Welcome And Referral Question

Tom DuFore 0:01

Welcome to the Multiply Your Success podcast, where each week we help growth-minded entrepreneurs and franchise leaders take the next step in their expansion journey. I'm your host, Tom Dufour, CEO of Big Sky franchise team. And as we open today, I'm wondering how you are creating referrals in your business. Do you have a process or a system for doing that? Well, our guest today is Stacy Brown Randall, who by the way is a repeat guest from episode 147, so check that out. And she shares with us how delivering a referral client experience creates a multiplier effect. Now, Stacy is the author of her new book, The Referrable Client Experience, and the multiple award-winning book Generating Business Referrals Without Asking. She's also the host of the Roadmap to Referrals podcast. Stacy teaches business owners how to generate referrals naturally without manipulating, incentivizing, or even asking. She's been featured in national publications like Entrepreneur Magazine, Investor Business Daily, Forbes, and many more. She received her master's in organizational communication and is married with three kids. You're going to love this interview, so let's go ahead and jump right into it.

Stacey Brown Randall 1:15

Well, thanks, Tom, for having me back. I love being a repeat guest. It is a high honor. My name is Stacey Brown Randall. My business is building a referral business. I know we're going to talk about a couple of books that I have out, so I will leave those for later in our conversation.

Tom DuFore 1:32

I love the topic that you talk about, just being referable, creating referrals, and this book that you have. So give us a little bit of the genesis behind this and then we'll talk about the book.

Why The New Book Exists

Stacey Brown Randall 1:44

Yeah. So the book kind of exists because of two main reasons. First, I would say that the book exists because I, my first book came out and it was based on one of the 20 strategies that I teach to clients when they are wanting to generate referrals in the way that I teach referrals, which is without asking, without compensating, without being gimmicky and promotional, and without feeling like you have to network all the time. So my first book, Generating Business Referrals Without Asking, is actually based on one of my, one of my three main foundational strategies. But people would read the book and they would be like, so I got it. Like this is it. This is this is what I do to get referrals. This is all I gotta do. And I'm like, no, that's one strategy that you want to have in place to generate referrals. And that book is based on if you have people referring you now, how you get more them to refer you more. And so I knew with the three foundational strategies, those would make the best three books. Like once I did the first book, I was like, okay, so the referral client experience is another one of those three foundational strategies. And so it just made sense that when I got ready to write my second book, I knew what I'd be choosing from. It was either like the new people referring you strategy or the referable client experience. And I went with referable client experience. So that's why it exists in book form. But where the actual strategy began is recognizing, and I had something very specific happen to me early on in my business. Like I've been in business almost 13 years now. And this would be my fourth client, like way back in like my first year. And the idea that how valuable a client experience is, but it's more than the great work you do. It's the relationship you build. And when I started paying attention to some things that were happening with my early clients, I started like developing this strategy as well, like the strategy that happens, that's a repeatable strategy that happens for all of your clients, regardless if they refer or not. It's the idea of getting them to the place where they would refer or would, or be like that language piece is there for them to refer. And that's why the strategy actually exists itself. It's just really interesting, I think, when people think about referrals, they're like, oh, I want referrals. So I got to just do this one thing to get them. I'm like, oh no. They live in an ecosystem in your business, and there's lots of different ways and different strategies and tactics you can deploy to receive them.

Defining Client Experience Vs Service

Tom DuFore 4:06

Well, let's talk a little bit about the client experience that you mentioned and let's define that a little bit. And I know you mentioned this about kind of the process that maybe a customer goes through or delivering quality goods or products or services, right? That you might be delivering on what you promised, but it's this relational piece that you mentioned. So I'd like to dig in a little bit more on what is that client experience and how is that different from, say, customer service or just fulfilling what you promised?

