Dear Marketing & Referral Student,

   So consider yourself warned.

   In this edition of the Rants, as your self-appointed teacher ... I am going to let you in on a big lesson in human interest that can line your pockets with unlimited client and customer referrals.

I Call This
The Referral *Y-Factor.*

    But before I get into it, listen up: If you were hoping for a quick read that you could whip through like a 300-pound slob scarfs down a Big Mac ... then do us both a favor and leave now, okay?

    Skip class. Check out early.

    Lethargic laziness stinks worse than a used jock strap. And in my class there's no hope for you (other than a beveled, 16-inch wooden ruler lanced across your knuckles.)

    If, however... on the other hand... you're a good little open-minded referral student, you can grab the free advice I'm about to reveal to you and look like a ridiculous genius to everyone as soon as class lets out.

    Besides, if you don't "get it" from this newsletter... you never will. As your teacher and principal, I declare you to be a straight-A student at being a hopeless dinky-flunk. Still though, before I write you off entirely amigo...

Follow Along With Me
As I Let You In On
A Little Story.

    Let's start by opening our history books and taking a gander at that 6-foot-3 bearded freak, Abraham Lincoln.

    First of all, as your well-informed history teacher there are two factoids you need to know:

    Turns out he learned river navigation early on in life. He'd jump on flatboats for fun and head down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers (the little hell raiser).

   A few years later, Lincoln moved to Illinois and made a second flatboat trip to New Orleans. But before this boat could ever get to the Illinois River...

He Became Stranded.

   Lincoln and his boat got stuck on a milldam at New Salem -- a small pioneer settlement along the Sangamon River (that's 20 miles Northwest of Abe's hometown of Springfield, if you do a Google search.)

   And a milldam ... for all of you stoners in the back of the classroom is what we commonly call a ... sandbar, dude.

  Anyhow... as the boat took on water, Lincoln sprang to action. He had part of the cargo unloaded to the right of the boat then secured an auger from the local village copper shop. After drilling a hole in the bow, he let the water run out.

The Guy Was Not Just A 'Quick-Think'...
He Was Frickin' Brilliant.

   He plugged the hole, helped move the boat over the dam, and headed south down to the Big Easy. And that's where his idea for an invention began.

   Abe started working on a contraption between sessions of Congress in 1848 -- a way to "lift" vessels over sandbars and other obstructions while the boat sat in water.

   You with me?

   Good. Because at this point, you're probably asking yourself...

"What The @#$% Are You Talking About ...
And What Does This Have To Do With More
Client Referrals?"

   {Ruler slap.}

   "Don't interrupt me, you rat weasel...!"

   Where was I?

   Oh yea... so, Lincoln comes up with this apparatus as a scale model of his invention with the help of a Springfield mechanic.

   He piddled along commenting how it was "destined" to work in steamboat navigation. And how he'd be famous. And how he likely would make more money than those twinkle-toe, fruitcake producers who invented American Idol. (Okay, I made that part up. But you get the idea.) And here's the kicker...

   The invention was never applied to any vessel.

   Old Abe... he... well,

He Held Maritime History
In The Palm Of His Hands...
And Squeezed It Like A Limp Canary

    Sort of like many of today's business people.

    Hark unto me, as I now remove my history hat... and put on my sales and marketing cap.

    {Tap... tap... tap.)

    Class! Attention! Wake up deadbeats...

    Let me spell this out on the chalkboard, okay?

• The threatened "revolution" in steamboat architecture and navigation never came to pass. It petered out like Hootie & The Blowfish.
   
• The chance of mechanical "greatness" vanished like a fart-in-a windstorm.
   
• Old Lincoln took the scale model with him to Washington and hired attorney Z. C. Robbins to apply for the patent, faster than Steve Jobs did with his newly invented Ipod.

    And that was the last his invention was ever heard of.

    Until, of course, you see the contraption for yourself in that boring, tourist-ridden Smithsonian.

    Now... one of you schmoozers who's been listening to my story... tell me...

What Does This Really Have To Do
With You Getting More Client Referrals?

    'EVERYTHING.'

    Good answer. That's right.

