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Hey there. Do you love referrals but hate the idea of having to ask for them?
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Well, my friend, you're in the right place.
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And this is the Roadmap to Referrals podcast and I'm your host, Stacy Brown Randall. Each week I break down why you don't have to ask, pay, be gimmicky or network all the time to generate
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referrals for your business.
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We take a science backed approach with our methodology, frameworks and strategies. The goal is simple, to help you take control of your referrals on your terms.
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Hey, I'm Ryan Kemmler, host of the Net Profit podcast where we focus on helping small business owners have a growing and more profitable business. Today I'm taking over Stacy's Roadmap to Referrals podcast and sharing an interview with that we did together on my show. We talked a lot about the referable client experience, focusing on more about how customers feel than the service that they receive. Enjoy the conversation. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Net Profit podcast. I am your host, Ryan Kimmel, the Net Profit cfo. Today I've got a very good friend with me, Stacey Brown Randall. Stacy really focuses on and helps businesses get more of their ideal referrals. I am really, really excited for today's conversation. Stacy has been doing this for a while and I am really, really intrigued by her methods and we are going to learn a lot today. So, Stacy, thank you for taking the time and joining the show.
B
Well, thank you so much, Brian, for having me. I'm excited to be here. When you said, I've been doing this for a really long time, I'm like, oh gosh, if he says the actual number of years, he's going to age me quite quickly.
C
So no, I wouldn't throw that out there. But I do want to give you an opportunity. I mean, you know, share with my audience. How did you get into referrals? How did you get to where you are today and kind of tell us a little bit about your journey?
B
Yeah, so, you know, it's interesting. Most people want to know, like, okay, the way you teach referrals is so different. I call myself a contrarian in the space of referrals because I teach referrals without asking, without compensating, without manipulating, without networking all the time and wasting a bunch of time. And so that's not something you just wake up one day and you're like, oh, look, God made me brilliant in the span of like being able to teach, in the realm of being able to teach referrals and teach it in this really unique way. Like most things in life, it came to the school of very hard knocks. I actually had a business, it was an HR human resource consulting firm. And if you like looked at my business from the outside in, you'd be like, wow, she's got KPMG and BDO and Ally bank and Coca Cola Consolidated Bottling, like all these big name companies as her clients. You would assume that the business was doing well. Unfortunately, the business didn't make made it just past four years. It did not make it to that elusive five year mark. I think there's some statistic that's like 82% of all small businesses will fail before they hit five years. Yep, that's me. I'm in that club. I'm in the 82%. I have a business failure badge. I like had it made and being a member of the business failure club. So I had to go back and get a job and my business did well. But I worked incredibly hard for every client I did land. And it was always about being at the right place at the right time. From a networking perspective, which Ryan, you and I both know being at the right place at the right time just means you're at all the places all the time. Yeah, that's how that actually works out to your advantage. And I have three kids and that's kind of exhausting and not a great way to like have balance in your life. And. And so when that business failed, I had to go get a job. I had to go back to corporate America. I was like, oh my gosh, I have to put heels on again. This is terrible. And I was probably in corporate America about 15, 16 months. But I knew from the day I sat in the lobby of one of my interviews, I was like, I gotta get outta here. Like I know I gotta be here, but I eventually gotta figure out how to get outta here. And while in corporate America, I became certified as a productivity coach. And I kind of knew that would be my exit strategy. So 15 months later I exited. I decided to start another business. And the big thing I paid attention to is why are others successful and I wasn't. One of the things I dug into was how I was generating my clients. And they really did come because I was networking and I sat on boards with people or I was at this event, this person, I was in this association with this person. And I was like, that's not sustainable. Right when I started my second business. Now my, we had two kids at that point and they were getting Older and that eventually we would bring on a third.
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And.
