How to generate referrals like clockwork 

February, 18th 2024

I have the best secret behind referrals

One that grew an agency all the way to $40,000,000/year using this one technique

Master this, and you’ll create generational wealth

I recently set up a referral relationship with an entrepreneur who built and sold his $40,000,000/year agency

I used to think referral partners were a waste of time

99% of people don't send me leads in return

But this guy handled our referral relationship very differently

Here is his 5 part system:

Grow Now

1 Choose wisely

This one may seem obvious, but this entrepreneur made it clear on our call that he doesn’t set up referral relationships with just anyone

He sets his partnerships up with businesses that have complimentary offers and have many clients

At the time he reached out to me, I had over 100 active clients, a Twitter following of over 56k, and was getting over 1M views/impressions on my content per month

I used to try to set up referral relationships with anyone who also sold into my market

First lesson: pick partners with many clients and a strong social presence 

2 Quid Pro Quo

Without saying it, this partner informed me that this would be a quid pro quo relationship

When we got into the call, he set two intentions:

1. Schedule for the call

2. Intention for a potential collaboration

He informed me he only works with partners that are able to have a two-way relationship with him

He would be sending me leads, promoting my content and my brand on my behalf but only if I did the same for him

He then asked if I consented to this type of partnership.

Here is what you can say when on call:

“When it comes to my partners, I only set up relationships with other business owners who intend to make this relationship a two-way street. Here is what I am willing to commit to on my side:

• Sending referrals to you when they come up from clients

• Promoting you in my newsletter monthly to my audience

• Promoting you on my socials monthly

Would you be willing to do the same in return?”

3 Tracking

This founder leverages a VA to track the relationship

This one was VERY interesting 

He treats each relationship as if he were managing an employee

• Tracking data

• Tracking project management items

Each week, we receive a PM update from the VA on 

how many referrals were sent and if we executed the monthly content promotion items

Here is how I set up the initial introduction between one of my partners and my partner manager:

Here is an example of a weekly update from my partner manager to one of my partners

Killer Content (My favorite pieces of content from last week):

• Podcast Ultimate: Inside An 8F Community Group Consulting Call

• Long Form Youtube: How Milkshake Media Added $60k MRR in 8 Months

4 Accountability

This is the thing that brings the relationship all together

This entrepreneur set up a recurring monthly meeting with me to review the relationship

This one mechanism keeps us both accountable or gives him the opportunity to end the relationship

The call agenda is simple (as shown below) but here is what is interesting

For the right partner, this monthly meeting holds them accountable making the relationship reciprocal

I had a call with one of my parents, Adam, on 2/13

2 weeks before the call, I had made 4 introductions to him and received none

My VA sent him an update and reminded him we had our monthly partner review in two weeks

Within the next week, I received 4 introductions from Adam

On the call itself, the process is rather straightforward

Be candid and review if the partnership is working

For me, I ask if the partnership is working for the partner, ensure content is being promoted, and then define what success would look like moving forward into the next month

Example: I sent 3 introductions and received 1 in return

A script I may say:

“So it looks like the relationship is pretty comparable, I wanted to ask, do you think you are able to refer more than 1 call a month to us? I think I can continue to refer 3 calls a month to you.”

If the answer is no, I become very candid:

“So, I want to be transparent here. We're able to continue to refer three leads to your business, but I want to ensure that the referrals I make can lead to me receiving an equal amount of referrals in return. If you are only able to refer one lead per month, I will probably reciprocate that one lead, but will find a different partner that can refer us the other two in return.”

Why this is important:

I have found that the only way to assess partners is by being very candid. Every referral you can make can truly lead to a qualified referral back. If you can hold your partners accountable, or inform them you’ll only send what you receive in return, you can unlock a bunch of qualified business

5 Rinse, repeat, DQ

The simplicity behind this system is why it works

If you are able to remove the partners that do not reciprocate leads, or, have multiple partners that can send you 1-2 for every 1-2 you send, you can begin to compound leads monthly, generating easy inbound referrals

In my first full month of running this system, I booked over 20 calls from this one process

Stay Happy

Stay Hungry,

Jordan Ross

CEO & Founder @ 8 Figure Agency

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