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Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts into Sales

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The definitive guide to turning casual contacts into solid sales opportunities
In this fully revised edition, Bob Burg builds on his proven relationship-building principles to bring even more clients to your door and helps you attract only those who are interested in what you sell. He shows how to maximize your daily contacts, utilize your tools both online and off, leverage your relationships, and generate ongoing sales opportunities. "If you're serious about your sales career, whether you are selling a product, service, or yourself, master the contents of this book and you will practically guarantee your future success."             --Tom Hopkins, author of How to Master the Art of Selling "Bob Burg has long been the authority on connecting with clients and building win-win relationships. Endless Referrals should be required reading for sales professionals and entrepreneurs everywhere." -- Gary Keller, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Keller Williams Realty Intl. and author of The Millionaire Real Estate Investor "I've found that acquiring business is the toughest challenge for professional services providers. Thankfully, Bob Burg provides pragmatic and effective techniques to smash that challenge to bits, whether using mail, phone, email, or a polite tap on the shoulder." --Alan Weiss, Ph.D., author Million Dollar Consulting "Bob Burg opens the floodgates to Fort Knox with this book. I like the simple, easy to understand, practical way he outlines the exact way to find endless referrals. A treasure."             --Dottie Walters, author of Speak & Grow Rich "A no-nonsense approach to building your business through relationships."             --Jane Applegate, syndicated Los Angeles Times columnist

304 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1993

188 people are currently reading
1972 people want to read

About the author

Bob Burg

78 books335 followers
Bob Burg shares information on topics vital to the success of today’s businessperson. He speaks for corporations and associations internationally, including fortune 500 companies, franchises, and numerous direct sales organizations.

Bob is an advocate, supporter and defender of the Free Enterprise system, believing that the amount of money one makes is directly proportional to how many people they serve.

He is a founding board member of Club 100, a charitable organization focused on helping underprivileged local area youths. A lover of animals, he is a past member of the Board of Directors of Safe Harbor, which is the Humane Society of Jupiter, Florida.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
Profile Image for C.
1,228 reviews1,023 followers
September 16, 2021
A solid book on networking, broadly applicable to business relationships. It's mostly about in-person networking, and there are some tips for using the phone, but the edition I read didn't cover anything online, which is where I spend most of my networking time.

Burg says the theme of the book is to show how to get people to know, like, and trust you. And to get these people to want you to succeed and help you find new business. Basically, to make them your personal ambassadors.

I wish I'd read this years ago, when I first started networking at in-person events. Within the first 2-3 years of that I had learned most of what's in this book from various sources, but it would've been nice to have had it earlier, all at once, from one source!

I like the technique for remembering people's names. I'll have to try it and see if it works better than my current technique.

I read this to learn more about getting referrals from clients. I skimmed the sections about in-person networking, cold calling, and door-to-door prospecting. I've never done cold calling or door-to-door prospecting, but I used to do a lot of in-person networking. The last couple years I've worked to generate leads online, but I still get referrals from existing clients, and want to encourage more.

Notes
Questions Are The Successful Networker's Most Valuable Ammunition
"If you are networking correctly, the other person will never know that you are networking."

Main reason for having your business card is not to give it to someone else, but to get the other person's card.

After the introduction, invest 99.9% of the conversation in asking that person questions about himself and his business. Do not talk about yourself and your business.

Instead of giving your job title, give a short benefit statement. Financial planner would say, "I help people create and manage wealth." See "Features vs. benefits" below.

Ask questions that make people feel good about being in a conversation with you; that make them feel good about you as a person.

10 networking questions that work every time
These are friendly and fun to answer and will tell you something about the way that person thinks. You will only use a few in each conversation; those appropriate to the conversation.
1. How did you get your start in the widget business?
2. What do you enjoy most about your profession?
3. What separates you and your company from the competition?
4. What advice would you give someone just starting in the widget business?
5. What one thing would you do with your business if you knew you could not fail?
6. What significant changes have you seen take place in your profession through the years?
7. What do you see as the coming trends in the widget business?
8. Describe the strangest or funniest incident you've experienced in your business.
9. What ways have you found to be the most effective for promoting your business? [If you work in marketing, do not ask this question, because they will feel you're probing.]
10. What one sentence would you like people to use in describing the way you do business?

