Recap of “Learn Referral Math!” Event – VIDEO

By Dan Moshe

Shaun Irwin isn’t just a consultant.  As owner of a property and casualty insurance firm, referrals are the bedrock of his thriving business.  The lessons he’s learned over the years led him to write Convertible Referrals, a “down-to-earth, plain talk, rapid-fire” guide to increasing your company’s most important source for growth.  “Don’t come to this workshop if you have all the customers you need,” Shaun joked about his May 22, 2014, seminar.

Shaun first began thinking about referrals early in his career after being introduced to the nationwide networking group LeTip.  After experimenting with giving to others, he discovered there wasn’t necessarily a direct correlation – the person he helped wouldn’t always be the one to help Shaun in kind.  “I learned to have faith about the law of reciprocity.  The universe of giving manifests itself differently than you might expect,” he says.  Shaun says his ideas are backed by a research-rich book called Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam M. Grant.

Relationships are key to referral marketing.  It’s not just about your business, but about the relationships in your life.  Get people to know, like, and trust you, and then “fill that trust bank with interactions.”  Shaun says another strategy for getting referrals is to go backwards.  Think of the people who will know someone who needs your service before the person even realizes it herself, and get to know them.  For example, Realtors know who will be needing home services, and bookkeepers know who will be needing CPA-style services.

Shaun says people respond to those who do their work with diligence.  If diligence means being consistent, and not giving up, you might be surprised to find the root of the word is “to love,” from the Latin root of diligere.  “Is there anything we can do with consistency and persistency if we don’t love it?” Shaun asks.  “We can’t.  We’ll lose our energy.”  Shaun says every day he strives to love what he does so much that it lights up like a beacon, thereby helping others do what they love.  Shaun guarantees that if you help others do what they love, the phone will magically ring.

Shaun gives on an ongoing basis to The Cookie Cart, an organization that helps teach teens 15-17 how to work, through the business of selling cookies.  Over time, the employees of The Cookie Cart learn how to present themselves and master various skills so that they can move on to pursue their passions.  Shaun’s goal is to help the organization franchise this model in other cities, and is helping them raise $100,000 for a pilot program elsewhere.  After Shaun’s “Learn Referral Math!” seminar, proceeds from the sale of Shaun’s book, matched by Shaun, in addition to tickets sales from the event donated by Tech Guru, totaled a whopping $850!

Tech Guru thanks Shaun for sharing his valuable knowledge, and hopes you’ll attend a future Tech Guru event!