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And so that wasn't sustainable. And I was like, why can't I get referrals? Like all these other people are getting them. Why can't I get them? I realized my first business, I got that many referrals. None. Zero. And so I was like, clearly I don't know how to do it then, because I never got one in four years. And then I'm like, everybody else go to Google. Hey, what's up, Google? How do I get referrals? And you're hit with a barrage of ask, ask, ask or pay or network, or put in your email signature. The greatest compliment you can give me as a referral, right? All that gimmicky promotional stuff we don't want to do, because that's not how I wanted to show up in the marketplace. That's not how I wanted to be seen by my clients. And so, you know, when I started my productivity and business coaching practice, I was like, I don't know what to do to get referrals. I just know I don't want to do any of that stuff. And I threw a bunch of spaghetti on the wall and some of it stuck and some of it worked. And it worked really well. And it was 112 referrals that I received in my first year as a productivity and business coach that I didn't ask for. And at that point, when you have that type of success, lots of things change. You know, it's the supply and demand thing, right? Lots of things change in your business. I was raising my rates, I was changing. When I would work with clients, I used to go to them, then I can make them come to me. I got office space. Like, everything shifted after that first year. And my clients were like, hey, thanks for teaching us how to tame our inbox. Love that, but I really want to learn how you're growing. And I was like, oh, I'm getting referrals. And they're like, great, teach me. And you're in that moment, you're like, well, wait, what am I doing? And then I had to reverse engineer the processes of what I was doing. And I was paying attention to how I would see things land on people. And at that point I was like, okay, this is basically what I'm doing. And I started teaching it in my one on one coaching sessions. And I did that for a couple of years and then I started teaching it in workshops, like 20 people, 30 people, 50 people in a room for a whole day. And then I would Teach it. And when people started having as much success as I was having, and in lots of cases more, I was like, okay, this isn't based on my industry as a coach. This isn't based on my personality of being extremely extroverted. This isn't based on anything else other than the fact that I have figured out how people can generate referrals in a way that feels good and they don't have to do any of the stuff they don't want to do. Over time, I then also discovered, oh, this is based on the science of referrals. I have a very clear, distinctive way of looking at referrals, what we do and how we do it. Our philosophy is very, very like. It's very much honed in on being good people at, like, a baseline. But all the things kind of came to be. And so now, of course, I've been doing this for 12 years, and I think the big thing that people resonate with. With what I teach them is that it has to work or it doesn't really matter, but it also can feel good while it's working. And I think that's the key.
C
Love that. Well, you caught us up on, you know, good part of your life very, very quickly. So love that and love that we have that background. And I really resonated with everything you were saying there. And part of my, like, what I look for in clients is I look for clients with good hearts. And I think, you know, that last part that you just talked about, about how you can get to a point where referrals actually feel good and you're helping somebody else. I love to be in that space. But before we get there and kind of the science of referrals, and I think we'll get that. That kind of at the end, I just want to start out, you know, because obviously you have a lot of a different perspective, probably from me and from a lot of my audience. I mean, let's just start out and define referrals, like, for you and kind of the way that you look at them.
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Yeah, I think it's always important to make sure we're on the same page. Right. And we're, like, using. When we use the same words, do we actually have the same meaning and definition behind them? And I have found lots of people don't. And I think one of the reasons for that is, is because the word referral is thrown around and applied to other marketing, other sales, other types of leads, and it's just like it's overused, and it's overused means. Now most people don't even know what they are. So I define a referral as it has two parts and it has to have these two parts to be considered a referral. And that is, number one, there's a personal connection. There is somebody who I call the referral source. There's somebody, a referral source who knows a person. We're going to call that person the prospect who has a problem and they're going to personally connect that prospect to you. That's how the trust is transferred.
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Right.
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And that is how you are in the driver's seat because you have now been connected to this prospect by your referral source. Because the referral source wants that connection to happen because they trust you. The second piece is there's got to be a need identified in the prospect. The prospect needs to know they're the prospect. The that's why they're willing to be connected to you. Right. And the example I always use if my husband and I are living in the house that we plan to die in. Right. Like I don't actually ever need to be referred to a realtor unless something in my circumstances change. So the prospect has to have a need and they need to be connected to you by another person, the referral source. So it's those two parts. Personal connection, need identified in the prospect.
