Attitude is the Mother of Luck

What separates the lucky winners from the guy who tried, but lost? Why does one person get referrals and another one doesn't?

This month, we're looking at the subject of winning. Which leads us to ask, "Are some people just luckier than others?" 

Sometimes a Gold Star Referral Club member will come to me and say that they can't figure out why other people are getting referrals and they aren't. Is it just luck? 

Researchers have spent years analyzing what separates lucky people from unlucky people and what they have discovered is that a positive attitude and an upbeat outlook on life can actually make you luckier. Who knew?

If you want to increase your luck...

• Be available for opportunities. Get out there and be pro-active.
• Listen to that little voice in your head. It may be God telling you to pay attention.
• Expect to win. Be alert and ready to be the winner, to accept the prize.
• Look on the bright side of life. Even if you don't always get what you want, you'll feel like a winner. Sometimes, that's more important than winning.

Attitude is the mother of luck. You don't have to be born lucky to win at life and business. Watch this video to what Gold Star can do to increase your referrals. 

My Definition of a Good Referral...

THE DEFINITION OF A GOOD REFERRAL

      I once heard Joe Stumpf, the founder of the real estate coaching program, “By Referral Only,” put it this way:

“A referral is when you give someone that you know, like and trust to someone you care about.”

I agree with him. Although, I think a good referral is when you pave the way with a connection to someone who has a need.

           

WHAT IS MY DEFINITION OF A GOOD REFERRAL?

           

A good referral is when you connect someone you know, like and trust to someone who has a need.

      Statistics soundly prove that the more you know, like and trust a business person, the more you will refer them to your friends, associates and family. In fact, I did a survey a while back and found that 95%, of the hundreds of participants, would NOT refer to someone that they didn't like. 

      A good referral opens the door so that you can walk right in, get past the gatekeeper and talk to the person making the decisions.

WHEN LABELS ARE FABLES

Who decides whether
 you're a success or not? 

Tony Cooke, a friend of mine, asked me, "Who defined reality for you?"

"I'm curious," he continued. "What is the basis for how you see yourself, the people around you, your circumstances, your destiny, and your world? How much of your sense of reality has been defined by your parents, your education, society and the media?"

That's a good question. The world around us judges us according to their standards. However, the only person that can label you a success is YOU. Listening to the media or other people can leave you disillusioned.

This really drives home the importance of understanding your own definition of success. Is it owning a business or being a millionaire? Is it based on happiness or a career? Is it about your family or your relationship with God?

Recognize that other peoples labels can be fables... they don't know your definition of success or happiness. 

TRUST- How do you get there?

  TRUST is an important piece of your business

The road to referrals is built on integrity, strength, ability, surety and confidence. Simply put, it's built on TRUST. 

People will do business with and refer businesses that they know, like and trust. 

In Gold Star, we expand that to "Know, Like, Trust and Visibility." Let's face it, how many times has someone said to you, "Oh I forgot that's what you do?" So it's easy to say that visibility should be a critical part of your referral strategy to increase business. 

However, the MOST critical part of that formula is plain old TRUST.
We use businesses that we trust. Trust is when you believe that a business has your best interests at heart, that they wouldn't do anything to hurt you and that they wouldn't take advantage of you for selfish gain. 

As a business, you earn trust by consistantly proving and re-proving to your customers, clients and referral partners that their belief in you, your service, your product and your company is not misplaced. 

That trust is earned based on your actions. Words alone cannot build trust. In fact, just saying "trust me" will set off alarm bells for most people. There is no other way to earn people's trust other than with actions. Everything you do or don't do will either build trust or tear it down a notch. 

Like they say, "Actions speak louder than words."
When trust is broken, all referrals from that individual or company will stop. Once trust is violated, you may never be able to regain it. They might smile and act nice when they see you, but they may never do business with you again, much less refer someone that they care about to you. 

Regenerating trust is a looooong process and not an easy one. It doesn't matter if you are a small company or a billion dollar corporation, the only way to re-generate trust is the same way you earned it in the first place. You can re-earn trust through actions that demonstrate integrity, strength, ability, surety and confidence. 

Here are some actions steps toward building TRUST: 

Education: Tell your customers and your referral partners, in a sincere way, who you are and what you do. Educate them through one on one meetings. Help them to understand the whole story of who you are. 

3rd Party Credibility: Use videos on Youtube of customer testimonials as third-party credibility. Impress them with testimonial letters, videos, statements and online recommendations through LinkedIn and other social media sites. 

Show, Tell & Demonstrate: Find ways for people to see, feel and use your products and services through free trials, samples and demonstations. Let them experience your excellance first hand. 

Share Your Fame: Use various methods of sharing your moments of recognition. Do a PR piece on your company for the newspaper, post online pictures of the award you received and show off the skill of your employees. 

Tests, Surveys and Data: Run a taste test, get in front of a focus group, or send out a survey. Find ways to gather data and empower your company statements with exciting facts. 

Offer A Guarantee: Jump start your customer's confidence in you by offering a guarantee. What do they have to lose? 

A study of 12, 750 workers done by Watson Wyatt showed that organizations that had a high-trust factor had a total return to shareholders that was 286 percent higher than low-trust organizations. 

Few can argue that trust is a huge determining factor in your referral marketing strategy. Trust cannot be assumed. It must be earned over time. Take time today to review your business plan. Do you have actions in place that will generate and build trust? If not, make it a priority to do what you need to do so that people can learn to trust you and your company.