Air conditioning not working

1/7/08

Recently I had a One2One with a member who owns a lawn cutting franchise. After we had finished our meeting and as I was near to the garage where I have my car serviced and its air conditioning was playing up - it was acting more like a heater - I decided to pop in to see if they could have a look at it for me.

Having been a customer for many years they said that they could have a look at it on the spot. I watched the mechanic at his work for a few minutes, but could soon tell that all was not going well, so took myself off to wait in reception. However, I soon got bored of watching the receptionist type invoices and began to think about lawns – I really wanted to get this member a referral or two.

But where to start?

After a while it struck me that I had a captive audience – the receptionist – there was no telling who she might know! So, I stood up, crossed over to her desk, and said,‘Excuse me. I don’t suppose you know someone with a large garden and a lawn that needs cutting?’
She said, ‘No' , looking somewhat surprised, so I sat down again.

A couple of minutes passed before my failure began to play on my mind. I couldn’t give up; after all there were lots of members I could find referrals for. So I crossed to the receptionist again, this time I said,
‘Sorry to disturb you again, but as well as this brilliant lawn cutting company I work with a number of other really great local business owners, such as a plumber, tiler, electrician, bank, IFA, web designer...So if you need any of those.....?'
'No', she said again. Not to be totally defeated I suggested that now that she knew that I knew loads of good business people that she could call me if a need ever came up.
She smiled and said 'Of course.'

Just as I was about to return to my chair, she said,
‘I need a couple of doors repaired in my hallway at home. Have you a carpenter that you would recommend?’

We have a wonderful carpenter in my chapter, so I gave her his details, got her details for him which included the best time to call her at work. At that moment the mechanic appeared at the door to say that he had discovered the fault on my car and that they would have to order a part.

I left my garage a few minutes later feeling really pleased, as I had a referral to take to my chapter meeting the next morning and the best thing? It had cost me nothing to get it – just a little thought!

Referral possibilities are everywhere, and not always where you expect. It’s just that sometimes you may have to get a little out of your comfort zone to find them!