Endless Referrals, Third Edition

You should take this step only when you are sure the other person is ready. If you have already won this person over, they will want to network for you. You can come right out and mention to

half right. You do have to ask. Where they missed the boat is this: You have to do more than just ask. You must ask in a way that elicits that person to be able to come up with quality names.

Always give more in use value than what you take in cash value. You cannot give a person more in cash value than you take from them, but you can give them more in use value than the cash value of the thing you take from them.

Feel-Good Questions® are simply questions that, by their very nature, make the other person feel good; about themselves, about the conversation, and about us—even though we’ve just met them and they hardly know us.

A good benefit statement often begins with something like, “I show people how to…” or “I help people to.…” It’s generally not a good idea to begin sentences with the word “I,” but in this case we almost have to. If you come up with another beginning that works as well for you, by all means, use it.

A feature is what something is, whereas a benefit is what something does. A feature is a thing; a benefit is the solution to a problem or the fulfillment of a desire.

Your benefit statement should be a short, succinct, descriptive sentence, no more than seven seconds in length. It should describe what you do and how it will benefit the person using your services.

After patiently listening to this salesperson’s eloquent description of the impressive list of features, the woman asked meekly, “But will it keep an old lady warm at night?” That’s the difference between features and benefits.

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