After establishing rapport, ask, "How can I know if someone I'm talking to is a good prospect for you?"

How To Work Any Crowd
Locate the centers of influence; the people who probably know a lot of people. Meet them one-on-one at the event. Watch for them to leave the group they're in, then walk up and introduce yourself. Later at event, bump into them again and greet them by name.

Profitable Follow Up
Send a personalized thank-you note to each influencer you met. A non-pushy, simple, brief note written in blue ink. Say something like, "Hi [name], Thank you. It was a pleasure meeting you. If I can ever refer business your way, I certainly will."

Have a custom postcard with these items in the top right corner, top to bottom: company name and logo; your photo; your name; your contact info. Your photo helps them remember you.

Send prospects a notepad with those same items at the top of each page, every month or so.

Send prospects articles and other info that relate to them or their business, profession, personal interests, or hobbies.

Referral thank-you: "Dear [name], thank you so much for your nice referral of [name]. You can be assured that anyone you refer to me will be treated with the utmost caring and professionalism."

Understanding The Law Of Successful Giving And Successful Receiving
Features vs. benefits
• Advertising agency: "We show you how to dramatically increase your company's revenues through strategic positioning in the marketplace."
• Graphic artist: "I show you how to present your perfect image to those with whom you want to do business."
• Life insurance salesperson: "I show people how to plan for a sound financial future while protecting themselves and their loved ones for the present, through insurance."
• Real estate agent: "I help people successfully market their home and purchase their perfect dream home."
• Dentist: "I provide healthy teeth and smiles, with no pain."
• Financial planner: "I help people create and manage wealth."

Benefit statement should be short, succinct, descriptive sentence no more than 7 seconds long. Should tell what you do and how it will benefit the person using your services. Often begins with, "I show people how to …" or, "I help people to …." Show where you help somebody do something, or do something for somebody. That something can be to help them achieve a positive goal or avoid a particular pain.

When you contact referral, say, "I promised [referrer's name] I'd call you" to be better positioned in their mind.

Prospecting for Fun and Profit
If prospect says he recently purchased your product from someone else, say, "No kidding, what kind did you get? How did you happen to go with them? What's been your experience over the last few months? Who was involved in making that decision? If you were going to make that decision today, what would be different about it? I'll give you some info about our products, including info that may help you with some of the problems you've had. Feel free to give me a call within the next few months if I may help you. In fact, if I haven't heard from you, may I call you? Do you have any info describing what you do? I always like to know what my prospective clients do. Possibly I can refer some business your way. Thanks. … I'm curious: do you know anyone who might be in a similar position to the one you were in a few months ago, so I can talk to them and see if I may be of some assistance?"

Position Yourself As The Expert (And Only Logical Resource) In Your Field
One way to position yourself is as a consumer advocate. Share interesting tidbits not known by the average consumer in your field. Point out practices in your profession that shouldn't be happening, because they're unethical or otherwise negative. What do you know that the public needs or wants to know about, or has the right to know?

It's beneficial to publish in publications within your field, even if only your peers consume those publications. When prospects know you've appeared in those publications, it builds credibility.

Even if a prospect can't give you their business because of a commitment to their current provider, they may still refer to you.

Customer Service: The Networker's Best Friend
"Going the extra mile, or even the extra step, is worth all the paid advertising in the world." Great customer service generates referrals.

Cross-promotions: The Ultimate In Win-Win Networking
Have a cross-promotion partner give you certificates to their business, which you give your customer upon purchase as an added value for buying from you.

Example: If you're a life insurance salesperson targeting the wealthy, you can cross-promote with other businesses targeting that group. Tell those businesspeople you'll be contacting wealthy people who spend on cars, homes, club memberships, food, etc., and you're offering an excellent opportunity to position themselves in front of this lucrative market.

Cross-promotions can be used to get in front of a prospect, or to close a deal, or to increase the frequency of contacting a prospect.

Example: An attorney and accountant could agree to allow each other's clients to call the other professional with a quick question for a limited time for a 30-day trial. The professionals would try to convert these leads.

Cross-promote with a nonprofit to increase engagement. For example, ask prospects if they fill out a 4-5 question survey, you'll donate $2 to charity. Design the questions to see if you should follow up with the prospect.

