Benefits: If you don't know much about referrals - this is a great text to get you started. A very quick read. I would recommend this book for a high school business class or college students. The methods are great, if everyone were as helpful in real life as the people in the little story. Unfortunately, today, many people in business do not care about referals nor other people. I believe if you can get good people skills, no matter what your business, you will naturally succeed. From what I can tell, referrals are part of the "older set" of business people. I think younger business people like myself need to know that this is still a wonderful method of operation. That is why I recommend it as a great foundational concept for students.
This book not only helped me identify my own strengths, it provided specific tools to use on a daily basis within my financial planning business. The approach is simple and effective and it has generated more referrals in recent months that I have enjoyed in 20 years of professional service.
I would strongly encourage any professional to not only read the book but also peruse Mastertrack.net and learn more about the "Keep in Touch" program that is designed to assist in building client relationship while generating additional business.
I read the book and instantly decided to try what the author recommended and that is "place the relationship first... ahead of whatever product or service you are charged with selling."
In order to really invest in these principles, I decided to employ his Keep IN Touch program to assist me in touching and retouching people who champion what I do in the world of television broadcasting.
After four months of following the advice in this book, two things have already happened: people I hadn't done a good job staying in touch with have emailed, called or written a note saying how terrific it was to hear from me again and second: they have begun recommending me to their associates because I made it clear that I will treat and value their friends and colleagues with the same degree of commitment that I do them.
What I have done through this book is... I have taken back the most valuable resource I ever had in network television, the people who believed in me and my talent.
I cannot recommend Referral of a Lifetime high enough. If it does for you what it has done for me, AND IT WILL... you will be a changed person. From a business and a personal standpoint it has changed and re-energized my life.