We all like to do business with other professionals who go above and beyond the call of duty. This is especially true if the other business professional is, or seemingly is, willing to put the client's interests above their own. What these individuals have is the client's trust. Even if we do not cognitively recognize them as such, these individuals are our trusted advisors. Not only do we seek these individuals out, when they speak, we listen and we act upon their advice. This begs the question: are you your clients' trusted advisor? The answer to this question might surprise you.

One way to consider this question is to think about whether you regularly provide advice or help clients with issues that are outside the scope of your business? By "advice," I am not referring to providing clients with advice on topics which you are not qualified to speak. I am referring to helping clients find information or other professionals who are qualified to provide advice on the client's other business needs and following through to ensure that the client's needs are met.

Here is an example: Assume you are an estate planning attorney. Are you an attorney who is so technically proficient in estate planning that clients have to bring their accountants, insurance agents, and financial planners to meetings with you to help them understand what you are talking about? Or are you the attorney who takes the time to help the client understand how your advice fits with what the client's accountants, insurance agents, and financial planners are doing; who then meets with these other professionals to implement your advice; and who provides insights into the services provided by the other professionals?

The first type of attorney will often find that his clients often ignore his brilliant advice - opting to listen to their accountants, insurance agents, or financial planners. Worse yet, this type of attorney often does not understand why their clients fail to follow their advice. This can be frustrating for the attorney, especially when their clients' choices are obviously in error. These attorneys often do not realize that they are not the client's trusted advisor and that their advice has been supplanted by the advice provided by the client's trusted advisor.

The second type of attorney is the client's trusted advisor. In most cases, this attorney's clients will follow his advice even if it directly conflicts with the advice provided by the client's accountants, insurance agents, and financial planners and even if the client has a long standing relationship with these other professionals.

I give this example because, in contemporary American society, attorneys hold a special status in business transactions. They earn this right by having higher levels of education, and licensing requirements, and ethical obligations than most other business professionals. This example goes to show the all too common situation where even the special status accorded to attorneys is overcome by another person who exhibits - in a word - empathy for the client's needs.

The best way to exhibit empathy for client needs is to help clients find other professionals, to screen those professionals, and then to follow through with those professionals to see to it that the client needs are being met. Those of us who are able to do this will find that they are their clients' trusted advisors and, as a consequence, clients will begin to actively seek them out. While it sounds simple, actively working to become a trusted advisor can go a long way in making a business successful and it can prove to be a very effective business networking strategy.

Luckily, Passitto was created to harness the efficiencies created by the Internet to help make this process much easier for professionals. You can find out more about how Passitto can help you become a trusted advisor today by creating a free Passitto member account.

Labels: advisor, business, client, networking, passitto, referrals, trusted

We're happy to announce we have been selected to participate in Microsoft's new BizSpark program.

This is a great new program offered by Microsoft to new high-potential start-ups. We have a ton of great ideas for Passitto, and how it can generate more opportunities for you and your business. Our involvement in this program will make those ideas easier to bring to reality.

For more information, view the news release on the Passitto website.

Labels: bizspark, business networking, exchange, leads, microsoft, passitto, referral

Business networking has multiple meanings. The term "business networking" is often thought of in the context of finding a job.

There are a number of websites that focus exclusively on this market. We have all seen these websites. These websites generally allow members to post their public profiles. Headhunters and other employment staffing companies then use this public information to scout out and solicit prospective clients. This is a valid form of business networking that can be carried out on the Internet, but it is only one form of networking.

Business networking also describes the process of finding clients or sales opportunities. The efficiencies created by the Internet have made it possible to conduct this type of networking on a mass scale, yet there are very few websites that allow users to carry out this type of networking online.

Passitto provides an example of a website that focuses on this client and sale-oriented networking. Using Passitto, members can send and receive referrals and make connections and join groups. The purpose of the site is to allow users to interact with the aim of expanding their referral opportunities.

This type of business networking is crucial for business owners and salesmen. It is also crucial for rank and file employees. Given the current uncertainties in the economy, businesses are often calling on all employees to help bring in business opportunities. Bringing in business is the only means for employees to obtain job security, as employers are much less likely to cut employees who are making the business money.

Labels: business networking, exchange, job security, passitto, referrals

It is a generally understood that if you want to make a sale you have to go directly to the source. This begs the question, who is the "source?"