Remember Names and Faces for Profit
Make name-face connections
1. Find the person's outstanding facial feature.
2. Form a mental picture of what the name suggests, or a sound-alike (similar sound or word that turns name into something you can picture).
3. Form a ridiculous (silly, illogical) association between the mental picture suggested by the name or sound-alike and the outstanding facial feature.

Don't try to remember the person's name by thinking of a celebrity or friend with the same name, because this can get confusing; you may not remember the right celebrity or friend.

Sound-alike examples
Simon: dime in
Garrett: carrot
Taylor: tailor
Kakish: cactus
Malinowski: mail on a ski; melon ow ski
Joan: groan
Dave: save
Tim: tin
Mary: marry

To remember first name, take the picture you created of the person's last name and associate it with a picture of the first name.

Example to remember James Conant: Outstanding facial feature is triangle-shaped face. Picture a gigantic triangular ice cream cone, topped with ants instead of sprinkles. Use word "games" to remember James. See those ants on top of that cone playing lots of games in the ice cream?
31 reviews20 followers
March 23, 2009
I was blown away when I realized that Bob Burg was saying the same thing as Dr. Wayne Dyer was promoting in his "Inspiration" series: TO BE A SUCCESSFUL HUMAN BEING IS ABOUT HELPING PEOPLE! Wow! A business model that's in sync with, not at opposition with, being a whole and fully developed human being!
1 review
August 5, 2014
Excellent book, I read the 1st edition of this book year ago. I highly recommend everyone read it if you are in business.
Profile Image for John Jamieson.
Author 10 books8 followers
March 10, 2015
Endless Referrals is very well thought out and gave great information.
Profile Image for Fermin Quant.
196 reviews18 followers
January 3, 2015
Very interesting read the first 1/4, the rest has very useful techniques for building your network, but it expands way too much and becomes extremely boring. Should be used as reference material.
284 reviews2 followers
June 25, 2019
This edition is more of a two-star. Though some of the themes are timeless (people have to know, like, and trust you; give without the expectation of getting - a theme familiar to anyone who has listened to the Jordan Harbinger Show), this 'New & Updated' edition is woefully out of date (hopefully there's a newer and updated-er version out there).

Not just pre-social media, but pre-Craigslist, and pre-demise of newspapers (he suggests scanning Want Ads at one point). This was released 20 years ago.

Why did I read this version then you might ask. It was on my (physical) bookshelf and I had offered to loan it to a colleague. He's going to be better off getting something a little more up-to-date.
Profile Image for Matt Whittingham.
69 reviews
May 1, 2020
From another era. Of photocopier and real estate salesman, and sending thank-you notes through the mail.

There are some real moments of Americana cheese, with everyday phrases often marked with the "R Registered" symbol, as if bestowing some kind of unique trademarkable insight .The book itself sometimes seems to be one big referral to the author's chums, who are continually name checked throughout.

But depsite these reservations, I did fund myself taking notes throughout, and it sparked some some ideas and thoughts. So if you can look behind the dated feel of this, there is still some value to be found
Profile Image for Rob Tobias.
240 reviews2 followers
November 6, 2024
Reading this book was technically homework but there was a fair amount to appreciate. I like Burg’s recommendations of following the FORM method of networking: getting to know what you can about a person’s Family (who they do it for), Occupation (what they do day-to-day), Recreation (what they’d rather be doing than working), and Message (why they do what they do). There are some good tips in here even if some advice is a little dated.
Profile Image for Dal Rich.
9 reviews1 follower
March 21, 2018
Many of the strategies discussed are tried and true. If you've been around the sales world for any amount of time, you won't find anything new here. However, it is always good to 'keep it green' and to refresh on what you may have forgotten. Helps in re-evaluating processes and procedures to ensure a full pipeline.
Profile Image for Sara.
3 reviews
June 26, 2021
I am amazed at how well this book has aged. Everything in here is still so highly applicable, and a lot of the advice has helped me make my own small business stand out from the crowd. I wish I had read this before I graduated, because this would’ve certainly saved me months of stressful nett to working that did not pan out.
316 reviews
May 14, 2024
En bok som handlar om hur man för referenser från kunder. Rätt bra, mycket som jag kunde hoppa över. Tar dock med mig att man måste få den andra personen att känna sig hörd och prioriterad. Snacka bara om dem. Sen fråga alltid efter en specifik referens. Kap 2 & 6 bra
105 reviews1 follower
February 23, 2025
Published in 2006, this book is a bit outdated. Nothing about using LinkedIn etc to connect to potential referral sources or- as I use it- to follow up with people you’ve met in person. However, it is still relevant and offers good advice for in-person networking.
14 reviews1 follower
May 21, 2017
This is a book I highly recommend anyone in business read (and reread) and keep on their desk. I find it to be an excellent reference source.
2 reviews2 followers
August 16, 2017
Very helpful!