C
Yep, love that. And that really aligns, you know, with a lot of the business owners that, that I talked to, especially like other CFOs that I talked to. I mean we used to say that there was three parts but you've got to have the connection and trust. They have to have a prospect that has a need and you have to be top of mind for that referrer too. That's the kind of the third piece that we say. But having that personal, you know, connection and trust is really kind of the same thing. But we, I mean we just kind of add that third part because there are probably other people that do what you do.
B
Yeah. So the top of mind piece for us is hugely important. It's just not part of how we define referrals in my world. It's more about then how we nurture the relationship with our referral sources is to make sure that we're top of mind. So I always tell folks I separate out like when a referral arrives it has to meet this two part definition so that you know what it is. Because how you behave and with the actions you take and how you follow up is it should be different when it's a referred prospect versus A prospect that found you through an SEO search. Both are good, but you approach them differently because they arrived from different places. And so for me with the way we define referrals is I want people to know that's what this is. And if I, if someone says, hey, like if someone were to say to you, hey, Ryan, I was talking to someone the other day, they absolutely need you, I gave them all your contact information and they're going to follow up. I want you to be able to say, wait, there's a need identified in a prospect, but I wasn't connected. So that's not a referral. And in that case, that's word of mouth buzz. When you know that, when you can identify, wait, that's word of mouth buzz. Like one of the things I teach my clients is, okay, so here's the language you use to flip word of mouth buzz into a referral. Now how we go about getting those referrals and staying top of mind and nurturing the relationship with our referral sources, like that's the next step in terms of how the processes and strategies work.
C
Yep, that makes a ton of sense.
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Yeah, for sure.
C
So let's talk about, you know, where referrals fit in business development. And I think you kind of started to get into that piece. You know, everybody loves referrals. Right. And it's, and it's the easy way to get additional business. Right. But as you kind of talked about in your journey, you know, like so far my experience with referrals, in order to get them is you've got to get out there and have connections and build trust and that's where everybody ends up, you know, getting out there and networking and going to meetings and sitting on boards and getting involved in their community and, you know, so that your face is out there and people learn and know who you are. But I would love to hear you just talk a little bit about how referrals can fit into business development and how, you know, we can really shift where we're spending our time. And I'll just let you run with that.
B
Yeah. So if you go to any type of like business development training or sales training or anything like that, one of the things you're going to learn is that your sales strategy or your business development strategy is a two legged stool. And you're going to be taught that there's things that you do on the prospecting side and then there's things that you do on the marketing side. The prospecting is going to be things like joining maybe a leads group. Or an association or going to coffees. Maybe it's direct mail, right? Maybe it's buying leads, right? There's a lot of things you can do. That's what would be considered prospecting in nature. And the prospecting mentality reality is let me get you as quickly as I can to the prospect. So go to that networking event, have that cup of coffee with somebody, right? Join that association, whatever. It's like, how fast can I get you to the prospect? The other side of that is marketing. And so marketing may be a website, social media, right? Getting some publicity with some earned like press releases and things like that. It can be sponsorships, right? So there's lots of different things that you can do. There are marketing in nature and the idea there is like let that billboard I put up, right? Or that ad that I'm running or my website be the thing that attracts the prospect to me. The goal of prospecting and marketing is to get you in front of a prospect and have a sales message that will capture their attention. To get them to raise their hand and say, yes, I need to talk to you.
C
Yeah.