Stacey Brown Randall 4:37

Yeah. So the client experience is actually defined as how a client feels when working with you. So it's so much more than just the work you do, it's also the relationship you build. And that's the two parts to a referable client experience formula, the way that I teach it to my clients. It's the work that you do, but also the relationship that you build. And so when you think about customer service, right? If you look up the definition of customer service, the basic concept is it's it's you solving a problem, right? A client calls in and has a question, a concern, or a problem, and it's how you solve that problem. And it's an important piece, but it's just one piece of the overall client experience. So client experience is like the big umbrella. That's how the client feels while they're working with you. But then there's definitely parts and pieces to it, and customer service is just one of them. And I think that's the piece that people overlook. They assume their client experience, right, is much more like the that I did good work and that when there was a problem or a question, I answered it. And I'm like, oh no, the emotional piece that comes into place, which really drives whether or not somebody will refer you, is it's much bigger than just doing excellent work and then, of course, being available to answer questions. It's so much more than that.

Tom DuFore 5:56

Let's talk a little bit about that referral client experience. What are some of these must-haves or things that are integral to that?

Stacey Brown Randall 6:05

Yeah. So the the one of the things, okay, so this is really interesting. When I used to talk about the ways that I teach folks to generate referrals, I used to always make this disclaimer. And I used to always say, okay, I'm assuming that you're referral, right? And then I would teach them the strategy of like how to generate referrals from people already referring them or people they want to refer them or what have you. And it was really interesting because eventually I was like, maybe I should stop just like assuming that everybody is referable, right? Maybe I should stop assuming that and maybe actually not just not be an disclaimer, but talk about what I mean by being referable. And that's a big piece of kind of where this came from. And I think what people forget is being referral first is like we just said, it is so much more than just doing great work. It's the relationship you build. But the other thing that people overlook is that it's also it's got to be repeatable. It has to be a process that you put in place that every client experience. And pretty much they all experience it in pretty much the same way. So that repeatability and that consistency is key. And I think the other thing that people kind of have to keep in mind is that, you know, when I say it's the work you do and the relationship you build, I don't mean when when you say like relationship building, people automatically go like, that feels like a lot of time, right? That feels like I got to take all my clients out to coffee, I got to take all my clients to lunch, I got to do like a client appreciation event every month or every quarter. And I'm like, no, actually, when I talk about building relationships within your client experience, what I mean in the way I teach that is specific to seeing your client for where they are, right? In the moment, in that stage that they're in, it's like seeing them for where they are and what they're experiencing and leaning into that. That's what makes your clients feel seen and really builds that relationship with you. It's not about just sending them a gift basket, right? Because you're thrilled that they're a client. There's nothing wrong with that, right? But really being able to see your client for where they are is most important.

Tom DuFore 8:05

You mentioned a word that stood out to me immediately is this word repeatability. And I'm in the franchising business, and so that's very important piece to what we do and having these repeatable systems and procedures that a franchisor will now be teaching a franchisee. So I'd love to take this idea of your book here and this referable client experience and how we can apply it, really. I'm thinking in two areas in franchising. We were talking pre-show a little bit about this idea for a franchise or in franchising, just like a lot of other industries and businesses. A referral for someone looking to buy your franchise has the highest conversion rate by far. Nothing's really even close to that on a franchise sales side. And then on training franchisees to recruit their own customers. How can you teach this new business owner to go through it? So I know it's multi-part there, but I'd love to get this idea of repeatable processes there. And have you maybe talked to that in franchising?

