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Q.: Can you tell me what a "qualified referral" sounds like? I belong to a large BNI chapter and we're having a problem. People in the group are giving nonsense as referrals: names with no follow-up number and no introductions. These are not referrals; they're just cold leads. I want to re-educate the group on what a referral is and would like to be able to give a reputable source for the information.
A.: A "qualified referral" is different to different people and in different organizations. However, since you asked me the question in the context of BNI, let me give you the definition of a referral that is in your Chapter's Leadership Team manual (page 33).
You will note that the definition of a referral is: "The opportunity to do business with someone who is in the market to buy your product or service. It's not a guaranteed sale, but an open door to discuss your business."
The same page in the LT manual also goes over six points to follow in giving a good referral, examples of good referrals and examples of bad referrals. This information would be good for your leadership team and/or education coordinator to go over at a chapter meeting.
This definition was developed as a basic standard for most people to follow. However, there is one notable exception: if someone re-defines this standard for himself, that is okay. In other words, if someone says, "I'll accept something less than this definition as a bona-fide referral for myself," that's okay with us. Without that, people should use the basic standard.
You may ask, "Why would someone want to take something less"? I'll give you two examples. The first I experienced 18 years ago with one of our first chapters. A member sold phone systems and he said that his best contact was any leasing agent in a new building that was not yet completed. If he got in early, he could get them to refer his phone equipment company. The problem was he couldn't see all the new buildings that were going up in Southern California. So he said, "A good referral for me is any new building you see going up." He continued by stating, "If you can give me the leasing agent's name and phone number, I'll accept that as a bona-fide referral."
Now this doesn't meet our basic standard for most people. However, in his case it was okay because he requested a less stringent standard be applied to him based on his needs.
Another example I've seen several times relates to some real estate agents. Some of them have said that they will accept as a referral any FSBO (For Sale By Owner) that someone sees. Most real estate agents don't want to deal with those. However, some enjoy contacting these people and converting them to a real estate contract.
The bottom line is that you should follow the basic standard unless a person states they will accept something less than that.
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