B
Most people will then teach you that referrals has to fit in one of those two places. It has to fit into the prospecting bucket, which is where the asking or paying or networking to be known to be seen all the time. Those strategies and tactics come into place. So if someone believes, well, referrals are prospecting, then they teach you to ask or pay or network all the time. If someone believes that referrals fits on the marketing side of the two legged stool, then you get the promotional gimmicky marketing kind of stuff, right? And someone will call, the people will call it referral marketing. And I'm always like, that's not a thing. It's not a term that we should be using because it leads you to believe that referrals are marketing in nature. But the messaging when you're doing prospecting and marketing is sales in nature. But that's because you're trying to talk to the prospect. Your business development strategy has a third leg and the third leg of that stool is actually referrals. And referrals aren't prospecting. They don't fit in prospecting, they don't fit in marketing. Because the person you're talking to when you're trying to generate referrals is never the prospect. You don't know who they are. You only know who is the referral source. Either the people who refer you now or the people you want to refer you in the Future. And so your conversation, your messaging, your relationship that you're building is entirely different than a prospecting or a marketing mentality because you're talking to the person who knows the prospect. So everything about your messaging and communication has to be different. Everything about how you build that relationship has to look different. Which is why I tell people referrals is its own leg of your business development strategy. And you have to then have the right strategy within for referrals to be able to produce them to be more than the sporadic. Right. Like, we want consistency. We want this to be a strategy that we can count on. So you've got to have prospecting, marketing, and then referrals has got to be separate.
C
Yeah, very interesting. And I think for most of my listeners and even you know me, I think that is very. That's a very different kind of strategy. And look at it that most people don't have. Yeah, very, very interesting. Third. Third leg of the stool. And I completely agree. You know, if you come at it from a different angle, right. You're. You're using the wrong language to get the job done. And that's probably why. That's probably why a lot of business owners don't have the success that they want to with referrals.
B
Yeah. Because if I believe that referrals are part of prospecting, and so all I teach is to ask, and you're like, that is awful. I don't want to do it. And by the way, it's not working. Then you are then told, well, then you just gotta hope you do great work and you get some. And hope's not a strategy either. Like, it's so many times when I talk to folks, I'm always like, do you think you do amazing work? Like, not perfect work. No way. It's perfect. But do you think that you are a valuable resource to your clients? And like, 10 times out of 10, a business owner is going to raise their hand and be like, yes, I think I do great work. Not perfect work, but I do great work and I'm valuable. My clients appreciate me. And then I say, so you do awesome work. Are you also drowning in referrals? Like, so many referrals, you don't know what to do with yourself. And they're immediately like, no, that's not my. I do not have that problem. I have the opposite problem. It's like, it's like a desert when it comes to referrals. Or I get just a couple when I want, you know, half a dozen a month. I'm getting like maybe one a month. And I'm like, that's because doing amazing work does not equal generating referrals. And that's the other thing that people are taught. Well, just do great work and you'll get some. Like, no, like you actually have to be in a little bit more control.
C
Yep. Yeah, I think. And especially, you know, again, when you're doing amazing work, that's client facing. And one of my, one, one of my mentor's favorite stories is he was working with a painter, took him from massive losses, six figure losses, to six figure profits in one year. And my mentor asked the painter, will you introduce me to, you know, your friends and you know, the associations that you're a part of? And he said, not over my dead body, because you're my secret weapon and I can't give you to my competition. Right. And so when you're doing that amazing work, like, especially like in my field where, you know, I'm helping business owners with their finances, like, you know, the business that I'm helping, that's an H VAC company, definitely doesn't want me at the H vac company down the street. Right. And so when you're working with a customer, you might get amazing results for them. Know, maybe, you know, in my case, maybe it's a 4 or 5x of the client fee that they're paying me, but there is no way they're giving me and referring me to the business down the street. Not again, like the painter said, not over their dead body.
B
You know, I always find that, I mean, so I'll hear that from time to time too. People will be like, well, if I work with you, are you also going to work with the other attorney down the street that does the exact same thing? And you know, it's funny, what I always tell folks is it's different with referrals because the people who are going to refer to you are probably not referring to your competition because we refer to someone we trust. And let's be honest, I don't know about you, but I don't have a Rolodex of like four painters I trust. I have a Rolodex of like a painter I trust. Right. So it's always interesting when people say that. But the other thing I always tell folks is, is that if that's a concern, and it does exist in some industries. Not in. All right. But it does exist in some industries where the person's like, I don't want you working with my, my competitors. Right. Is you always have to take that off the table, like, and that's the other thing that he's also asking that painter to refer to him. So now he's put it in the painter's head, like, okay, I've got work to do and I want to make sure that this works out for me. Like, it changes the entire dynamic of how the painter thought in that moment. Right. Because ultimately your mentor didn't need necessarily more painters. There's lots of people that he. That are in the home services or trades businesses that he could have been able to help if you. I mean, first of all, I would never tell them to ask. I would tell them to do it differently. But at least in that situation, I'd be like, oh, just reframe what you're saying and be like, clearly you don't need to be referring me to the painters. But I'm sure there are other, like, not your competitors, but all the other people who work on homes that, you know, like, I would never teach you to ask, but that's at least something I probably would say is if you think they're going to, like, maybe I don't want to do that, like, take that off the table before they have a chance to put it on the table from that perspective. But clearly I would be like, you shouldn't even have to ask if you're doing other things.