The term "source" often refers to the decision maker. With regard to business transactions, one might be surprised to learn that the end consumer is often not the decision maker. Identifying the decision maker is one of the first steps to effective business marketing.

Let me give you an example. Let's say that you sell life insurance. You understand that there are many consumers out there who need your product. You also understand that very few of these consumers actually reach out to initiate the sales process as they do not fully recognize that they need your product. Your clients consist primarily of high net worth individuals, business professionals, and small business owners. You know that these would-be clients are already working with attorneys, investment advisors, accountants, property and casualty insurance agents, professional bankers, and others. So who is the decision maker?

You may be inclined to say that the net worth individuals, business professionals, and small business owners who pay your fees are the decision makers. After all, they are the ones who buy your products. More importantly, they are the ones who pay for your products. These individuals usually are not the decision makers.

In most cases, the other professionals who work with the end consumers are the decision makers. This includes the attorneys, investment advisors, accountants, property and casualty insurance agents, professional bankers who are currently working with your would-be clients. These are the individuals who understand that the end user needs your product, they understand that your product costs money, and, hopefully, they understand the benefits of helping their clients buy your product from you. A business referral to you from one of these advisors typically results in sales, as the end user will typically accept the advisor's decision.

Having identified the decision maker for your product, you can now design marketing activities to increase the chances that you interact with these decision makers. This may include attending professional education or training meetings, volunteering for trade groups, authoring business articles, deploying targeted advertising in trade publications, participating in a leads group, or other similar activities. This makes business marketing a numbers game that can be refined over time to produce results. Unfortunately, this is a time consuming and costly process.

This is where Passitto comes in. Passitto aims to be the place where likeminded advisers who work with your would-be clients go do find you. Why would they do this? It's simple. They do this for the same reason that you do this. They want your referrals. Think about it. When you sell a life insurance policy, you are probably going to learn that your clients need legal, investment, real estate, and other insurance services or products. Given Pasitto's unique credit-based auction system, if you refer these clients to other professionals using Passitto you will increase the chances that you will receive incoming business referrals from other advisors. It is that simple. The more you send, the more you receive. This is the same principal that works offline, but using Passitto, it is more efficient and can be deployed on a mass scale. In this sense, the "source" of business is actually Passitto.

Labels: business, decision, exchange, leads groups, maker, marketing, passitto, referrals, source

Do your business referral sources only send you local clients who have very general needs or have you developed business referral sources that send you clients who are dispersed geographically and who have very specific needs? To help think about these questions, let's digress to consider the movie rental business for a minute.

Have you tried to find an old movie that you enjoyed? If so, you may have started your search by visiting a few of your local movie rental business. You probably discovered that these businesses only carry old movies that are popular among the masses and, unfortunately, the movie you want to see is not popular as you would have guessed.

the movie rental business standpoint, this makes sense. These businesses have a limited amount of shelf space. In the local market, there will probably be more consumers who would rent popular movies. This precludes these local businesses from carrying less popular movies.

This dynamic changes if the movie rental business makes its sales nationally using a warehouse for storage and the mail or the internet to rent the movies. These national businesses will have a much larger supply of shelf space (or warehouse space). They will also have access to more consumers. This larger population of consumers will probably include others who share your eccentric taste in movies. Thus, these businesses are able to carry less popular movies.

Indeed, national movie rental businesses may find that a majority of their business comes from renting these less popular movies. This phenomenon has been described using the term "long tail." For example, Chris Anderson applied the term to business strategy in his book entitled The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More.

As applied, the term describes the relationship between popular and less popular products. The idea is that the broader consumer base will include more consumers who want less popular products, and there may be more of these consumers than the few consumers who want more popular products.

Here is an example. With our local versus national movie rental businesses, assume the local business carries 100 movies that can be classified as being popular. Also assume that the national business carries an additional 10,000 movies that can be classified as being less popular movies. All things being equal, the national business will fare much better than the local business if both businesses rent 10 percent of their inventory. Of course, the national business will fare even better if clients like you are willing to pay more to rent rare movies to satisfy their eccentric movie tastes.

This business model helps to define the how a business referral network might operate. On the one hand, a business referral network may operate like the local movie rental business. It may provide your business with local clients who have very general needs and who are willing to pay regular business rates for these more popular goods and services. On the other hand, a business referral network may operate like the national movie rental business. It may provide your business with clients who are dispersed geographically, who have very specific needs, and who are willing to pay higher rates for these goods and services.