    And here's what I'm leading into now that I've softened your grey matter: It's what I call the *Y-Factor*. And it can bring you more client referrals, customer referrals and strategic alliances.

    Y-Factor, as in short for the adverb *Why?* ... for all of you remedial sweathogs. And it begins with ACTION... as in you taking action.

    First, let me lay a referral myth on the table. It begins harmlessly with a well intended comment designed to teach you how to generate more word-of-mouth referrals.

    You might read about it in any of the bazillion books out there written by some washed-up sales person claiming to know a thing or two about referrals. Anyhow, it goes something like... "To generate more referrals you have to...

   "...deliver more than you promised."

    DUH.

    I hear that statement all of the time by so-called "experts." They claim that by over delivering and exceeding expectations the referral spigot will turn on like magic... like that weirdo David Blaine makes himself levitate.

    Yeah, right.

    {Ruler slap across the knuckles}.

    WRONG!

       While in theory that may be true: Over deliver... people like you... then they trust you... then they tell their friends, family and freakish third cousins about you... let's not fool ourselves, okay?

    Has that EVER worked consistently for you?

    Have you been flooded with referrals from clients because you over delivered and exceeded what a client was expecting?

   Careful on your answer. {Ruler in hand.}

   Sure, you may have created a "wow-experience" with the client. And you certainly left a favorable impression. But your phone didn't start ringing off of the hook suddenly next week with name-after-name of new referral!

   Delivering more than you promise does NOT generate referrals. Not consistently. That's because delivering more than you promise is an expectation because people today have been... under served, taken advantage of... hassled to death... finagled with terms, conditions and exclusions... tied in corporate-bureaucratic red tape... and otherwise just bird-crapped upon.

   Respectfully disagree all you want; debate class is located down the hall.

   Point numero dos, muchacho...

   You need to know that I rarely endorse anything. I get on average 20 requests a month (nearly one a day for all of you math retards still working on short division). So when I take note of something, I say this as tactfully as I know how...

Do Your Wallet And Your Bank Account A Favor:
Take The Corncobs Out Of Your Ears.

   In other words: Listen and learn.

   A book that's required reading in my class is "Priceless: Turning Ordinary Products Into Extraordinary Experiences," written by Diana Lasalle. (It's for advanced students... the ones who have learned how to control their drooling.)

   In the book, Lasalle touches on something important. She writes:

• "...You must better understand what various customer groups value and *why*..." (my emphasis added, thank you)

   It's something I've long lectured on... and the reason why most students end up with a D in my class rather than an A. And this is what I call Professor Daryl's *Y-factor*:

•    What people value and Why.

   Let me spell this out to you again: The point she is making, (which I've been saying since 1989, mind you), is to determine *Why* a client finds so much appreciation or value in a certain action or service that you have provided. Get ready for a ruler-wielding gut check. Ask yourself:

First...

+ What is the real message of why my client was pleased? How does this translate into a "life improvement" for them? Why are they valuing your service offerings to begin with?

+ Does it mean a better quality of life, less stress, improved emotions, more money? What is it? And is it a tangible action to them?

+ Can they express it to you verbally?

Second...

+ Is my "wow-factor" truly recognized by the client as a life improvement or as a mere courtesy fired back at me? Can that experience be easily reproduced by someone else they deal with?

+ Can another person, such as my competitor better that experience and potentially steal a client from me over time?

And third...

+ Can the client easily and quickly translate this experience to other people they know? Why should my client communicate this to others?

+ Will they speak about it to others in their sphere of influence?

'Scuze me... I forgot one...

+ Are those "other people" the client knows... are they even my ideal clients??

    Asking these questions translates into ACTION. Something the Great Emancipator Mr. Lincoln never had with his inventive spirit... unfortunately.

    Sure, over deliver. And over exceed. Always.

    But be certain that you're looking for opportunities to spot the *Y-Factor.* It's all around you with your clients.

    Open your mind and profit from it.

    After all, that's what learning is all about.

    Like those hardcore, glass-chewing U.S. Marine Drill Sergeants say,
 
       " Wish in one hand and $#!+ in the other... then see which
         one fills up the fastest! "

    In other words: Quit wishing and hoping -- take action.