C
Yes. And I think that really gets into the science of referrals and, you know, not having to ask. So let's kind of shift and dive into that side of things too. Because a lot of business owners, I think, believe that they have to ask and kind of falling under that sales mindset of, well, if I want to get the referral, I have to ask. And you take a different approach. And that's kind of into the science of referrals that you don't have to ask.
B
Yeah. So I always tell folks everything that I teach, from the philosophy that I teach to the strategies, the tactics and right down to the language, is always going to. It's always going to respect the science of referrals and the three things you need to understand about the science of referrals. And I'll do this high level, like, I won't go too deep or like, we won't have time to talk about anything else. But at a high level, the three things you need to understand when it comes to referrals and is number one. And this is hard for people to grasp when they first hear it, but it's. Referrals aren't about you. Everybody believes that Referrals are about me, Ryan. You refer someone to me, right? And normally what people think is, yay, I got a client. Ryan's helping me grow my business. But that's not what you're thinking about when you refer a client to me. And the moment the referral is happening and you are talking to someone that you know that has a problem, you get to all of a sudden be like, wait, I know how to help you. How I can help you solve that problem. You get to be the hero, right? How I can help you solve that problem is by connecting and referring you to Stacy, because she can. She's uniquely positioned to solve that problem for you. So, yes, you get a referral, and that's great. And potentially a new client. And it feels great. But it's not about you. It's about your referral source helping somebody else who has a problem. And how they're going to solve that problem is by referring them to you. And so at the moment in your brain when you're like, wait, I can help you. I need to refer you to Stacy. The happiness trifecta, which is what the scientists call it. It's not what I named it. The happiness trifecta of the chemicals in your brain. Dopamine and its two cousins are released. And those are the feel good chemicals that when we. Okay, they do more than just feel good. Regulation, right? But when we do something that feels good, those chemicals are released. And so in that moment, they're like, I'm helping somebody. And recognizing that means it's not about you getting a client. That's not where you come at it, Right? This is about your referral source feeling good about helping someone else. And you get a client because of that. So first thing is, is know your place. Know your place with referrals because it's not about you. That's really important. So the first thing is what's happening in the brain. So brain science. The second thing that's happening with science of referrals is what most people know, which is the psychology of trust. Right? The psychology of trust comes into play because there's a reputation on the line. I'm putting my reputation on the line anytime I refer someone to you, right? And so obviously, that psychology of trust, and then when I refer someone to you, they are borrowing my trust and applying it to you, which makes usually a referral easier and quicker to close and less price sensitive. So most people get the psychology of trust. So we got what's going on in the brain, then we've got the dynamic behind the psychology of trust. And then the third piece is actually the relationship you maintain with your referral source is key to more referrals, and that pulls on the principles of behavioral economics. And that's the third piece of the science. And so most people are like, oh, okay, behavioral economics, reciprocity. That's actually where a lot of the asking advice comes from. This client feels great and amazing. Let me leverage or take advantage or manipulate that reciprocity. But by saying, hey, who else do you know you can connect me with? We look at behavioral economics like on the positive side, not the evil side of, like, leveraging or manipulating someone's reciprocity. We don't even pay attention to reciprocity with behavioral economics. We're looking at other factors of what is it that actually maintains a relationship with someone, but where you're not having to show up in that person's life daily, weekly, or monthly, but what you're doing is keeping you top of mind. There is variety. There is surprise and delight. Right. Obviously, there's a language piece that goes into this and using the. Some of the principles of behavioral economics to build out strategies that allow our referral sources to feel and be impacted in a different way because of how we show up by putting them first. And that's how we nurture the right kind of relationship. And so that's how we can do less and get a longer Runway out of it as well. Most people I talk to, they're like, so I got to do something every week or every month for my referral sources. And I'm like, only if you want to be creepy. Like, you really should be doing something maybe five, six, maybe seven times in a year. So in some cases that it's not even