Franchising And Repeatable Touchpoints

Stacey Brown Randall 9:07

Yeah. So, you know, the most important thing is whether it's you doing the work or you have a team that's doing the work, if you don't have that repeatable process, it's it's it can't be like this happens for a client when we have time, right? Like that's like the worst thing that you can do. So we look at it more so of, you know, understanding that if we're trying to deliver on relationship-building touch points in addition to the work touch points that we do, it's the same thing, right? Think about the work touch points that any franchisee does, right? At the end of the day, it's like maybe a client comes on board, they say yes to working with you, maybe they sign an agreement, maybe you're scheduling meetings, maybe you're scheduling delivery, like whatever it is, you go through a process where you're actually doing work touch points, whether they're signing, they're paying, they're you know, making deposits, you're scheduling meetings, whatever it is. When we come alongside that with a repeatable system on the relationship side, it's that same type of thing. It's like, hey, when someone says yes to working with us and they sign on the dotted line, we make sure that instead of just sending out a welcome card, right? And a welcome card usually says, Hey, we're so glad to have you as a client. Thanks for coming on board, which kind of effectively says, thanks for letting us make money, right? I mean, when you think about it, it's kind of what it feels like. It's like, hey, thanks for being a client. We look at that and we use it as an opportunity to speak to the quiet voice that we know every client has when they make the decision to hire you, is did I make the right choice mixed with anticipation of what's to come? And so we speak to that. So in the relationship building touch point that we would do in the new client stage, right? And it would be something that happens for every client, no matter who's executing on it. Everybody knows that, hey, when we get to this point and they've signed on the dotted line and they've paid the deposit, then we mail this journey card. But a journey card is so much more than the welcome card. The journey card speaks to all the things they're thinking about. It's so much more than just buyer's remorse, right? It's like the anticipation and buyer's remorse kind of all mixed in. It's speaking to that. And so the language we write is different, but we write the same language on every card. And that's the difference between a client feeling seen, right? And like, oh, I feel seen versus just feeling acknowledged. And there's nothing wrong with acknowledged. A welcome card acknowledges to the client that you're glad they're a client, but feeling seen and being like, oh, they just spoke to the things I'm concerned about. Because once you speak to the things your clients are worried about, you label them and you normalize them. I used to think about this when I was a productivity coach. When people would hire me to be their productivity coach, their quiet voice that they were thinking was first to be a better version of themselves, right? I was gonna help them be more productive. So there's just the transformation was in mind, like what this is gonna look like, that transformation piece, and then how awesome that was gonna be. And then that was immediately filled with, oh my gosh, she's gonna make me do a bunch of work and it's gonna be hard and it's gonna, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna, will I do it? And I don't know if I can do it, and this is gonna be asking a lot of me. So when I would write a journey card, even though it was the same for every client, right? When I was a productivity coach, it spoke to that. It spoke to the fact that I know this journey is gonna be challenging and I know it's gonna stretch you, but you're not alone. It's normal and you're not alone, and I'm your co-pilot. So, really, when we talk about relationship building touch points, when I'm working with a client on what that looks like, it's specific to what their client is feeling and sometimes never saying in that moment and really understanding that and then speaking to that with a touch point that has nothing to do with sign this contract, pay this money, right? It's schedule this meeting, accept this calendar invite, and really just speaks to being seen in that moment. And those are the relationship building touch points that we talk about, which means there's there are not many of them, but the ones that we place are very, very important. But what we do for one is done for all.

The Journey Card That Makes Clients Feel Seen

Tom DuFore 12:55

That's a really, really helpful description and how you shared and talked about that. And what's one step or one thing that could be an easy first step to get someone heading down this way? You know, of course, hopefully buying your book is one of those steps, the first step to get there. And then and then once they do that, what might that look like?

