I’m a big believer in marketing systems, even when it comes to something as personal as referrals. As an acupuncture and Oriental medicine practitioner, if you don’t have a referral marketing system in place, you’re losing out.

Bill Cates, “the Referral Coach” gives away a free report on common referral marketing system problems if you sign up for his newsletter. See: www.referralcoach.com. It’s called “The 7 Deadly Referral Mistakes - Are You Making Them?”

You’ll have to sign up for the report for the complete details, but here an overview:

Mistake #1 - Lack of Commitment to Referrals.
The biggest reason is fear - fear of asking for referrals. Once you commit to overcoming this fear, you’ll find it’s not a big deal after all. Here are some quotes that might help:

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
- Ambrose Redmoon

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.
- Mark Twain

Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.
- John Wayne

Notice that none of these quotes deal with the absence of fear. It’s there, but isn’t blown out of proportion. Most acupuncturists find once you start asking for referrals the right way, people’s reactions make you ENJOY asking.

Mistake #2 - Making Referrals All About YOU
Your patients and their friends are not interested in building your acupuncture clinic for you. They’re interested in having their problems solved. Make it clear you want to help other people - it shouldn’t be about them helping you.

Mistake #3 - Forgetting to Ask for Referrals
Are you really forgetting or is it just fear or lack of commitment (as in Mistake #1)?

Mistake #4 - Not Being Referable in the First Place
Bill talks about three things to make yourself referable. Never Market Again does a much better job of explaining how to be referrable. I’m biased (it is my book after all), but I’m also right. Don’t believe me? Buy the book and request a refund if I’m wrong.

Mistake #5 - Thinking Great Service Alone is Not Enough
This is a typo - It should say “Great Service Alone is Not Enough”. It’s true - people need to be tactfully asked. They need to be educated. And they need to know you care.

Mistake #6 - Letting Your “Belly Button” Get in Your Way
When he says “Belly Button” he really means your fear. There are two main fears:

Fear #1 - Asking for referrals will make me look unsuccessful.
Fear #2 - Asking clients for referrals will hurt my relationship with them.

Both of these fears are bogus - if you ask the right way. People can be literally DELIGHTED to refer. Just ask the right way. Also, referrals are associated with being successful, NOT unsuccessful. Successful people have earned the right to EXPECT referrals. This is extensively covered in Never Market Again.

Mistake #7 - Not Using a Systematic Approach.
I’m a big believer in having systems set up. If you have a system in place, you can focus on what you do best - treating patients. If you don’t have a system, you’re going to be distracted. I keep it simple when discussing systems in What To Look For In A Marketing System. It really does need to be a KISS (Keep It Simple, Silly) system, or you’re going to be sidetracked.

There you have it - 7 deadly referral mistakes. If you want to download the complete report, go to www.referralcoach.com. Like I said, I’m very biased - Never Market Again is far better - and is risk-free to check out.