Transcript
A (0:03)
Hi, I'm Carol Cox of the Speaking youg Brand podcast. I work with women entrepreneurs and executives to help them turn their expertise into thought leadership through powerful messaging and speaking. Today, I'm taking over Stacy's Roadmap to Referrals podcast and sharing an interview I did on my own show. We talked about how to create a client and audience experience that naturally leads to referrals. One idea that stood out to me was that referrals aren't triggered by an ask, but by how people feel about the experience you create with them. This applies directly to speaking as well. When your talk creates connection and transformation, people don't just remember you, they talk about you and recommend you enjoy our conversation. Hi there, and welcome to the Speaking yougbn podcast. I'm your host, Carol Cox. Now, most of us have been told that if we want referrals, we should just ask for them. But that can oftentimes feel awkward, even pushy. You kind of feel like, well, do I really want to ask past clients so directly for referrals? What if instead, you could design an experience for your clients, your audience, and even if an organizer that makes you naturally referable? That's exactly what my guest today, Stacy Brown Randall, is here to share. Stacy is the author of her new book called the Referable Client Experience Experience. And she's built a proven system to generate consistent referrals without the awkward ass or any of those kind of, like, icky tactics that we've been told to use. So if you've ever wished more clients and more speaking invitations come your way simply because people can't stop talking about the experience you created for them, you're going to love this episode. And fun fact, Stacy was on this podcast way back in episode number six 62. That was in March of 2018. I can't believe it's been that long. Stacy, welcome back to the podcast.
B (2:08)
Well, Carol, thank you so much for having me back. It's always nice to be a repeat guest. I. I didn't realize it had been so long, so it's so funny. That's. That was actually the year my first book came out. So I guess it's perfect that I'm back now with my second book out. And clearly it took me forever to write my second book.
A (2:25)
Well, I still haven't written my first, so you are. You are way ahead of me. So congrats on the second one. So let me ask you this. So your first one was about referrals, and the second one is as well. So why did you Decide to write the second book, what did you feel like you wanted to add to the conversation?
B (2:41)
Oh, so much like. I think that's the interesting thing about referrals, because for so long we've been taught that, hey, if you want referrals, just ask for them. Or if you want referrals, just create like a loyalty type referral program and people will give you commit. You can give people commission for referrals or. Or you're taught, hey, just go network all the time so people can't forget about you. And that's all you gotta do to get referrals. People think it's like a do this and then get referrals. And it's like, so, like simple and it's just like tiny. And there's one little process that they need to do, but that's treating referrals like they're a nail and the only tool you need is a hammer. And it's just not the case. I mean, I have been teaching business owners how to generate referrals for now, 12 years, and I actually have 20 different strategies that I teach. No business owner needs all of them. Most of them are situational. So, like, hey, in this situation, when this happens, Stacy told me what to say is usually how I want my clients thinking about it, right? Some are like processes or plans or strategies we want in place that kind of run all the time in your business, like year after year. And others are just because this situation happened, you know what to say. And the truth is, it's not just referrals are a nail. So here's a hammer, right? You need a fully stocked toolbox to really leverage all of the referrals that have the potential to come into your business and exist in your business. I teach referrals like they exist in an ecosystem. There's not just one way to get referrals, there's lots of ways. And so the first book that I wrote, generating Business Referrals without asking, I'll be honest, when I first wrote it, I was like, this is the book. It's the only book. And, you know, this is like. I think I started writing that book back in 2017. It came out in 2018. I'm like, this is it. This is. This is my platform. Like, this is the things you need to know. And then as my business evolved and my clients started asking different questions, and I was like. And it was funny because they'd asked, like, well, what would you say in this situation? I'd be like, you say this and I'm like, wait, that's not actually recorded for any other client to access unless they're listening to this conversation. So we started building out, like, the library of all the client questions. And they kind of formed their own, like, little mini strategies and many tactics and. And so that's what we have that we provide to our clients. But the more I started watching my body of work, like, evolve, I was like, wait a minute, the book really only is attached to one. The first book, it's only attached to one of the 20 strategies. It's the teaching you how to identify if you have people who refer you now, and then the steps to follow to get more referrals from people who already refer you. But as the body of work evolved, I was like, well, what about people who've never referred you? Like, that's a whole standalone strategy. What about the clients and the client experience? That's another whole standalone strategy that I teach. And so that's what I was like, oh, well, there's probably a bunch more books. I don't know if I have a bunch more books in me to like, write them and actually get through it. But so I started thinking about it. I was like, yes. I was like, I have three main foundational strategies. They can each serve as their own book. They don't need to be like a mini chapter in one book. And so this is the second book that I decided to write was, which is on the client experience. And the idea that how you get referrals from someone who already refers you whether they're a client or not looks different from the repeatable process you need to have in place to be able to be worthy of those referrals and then to know how to bridge the gap to those referrals. And that all happens within the client experience.
