What actually builds referrals on repeat is equity. So answering questions before you're asked, you just answer them because you have those keyword alerts in your Slack community and you're the first person to see that that question was asked. Showing up consistently and being really narrow in your lane. So pick that thing that you are an expert at and make sure that you are repeatedly adding value within that community about that topic. And you want speed over perfection. The first person who answers that question is most likely the first person to get a response or get a call based off of the answer. So be as fast as possible. That's why I love keyword alerts. So I'm the first person to answer questions. And let's reframe contribution too. You're not giving away free advice. So many people are like, oh, I don't want to give it all away. I hear that time and time again. I don't want to give it all away. But you are not. You are just adding value, building trust, and building your reputation as an expert. So don't worry about that. You're teaching people when to think of you. Think of it that way. Let's just adjust our thinking on it. Next, I want you to have a signature talk. So talks are a shortcut to trust and scale referrals. So if you are finding, and you should, if you're part of my world, you should know this already. If you're finding niche communities where your ideal clients are hanging out, have a signature talk and pitch the community leader to see if they would be interested in having you as a speaker. Try and do this quarterly, where you can every three months or so put on a talk that will help your community. This gives you exposure to the entire community because they're marketing it and promoting it to the entire community. It gives you a captive audience of your specific ICP listening to the solution to the problem that you solve. And people will start automatically thinking of you when someone has the problem that you solve. So a signature talk is one clear problem, one clear audience, and one clear outcome. By the end of that signature talk, they should have accomplished something, whether it is an understanding of their problem or solving one specific thing. Like by the end of this talk, you'll be able to have your one-liner nailed, something like that. Talks work really well for referrals because you have a built-in audience when you are doing a talk for a niche community. You're getting borrowed trust too, because people who are in that community already trust that community. So you get an automatic gimme on the trust. And last, it's easy for people to explain you to others because they have seen you multiple times. You're answering questions in that community. You are a go-to resource. You are speaking in that community. So you become an automatic thought when someone hears that someone has the problem that you solve. And don't be afraid to pitch. So you can pitch imperfectly, and it's perfectly fine. You don't need to have a beautiful sales deck or a slideshow. You don't need any of that. You don't need to be super polished. You need to have a clear promise, and that's all. That's what sells it. By the end of this talk, you will be able to X. That clear promise is what will sell it to those community leaders. So think about your positioning like this. I teach X how to solve Y so that they can achieve Z. You are explaining what you do, who you do it for, and how you do it. The last thing that I want you to do to start bringing in referrals on repeat is to set quarterly calls with your referral partners. Now, these can be super informal. I literally just set a boomerang every three months. So I remember to ping them and see if they want to hop on a catch up call for like 15, 20 minutes. The idea is to maintain that relationship and you do it within a system. Every three months, I'm having a conversation with people who have referred me within the last year. And it's not to automatically bring in new referrals, although that would be nice. It's to remind them what you do, who you do it for, and how you do it. So they can continue sending referrals your way. And obviously, it goes both ways. So you need to understand what they are doing? Has anything changed? Who do they do it for? How do they do it? So you can bring them referrals too. So don't assume that your referral partners are going to remember you forever. Building relationships and maintaining relationships takes time. And that's just something that you have to do. You don't want them to be sales calls. You want them to be more of an alignment call and a catch up. So you are just going to reiterate like what it is that you do and who do you serve and learn about the same from them and ask them, what do you need? Come prepared with an ask and a give. What are you looking for right now? Are you looking for new communities, new speaking engagements, new clients? Ask them what they are looking for too and be prepared. What can you offer them so you can present that to them on the call? So keep it, keep it tight, keep it less than 30 minutes. And you want to be able to cover who you're best positioned to serve right now, what to listen for in those conversations, and any shifts in your offer or focus from the last time you guys talked. Quarterly beats annually, because you want to be able to be consistent, make sure that you are on their mind and that you maintain that familiarity with that person because it breeds more referrals. By pulling all of these things together, you become the obvious choice for referrals. So let's just reiterate everything that we just talked about. You want clear positioning, visible expertise, scalable trust, maintained relationships, and you don't need more people necessarily involved in that. You don't need to have a huge network. You don't need to necessarily add additional niche communities or referral partners. Your existing might be perfectly fine. You might just need a better system if your referrals are drying up. So let's say you need fewer people to send those referrals, but you need them to know exactly what it is that you do and when they should say your name, I guess is my point. Okay. So this month I am hosting referrals on repeat workshop. And if you're listening to this right now and you're thinking, okay, but I want this system built for me, then you want to join me for that workshop. It's hands-on, it's practical. There's no fluff. And right now there's early bird pricing. It is only$37 for a limited time. And you will walk away knowing exactly how to clarify your referral positioning, how to activate or reactivate in the right places, and how to create a referral system that compounds over time. So in my LinkedIn bio, you might notice that I say something like, referrals are great, but a system is better. Systems can be built for referrals. So many people in the B2B space rely on referrals, but don't have a system around that. This workshop builds that system. So if your referrals are drying up, this will reactivate them. So if referrals feel random right now, this is how we're going to make them more predictable. I love a system. So head to the show notes and sign up for that workshop. You won't want to miss it. You will also, if you can't attend live, you can catch the replay. Your ticket includes the repay. So we're good there. Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed my solo episode. I think it's only my second of the year. And I hope to see you at the workshop. It'll be live. Me, you, and whoever else is coming. And by the end of it, you're gonna have a system to be able to get those referrals on repeat, which is pretty damn good. If this episode made things feel a little more doable, I'd love to help you take the next step with the booked out blueprint. It's a practical, low pressure session to clarify your offers, your marketing, and what actually moves the needle. You can book yours through the link in the show notes. You don't have to figure it out alone.