every other month, but it could be. But it's the what you do matters. It's the what you say, right? And so there's a whole framework that I teach my clients of how we take behavioral economics and we build out a plan of how you're going to do outreach, of what this will look like. And most people are like, I never would have thought about that. Because it's not about most people think. When I say the relationship you have with your referral sources is important, and where their minds instantly go is, oh, they have to know how amazing I am. They have to know what an amazing fractional CFO I am. They have to know what an amazing consultant I am. They have to know what an amazing attorney I am. They don't actually care. It's actually like everybody, if you're still in business, everybody assumes you must be good at what you do. Until you prove me otherwise, I'm just going to assume you're good at what you do. I mean, that doesn't mean they do need to know what you do. Right. And there's pieces to that. But most people are like, oh, they need to know how amazing I am, and then they'll refer me. I'm like, no, they have to remember you to be able to refer you. And that is very different when you think about how you're going to maintain a relationship with them.
C
For sure. Everybody needs to rewind the last five minutes and listen to it a second time, just so you know. So, yes, because I definitely think everything you just talked about is really gold. And I think it's very important for business owners to shift their mindset, learn and understand. And so I'm going to tell everybody, rewind list the last five minutes. So, you know, Stacy, next, I want to go into. You teach this in a couple of different ways. And for my audience, there's a couple of different ways for them to really learn the systems with you and really install kind of a referral machine in their business. That's what I'm going to call it, a referral machine. I don't know if that's what you would call it, but I want to give you an opportunity and just share, you know, what are the different ways that you teach this? What's available for my audience and how they can learn the referral framework that you have.
B
Yeah. So one of the best things I ever did in my business is I came up with what we call the flowchart, and it is the referral strategy flowchart. And it's how you implement things in your business and how you flow through in the order that you do things. And every business is a little bit different. So there's always a customization to what order we go in, but there's some basic pieces we need to start with. So there's. Right now there are 20 different referral strategies that I teach. Some are like, it's a process, it's a workflow. Put it in place, set it, and forget it. And other ones are, hey, this is how you're going to nurture relationships to get more referrals from a certain group of people. So no matter how someone works with me, they're going to get all of those strategies. The way my business is set up is how do you want to learn from me? So if we're all getting the same strategies. No matter how you work with me, the next question is, is how best do you want to work with me? Some people are like, I don't want to watch a video. I just want you to show up, teach it to my team and serve it to us on a silver platter, build it for us and come and implement it. And that's my VIP where I will actually build for a client based on their assessment what their overall strategy is going to look like. And then I go spend two days with them and their team and then I'm with them for an entire year after that as they're in implementation mode. So that's my VIP level. Other times people are like, I don't either have a team or that's not how I want to learn best. So I want to do a more measured approach. I have a coaching program where you're in that for a year and you're watching the strategies in like in our online portal. So videos and you're learning it, you're putting them in place and then I'm giving you feedback on what you're building. And then I'm always available to answer questions. And I have other people who are like, I want to drink from a fire hose. I just want to show up, I want you to tell me everything I need to know in two days. I don't want to watch a video, I don't want to join a coaching program. What does that look like? And I'm always like, that's our referral accelerator. So that's when a small group of business owners will come to me and we will build out their referral strategy in two days. So from the VIP experience to the building a referable business coaching program, 12 month experience, or the referral accelerator, it's just how do you want to consume the information and put it into place? All of those come with access to me after the fact. Right. Or during it. But it's like, how do you want to learn? Okay, great, I can what I need to teach, I can do it in two days. But it's how fast you want to go and it's how you want to learn. And that's how my business is set up for the three different ways that I work with people. And of course, all of this is on my website. Stacy Brown randall.com or Stacy has an E. But everything's right there on the homepage. You can like look at how they all work together.
