Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Reason #4 for not making at least $10,000 per month in your business

Having only one source of referrals

I coach with many coaches across the country to help them build their practices. A common problem most of them have in their business is having only one source of referrals. Many of the Dave Ramsey coaches I talk with rely solely on Dave’s company to send them all of their referrals. This is also a problem that I see not only in services businesses, but also with businesses selling traditional products.

As a Certified Dave Ramsey Coach myself, my market is a very small one for Dave Ramsey. As a result I have had to build models and streams of referrals that do not depend entirely on one organization sending prospects to me. I even consider anything that Dave’s company sends directly to me as icing on the cake, where many others rely nearly 100% on this one source.

When working directly with any Dave Ramsey Coach, I would prefer they be in a small market for Dave Ramsey because they must quickly learn to rely on building their business on more than one referral stream. Any time you are reliant on one source for anything in a business, risk enters the picture. What if someone else comes into your market that was trained by Dave Ramsey? Immediately your referrals could be cut in half. What if Dave Ramsey’s company decides to no longer send prospects to you? Again, your business dries up. What if your one buyer decides to branch out and find a cheaper product?

The importance of having more than one stream of referrals has never been more important. Take a look at where the majority of clients and customers in your business come from. Can you expand to reach other areas? As you do I guarantee your income will soar.

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