Do you know what a $2.5-million company looks like?

I don’t. 

Before leaving the corporate world to become self-employed, I was a member of the senior leadership team at a software development company.  Yet I couldn’t even tell you what their annual sales were.

As part of the leadership team, I undoubtedly should have known.  But the point is, I didn’t.

One of my recent clients defined a key selection criterion for his clients:  they must be CEOs, presidents, or owners of companies with at least $2.5 million in annual sales.

It’s a perfectly good criterion.  It’s meaningful to him and to his clients, and it sets a clear boundary for who he does his best work with. 

But how many referrals do you think he’s getting?

I’m not trying to pick on him.  But his story is a great illustration of how what makes complete sense to you may not make any sense at all to your audience.

And if you’re not making sense to your audience, you’re going to struggle, no matter how good your product or service is.

My client’s clients love him.  They value and respect the power of his work.  And – no surprise – they’re the source of 99% of his referral business.  It’s easy for them to recognize their peers, after all.

Yet good referral partners should be everywhere, not just in your client base.  They should be the source of most of your business, the reason for your networking efforts, and a resource for outgoing referrals for services your clients need but you don’t provide.

This is an aspect of what I’m always talking about:  the absolute necessity of tuning your message to what your best customers want and need to hear from you.  But it comes with a different set of challenges, since in this case your audience is people who interact with your best customers, but aren’t themselves in need of your services or products.  They may respect your work – but not have a glimmer of the real need experienced by people who hire you. 

And that means that the message they need to hear is not the same as the message your best customers need to hear. 

Here are some ways to understand how to communicate with your referral partners so they start sending you great customers.

Don’t make them feel stupid

As my client’s situation illustrates, you can’t assume that what makes perfect sense to you will be easy for your referral partners to understand. 

Intellectually I know what a $2.5-million company is – but that doesn’t mean I can identify the owner of one during a casual conversation at a networking event.

And your referral partners may not be willing to tell you that they don’t get what you’re talking about.  No one wants to look dumb, after all.  So if you assume they should know what the owner of a $2.5-million company looks like, they’re not likely to admit their ignorance.

Nor are they likely to send you business.

Retool your language

So if they won’t tell you that you’re not making sense, how can you know?

Review your identifying characteristics for your ideal clients.  Would your 90-year-old grandmother understand everything on the list?  How about your three-year-old nephew?

Get help reframing your criteria. Ask a friend to listen to your explanations – and to be completely honest about what she understands, and what doesn’t make sense.  Work with her until she does understand exactly what you’re looking for – and then ask her how she’d explain it to someone else.

Then bounce that language off other willing ears to see how it lands with a variety of people at different levels of understanding.

Accept imperfection

You’ll probably never be able to give someone enough understanding for them to check off every item on your list. 

And that’s okay.  Identify and work on the three most important criteria, and let the others go.  Overwhelming your referral partners with too many details is just as unproductive as giving them too little information.

Referrals are a wonderful gift that you can receive from people who respect and appreciate you and your work.

And when you make it easy for them to know exactly who they should send to you – they’ll do it!

“When we seek for connection, we restore the world to wholeness. Our seemingly separate lives become meaningful as we discover how truly necessary we are to each other.”  Margaret Wheatley, EdD, American author, teacher, philanthropist, and consultant