C
And the workshops just for my audience are done in Charlotte. Charlotte, North Carolina.
B
They are so right now the referral accelerators are done in Charlotte. We just had one in February. It was amazing. They're usually small. About 10 to 12 people are in a room and so I love them. I have been asked to take them on the road. Like hey, would you come to like Michigan or would you come to the west coast to do one? And so that's always an option. But right now people come to me in Charlotte.
C
Got it. Very cool. And you did mention your website already. I know you also have a podcast. Best places for my audience to find you, connect with you beyond the website would be.
B
Yeah, so the podcast, since they already are podcast listener, they can cue me up as well. It's roadmap to referrals. Wherever you listen to podcasts, of course on the social media channels I'm always you can find me at Stacy Brown Randall, LinkedIn, Instagram or my two favorite but also Facebook as well.
C
Very nice Stacy. Thank you so much for taking the time and coming on the show. Greatly appreciate having you as a guest and greatly appreciate your insights today. I think we got a lot of good information to my listeners. A lot of value add here today.
B
Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you Ryan for hosting this episode
A
for the podcast Takeover for our listeners.
B
I appreciate you.
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Ryan Kimler is the founder of Net Profit cfo. He is the host of the Net Profit podcast and an international best selling author. Through his firm, Ryan and his team specialize in helping business owners take control of their finances and drive sustainable, profitable growth. You guys know how much I love profit over revenue numbers. Ryan's mission is simple, to give business owners the financial clarity they need to run a more profitable business and enjoy the freedom that comes with it. We are going to link of course to the show's transcripts and all the ways that you can check out Ryan and his firm. Plus connect with him on social on the Show Notes page of this episode@staceybrownrandall.com 418 or if you're our YouTube Watcher Watcher of mine, we of course will link to all the ways to connect with Ryan below the video. If you're interested in a profit breakthrough session with Ryan and his team, we'll also link to his scheduling calendar as well. Just look below the video or in the show notes page at stacybrownrandall.com forward/418.
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Thanks for making it to the end.
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Until next week, take control of your
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referrals and build a referable business. Bye for now.
Host: Stacey Brown Randall (with guest host Ryan Kimler)
Date: June 16, 2026
This episode features a unique podcast collaboration where Ryan Kimler, host of the Net Profit podcast, interviews Stacey Brown Randall about her science-backed, non-traditional approach to generating business referrals. The conversation dives into what truly defines a referral, why referrals are more about the relationship between the referral source and the person helped, and how referrals impact business profitability without the need for manipulative tactics. Stacey provides a deep look into her journey, methodology, and actionable frameworks, connecting the dots between consistent, authentic referrals and increased business profits.
“...it worked really well. And it was 112 referrals that I received in my first year as a productivity and business coach that I didn’t ask for.” [05:19]
“So I define a referral as it has two parts… number one, there’s a personal connection… The second piece is there’s got to be a need identified in the prospect.” [08:17]
“Your business development strategy has a third leg and the third leg of that stool is actually referrals. And referrals aren’t prospecting. They don’t fit in prospecting, they don’t fit in marketing…” [13:48]
“Doing amazing work does not equal generating referrals. And that’s the other thing people are taught—just do great work and you’ll get some. Like, no, you actually have to be in a little bit more control.” [17:20]
Stacey identifies three core scientific principles underpinning her approach:
“Referrals aren’t about you… Your referral source gets to be the hero… because she can… solve that problem for you.” [21:01]
“They don’t actually care [how amazing you are]… They have to remember you to be able to refer you, and that is very different…” [25:22]
“No matter how someone works with me, they’re going to get all of those strategies... It’s just how do you want to consume the information and put it into place?” [27:04]
This episode gives a practical, genuinely refreshing take on referral generation—demonstrating that doing great work and building authentic, science-backed relationships, not manipulation or gimmicks, is the key to sustainable business growth and increased profits.