Venus, Mars and Good Referrals
Do women and men differ when it comes to referrals?
While I don’t possess a man’s perspective on this, I can say with confidence women refer nearly as often as they breathe. No getting around it, it’s how we’re wired. I believe giving a powerful referral is an art worthy of thought and finesse. That said, some of us are just better at it that others. The good news is this is a skill you can acquire when you come at it from the right frame of mind: ‘what’s in it for them’.
Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable shares great insight into referrals in his blog today. However, I have to disagree with his third point “the act of recommending you isn’t easy. It’s not easy to recommend a tailor to make your co-worker look a little less shabby. It’s not easy to bring up the fact that you have a great psychiatrist or even a particularly wonderful (but very expensive) shoe store.” Actually, for women it is easy to refer a tailor (or wardrobe consultant) to a colleague, we will brag about how great our therapist is, and shoes… well… we’re women for goodness sake. We know and we talk. Giving referrals - knowing who IS remarkable - is one way we build community. When we’re smart, we leverage this skill to grow our businesses, and build deep relationships.
So, with that, it’s my pleasure to refer to you Seth Godin. Read his books - you’ll come away with powerful insights and tools you can use!