Speak up and out! Management Q & A

When it comes to the referral side of business development, there are a variety of techniques that deliver the results for which you are aiming. For those who dislike traditional networking, schmoozing or cold calling, there may be another way to get the same results.

According to Vickie Sullivan, you can dramatically increase your referral business by translating your brilliance into a marketable product -- that is, by demonstrating your skills and expertise speaking before groups. In the following, Vickie discusses how you can parlay your professional knowledge and market yourself to gain referral business. Vickie is president of Sullivan Speaker Services, a company that specializes in training, coaching and packaging national speakers who generate six-figure incomes.

Let's get right to the point. How can public speaking be used as a tool to get referrals?

Sullivan: When speaking, you are before a group of people that already assume you have credibility, or they wouldn't be there listening to you. Using public speaking to get referrals involves leveraging that credibility, adding to it, and then directing that credibility to get you new business. The best way to do that, is once your credibility has been established, build on it with a presentation that is concise, and filled with information the audience may not have heard before. Then, when people are thinking, "What a great presentation," you make yourself accessible and direct them on how they can get even more.

Public speaking is portrayed as one of the greatest fears most people have, even ahead of dying. Is this consistent with your information and if so, how can this fear or roadblock be overcome?

Sullivan: It is consistent. In fact many CPAs and accountants wonder which is the lesser of two evils: the fear of cold calling, or the fear of public speaking. To overcome the fear of speaking, first, remember this: The audience really wants you to do well. They've already given you that credibility and want to hear what you have to say. Next, be prepared. Know your information, so that you're on "automatic pilot" and can be "present" with your audience.

Why do you say public speaking is a shortcut to referrals, as it still takes time to prepare and to market yourself?

Sullivan: It's a shortcut because you're addressing a lot of people at one time, versus cold calling or referral-building, when you're working one-on-one. As for time, any marketing activity requires preparation time. For example, when cold calling, you have to construct the script, obtain telephone numbers, etc. Public speaking allows you to address many people at one time, coming from that place of credibility. When reviewing referrals, networking or cold calling, you lack that credibility.

More on the process for using speaking for getting referrals. Walk us through it.

Sullivan: When scheduling an engagement to speak before a group, the first thing is to request their mailing list, so you can mail (at your expense) a personal invitation. People will be surprised by a speaker taking the time to contact them personally. That's your first contact, and you can generate some interest there, including some calls from people who can't make it, but want to talk to you. Thus, you can generate referrals before the speech ever happens.

Then, when giving the presentation, of course, you're on autopilot; your material is memorized and you're so well prepared that you're really having fun with the audience.

Next, you can offer something for free, for example, your newsletter. Let the audience know you have a newsletter and a free sample is available if they'll give you their business card with the word "newsletter" written on it. Then add, "If you also want information on my services, put an asterisk, and we'll take care of that too."

That asterisk gives you an invitation to contact that person. Notice how general the wording was? You're not asking about their needs; you're keeping it very simple for them. With this technique, you give yourself the opportunity to pitch those people after the speech, and it's a warm call.

After the speech, you can write a thank you letter. This, too, will surprise them, since how many people get a thank you letter from a speaker? In the letter you can thank them for their time, mention the newsletter, which will be sent in a couple of weeks, and include some information about your services.

To sum up, what's important to remember when using professional speaking to dramatically increase referral business?

Sullivan: Do three things. One, qualify, qualify, qualify the audience. Make sure that they can buy your services, that they can afford your services and that you have access to those decisions makers before, during and after the program.

Second, go on autopilot. Learn your material so well that you can just be with that audience.

Third, be accessible. Make yourself accessible, by using the giveaway technique, and find a way to have access to that audience after your speech.