Stacey Brown Randall 13:14

Yeah, so I would say one thing that all businesses need to sit down and do is an exercise. We call it the W's and the Rs. And it's the idea of like mapping out your client experience from start to finish, from the minute a client says yes to the minute that client is done working with you. And if you're, you know, if you're in a business where your clients don't leave, like a financial advisor wants to manage your money every year and a CPA wants to file your taxes every year, you don't necessarily move folks from the active stage to the alumni stage. They move from active to ongoing because it's supposed to repeat every year. So we always look at this from that perspective, right? Is like understanding what it looks like and what ultimately we want our clients to see and feel as they're moving from the new stage to the active stage to the alumni stage or the new stage to the active stage to the ongoing stage. And this, the W and R is activity is like write it all down, like start to finish. Like what's the first thing that happens to the last thing that happens. And then go back and put a W for work by everything that you're doing that is work in nature. They're signing a con, you're sending a contract for them to sign, you're sending a calendar invite, you're sending an update, you're delivering the website you just built. Like everything that you do, each each bullet point that you write down, if it's a work-related thing, you have to put down a W by it. But if it's a relationship building thing, you put an R by it. So do you do a holiday card? Do you do a client appreciation event, right? You're gonna write, you're gonna circle R by the ones that are relationship in nature. And every once in a while, sometimes you have both, right? You'll have this delivering on a work touch point with a relationship touch point combined, right? So let's just use a website developer for our example. When the website developer like provides you like the unveiling of the website, right? And they're like gonna show it off. They may also include like a ball of champagne or like some kind of celebratory gift. So it kind of feels like there's a relationship piece in with the work piece, but you mark it all down. Most of the time when folks do this, they look and they're like, we have a whole bunch of W's and no R's. And I don't need you to add an R for every W. That's insane, right? But I do need you to have a couple of R's. You know, usually we're looking in that range around 20% of the of the touch points you want to do are relationship in nature. But I do want to give a caution here because what I find people trying to do when I say, mark your W's, then mark you R mark your R's, they'll look at a client conversation that they have because it's at X, Y, Z step in the process, and we have this call to discuss this issue. And they'll say, Well, it's both relationship and work because in the beginning of that phone call, I asked them how their day was, or I asked them how their family was, or I'm building rapport with my client before I move into the work conversation. And I'm always really clear like that your ability to like build rapport and like have small talk and ask about your client is not the same thing as a relationship building touch point. So I do want to give that clarification, but that is one of the most important exercises that any business can do because long before I'm ever going to teach you how to be able to bridge the gap to referrals in your client experience, I've got to make sure that you're referral. And that piece comes into knowing what touch points, work, and relationships fit into each of those three stages within your client experience and making sure those are tightened up well.

Tom DuFore 16:29

Well, Stacy, speaking of the book that I mentioned, how can someone get a copy of it? How can they connect with you? What's the best place for people to go?

Stacey Brown Randall 16:37

Yeah. So the book's available wherever books are sold, and it's in all three formats, whether you prefer an audiobook, an ebook, or the printed copy. It's available in all formats. And so if that's Amazon for you, great. If you want to go get it at a bookstore, they may need to order it for you, but it's available wherever people like to buy books. And of course, it's called the referral client experience.

Map Your Process With W’s And R’s

Tom DuFore 16:57

Well, perfect. Well, Stacy, this is a great time in the show. And I know you've been on before, so we've asked you these questions, but I always like to ask them again and ask every guest the same four questions. So the first question we ask is Have you had a miss or two on your journey and something you learned from it?

Stacey Brown Randall 17:13

Yeah. So I would say specific to the second book, the miss for me was waiting eight years between the first and second book to get the second book out and published. And that miss for me, like I'm glad that I did it, right? But waiting those eight years, I think it took a while. It was somewhere like around year like four or five, that I realized how valuable that first book was in generating, you know, just people in my world and people who are on my email list and people who follow me on social media, but then eventually also buyers, right? Like people who ultimately want to work with me. So, yes, a lot of my clients are referred to me. I practice what I preach, but that's not everywhere that my clients come from. And that driver of what a book would actually do for me is definitely a miss just waiting eight years to get the second one out.

Tom DuFore 17:59

Well, let's look on the other side. Let's talk about a make or a win, a highlight.

Stacey Brown Randall 18:03

Yeah. Well, so specific to the book, it's just getting it done, right? Like I am not one of those folks that uses AI to write my books. I don't use a ghostwriter. I don't think there's anything wrong with using a ghostwriter. I do have big issues with people using AI to write books, but that's my personal opinion. Um, but for me, it was actually I sat down, I wrote every word. I worked with a series of editors to work on the book. So for me, a big win was just getting the second book done. I had a lot of head trash around would my second book be as good as my first book because my first book won all these awards. And so I think that's also what delayed me. So I consider it just a win that I got the second book out there and published.

Tom DuFore 18:41

Well, let's talk about a multiplier. Have you used a multiplier to grow yourself personally, professionally, or organizations you've run?

