After a referral networking meeting I asked a visitor what he thought.
"I have to join," he responded.
"Well," I grinned, "you don't have to."
"Yes," he corrected, "I do, I'm a CPA; my clients expect me to be able to refer them to a good banker, a good life insurance agent, a good attorney. I have to join."
This CPA knows that he has repeated referrals for bankers, life insurance agents, and attorneys. He is a GateOpener for them.
A gate keeper keeps us from speaking with the person who could write us a check.
A GateOpener takes us by the hand, walks us right past the gate keeper, sits us down in front of the prospect and says, "Write a check. Write it now. Make it big."
A GateOpener is:
- a classification
- whose clients
- ask them
- for referrals to our classification.
Imagine for a moment that you are a banker - and every month, like clockwork, you get a new client referral from a CPA. What would you do? I'd go looking for more!
When you've cultivated a grid of GateOpeners six classifications wide and 10 people deep; when you know that each of these people is going to refer you to a new client next month, and the next month, and the month after that -- then you have a credible claim to a referral based business. And you'll be able to send your kids to college. And take your family on vacation three times a year. And life will be good. Very, very good.
Ready to build this?
It starts here, with the Best Client work.
Go ahead. You could make some money!
Photo courtesy of John Jacobi