Insightful and enjoyable read. Humanizes networking in a very encouraging and compelling way. A good read for anyone. Will read again.
Profile Image for Terry.
35 reviews1 follower
May 21, 2018
Skip this one. Read the GO GIVER. That is Bob Burg at his best!!
Profile Image for Vicki James.
124 reviews
April 26, 2019
The chapters are dry but at the end of every one is a takeaway summary page. This is the book I tell every networker to read; from the novice to the best hustler in the room.
4 reviews
June 26, 2019
Slightly outdated and could have been heavily condensed. Rated 3 stars because I was able to take some things away from it.
Profile Image for Lori.
69 reviews
May 23, 2024
Very dated book. I should've read the one that's more current.
9 reviews1 follower
June 3, 2024
Best Referral book

So much information to gain from this read, from how to approach a referral to how to take care of it so endless referrals come from it
Profile Image for Josh Hinds.
Author 6 books19 followers
July 29, 2013
This is hands down one of the best books on networking (i.e. creating win, win professional relationships). Many resources talk about the importance of effective networking, but fall short of giving a specific plan, the "how to" of how to best go about it. You find that, and a lot more in the pages of this book. I have used the ideas personally in this book over the years, as I know many others who have as well. This is one you can come back to again and again. I know I certainly do.
Profile Image for Taylor Ellwood.
Author 98 books158 followers
December 3, 2013
This is an excellent book to read, whether you are just starting to network or have been networking for a long time. The tips and tactics that Bob Burg shares are timeless and can be applied on so many different levels. I've seen my own networking and presentations improve as a result of reading this book. It will teach you how to network, how to give referrals, and most importantly how to show you care. If you want to improve your networking, read this book.
Profile Image for Mike Tomasello.
150 reviews4 followers
April 2, 2020
Perfect Referrals & Networking book

I've read almost every networking book under the sun and this is one of the best out there. No matter what profession you are, this will walk you step by step on how to get more referrals from beginner to advanced. This is not just for salespeople, it's for everyone whether you are trying to raise your career visibility, generate more business, or find a new job.

Follow the steps in this book and you won't be disappointed!
Profile Image for Eddie.
3 reviews
September 26, 2008
This is the best book about Networking/Referrals that I have read - and I have read quite a few!
Worth it for the "Ten Networking Questions that work every time".
It ought to be compulsory reading for anyone who joins a networking group like BNI.
It is one of the few business books which I have bought again when a new/updated edition came out.
47 reviews2 followers
May 27, 2009
So far, being generous and giving is the crux of business in a cruel and ruthless world. Help others and you shall receive. So far, I've found this perspective to be extremely useful and I'm trying to be as proactive in the giving category, especially if connecting people to one another. Give without expecting to receive... fairly obvious but a nice reminder.
Profile Image for Wendy's Wanderings.
77 reviews19 followers
April 27, 2013
A great book on Networking. This is a book I will review time and time again. It has many valuable tips and techniques to use. It includes chapters on:

- Networking: What it is and what it does for you!

- How to work any crowd

- Six essential rules for networking etiquette

- Prospecting for Fun and profit and many more....

definitely worth the read.
6 reviews
March 13, 2013
I really enjoyed the book. It shifted my perspective of what the business process is about and whilst a lot of the messages appeared so obvious, I know I would have otherwise overlooked the benefits they can provide

A very worthwhile read and I felt a lot more relaxed about my job on completion of reading.
158 reviews2 followers
February 6, 2017
Some genuinely helpful tips, but a lot of tacky sales approaches.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews

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