Stacey Brown Randall 18:48

Yeah. So, you know, I'd say one of the things that we do inside the business is we made this change a couple of years ago and actually how the business is modeled, like the actual function and the model of the business that allows me to deliver to my clients exactly what they need, which is typically access to me, and to deliver that in a way where I am not like tied to my Zoom screen 40 hours a week and giving me a lot of freedom. For me, the multiplier and and the ability to have more time, but also not shortcut my clients on being able to be able to have access to me when they need me, is just how we switch the model behind the scenes of how I work with my clients and what my programs look like. And that has really that we did that in 2021, and that's really changed so much about the last five or so years.

Tom DuFore 19:36

The final question we ask every guest is what does success mean to you?

Stacey Brown Randall 19:40

Yeah. So for me, it's always, I'm assuming I answered this the same way last time. I would be shocked if I didn't. But for me, it's always freedom. And that freedom is the just the freedom to choose, just the freedom to decide. Owning a business is not like laying on a beach with nothing to do. It's like the exact opposite of that. But it's the freedom to choose, it's the freedom to make decisions, it's the freedom to work as much as I want or as little as I want, and to have a business that can support that for me, because that freedom then allows me to be the wife and the mom and the daughter and the sister and the friend that I want to be, which is actually most important to me.

Misses Wins Multipliers And Freedom

Tom DuFore 20:18

As we bring this to a close, is there anything you were hoping to share or get across before we go?

Stacey Brown Randall 20:24

I think the one thing I want to speak to your audience specifically about is, you know, when you buy a franchise, you buy the it's like a business in a box, so to speak, right? In terms of the processes and the procedures and the operatings and the SOPs and the how we get this to market, like how we deliver this for the clients. But I really want to encourage like all of those pieces that are in place. Think about what makes you unique as the owner of that business. Even though you may own the same business as lots of people all across the world or all across the United States own, there is a way for you to make it unique and for you to make it yours. And I think that really happens within the client experience. My my husband actually thought about buying a franchise at one point and he was like, you know, you get the business, and then here's the processes and here's the procedures. And instantly my brain went is okay, but here's our go-to market strategy of how we'll be different and how we're gonna increase referrals and how that's gonna be different than any other franchisee that's doing that. So even though you are buying a proven system from someone else, still make it your own. And I hope that in making it your own, you'll focus on making it your own from a referral generation perspective as well.

Key Takeaways Win Win And Closing CTA

Tom DuFore 21:33

Stacey, thank you so much for another fantastic interview. And let's go ahead and jump into today's three key takeaways. So, takeaway number one is when she talked about the client experience and helping define it. And she said it's how a client feels when working with you. I thought that was a great definition. Takeaway number two is when she talked about the W's and the R's. And she said, go. Through a process and write down all of the steps or bullet points for client interactions or client communication points. And she said, put a W next to the areas where it's generally work in nature and areas where it's an R, meaning relationship in nature, in the beginning here, end up with lots of W's. And that's okay, especially as you're getting started. And your target goal is to eventually have somewhere around 20% of those points to have Rs next to them. Takeaway number three is at the tail end of the episode, and it just made me think for franchise oars. She just made a point that I wanted to reiterate here that as a franchise owner, you can help your franchisees make their franchise their own. And while they do have to follow your systems and processes and going through all of that so that the customer experience is very consistent, I do think it's important to help the franchisee find their own way and making them feel like it really is their own. I thought that's a nice little notch or nice little point. And having been a franchisee myself in the past, that I found that even though I was following the system and doing that, I still had kind of my own unique little flavor that met the local needs of my customer base. And now it's time for today's win-win. So today's win-win comes from when she was talking about writing down the W's and the R's. And I really like this point. She said small talk is not relationship building. Small talk is not relationship building. And I thought that was a great point. It's just a great reminder for me. I know it is for me, maybe it is for you, but that is not necessarily relationship building because you're great at small talk. Relationship building is more intentional and has greater intentionality behind it to really focus on the other person. And so that's the episode today, folks. Please make sure you subscribe to the podcast and to give us a review. And remember, if you or anyone you know might be ready to franchise your business or take their franchise company to the next level, please connect with us at BigSkyFranchise Team.com where you can schedule your free no obligation consultation. Thanks for tuning in, and we look forward to having you back next week.