This concept is at the heart of the value that Passitto provides to its users. Passitto can help you expand your business referral network and do so in a way that fits with your particular business model.

Unlike other referral systems, Passitto can operate as the local or national movie rental business or both - depending on what is best for your specific business. Using Passitto you are able to make this type of decision on a case-by-case basis by bidding or not bidding on individual referrals. You might only bid on referrals placed in your local market for very general goods or services or you might bid on referrals placed nationwide for very specific goods and services.

In the past, many businesses were not able to make this type of decision without making drastic changes to their business referral networks. These efforts required quite a bit of time and energy. Now, with Passitto, businesses can retool their business referral networks on the fly. This presents Passitto users with a unique advantage over other businesses that have yet to discover and take advantage of Passitto.

Labels: business, leads, Long Tail, passitto, referral, sources

Though the terms "business lead" and "business referral" are often used interchangeably, the two terms describe two separate business concepts. As it turns out, a lead is not a referral, but a referral can be a lead. This may sound like a riddle, but it is not. Let me explain.

A business lead is simply a hint or tip about a potential client or sale. With a lead, there is no connection or relationship between the lead and the person who acquires the lead. Leads are impersonal. Following up on leads requires a significant amount of energy in screening, qualifying, and closing the sale. In this sense, a lead is barely better than an uninvited call, visit, or mailing.

A business referral is more akin to a strong lead that is often accompanied by a recommendation from the referrer. Referrals are strong leads because they have already been screened and qualified by the person making the referral. This works because persons making a referral often have knowledge that makes them better able to judge the needs of the potential client and the products and services offered by third parties. Think of a real estate agent who is able to recommend an appropriate mortgage broker or a personal injury attorney who is able to recommend a specialist tax attorney.

Referrals are also considered to be strong leads because of the time in which they are made. Unlike regular leads, a referral is most often made at a time when the potential client is in need of a specific product or service. Referrals are fresh, live, and now. For example, a stock broker may refer a potential client to a Realtor, wedding planner, or other third party when the prospective client cashes out their investment accounts. The stock broker will do this at the time that the potential client has the money to spend and has indicated a need for a specific product or service.

Leads are particularly strong when the referrer tells the potential client to expect to hear from the third party. In these cases, much of the sales process will have already been completed before the third party even contacts the potential client. The potential client will be receptive to being contacted and, due to the anticipation of being contacted, be more apt to purchase the product or service.

Unlike mere leads, business referrals often involve recommendations. The recommendation may include a personal introduction of a third party or allowing the third party to mention the referrers name to the referral. These recommendations allow the referral to feel more comfortable with the third party. At this point, the referral is more akin to a closed sale. Indeed, in many cases the third party only needs to provide the product or service and collect their fee from the client.

There are quite a few websites and services that use the term "referral;" however, upon closer inspection, most of these websites and services are more aptly described by the term "lead." By applying this more precise term, it is easier to see the value of a website like Passitto.com. Passitto was designed to incorporate the benefits of referrals, as defined as strong leads plus recommendations.

With that said, let's test your knowledge. If I said "Passitto.com is the best source for you to obtain business referrals," would I be providing you, as the third party, with a lead or a referral? Of course, the answer is that I would be providing you with a lead to the best source of business referrals. If this is confusing, you might just sign up for Passitto and give it a try.

Labels: business, difference, leads, networking, referrals, sale

It's been a while since my last post. We've been busy here at Passitto adding some new features you will find useful.

Import your LinkedIn profile!

We are happy to announce our integration with LinkedIn. In just a few easy steps you can import your entire LinkedIn profile into Passitto. You will also notice we have added LinkedIn's Company Insider widget to member profiles. This will allow you to see how you are connected with various companies listed on the site.

Passitto is also integrated with Facebook, so if you don't have a LinkedIn account, but you do have a Facebook account, you can still import your profile.

Group Calendar and Events

Another new feature of Passitto is the calendar and events system. All groups now have access to this feature. You can easily create events for your group, see who is planning to attend, post messages regarding the event, as well as have the event location mapped using Google Maps. Remember, creating your own group on Passitto is quick, easy and 100% free. You can create a virtual extension of your existing leads, networking or industry group, as well as form a completely new group.

We invite you to check out all the new features!

Jeremy Bamford, CEO
Passitto.com

Labels: API, calendar, exchange, Facebook, group, leads, linkedin, passitto, referral, referrals

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