The Referral Ripple Effect: How Partnerships Drive Pre-Vetted Clients & Growth

What if your next best client didn’t come from cold outreach but from a ripple effect of trusted relationships?

In this episode, we dive into the power of referral-based partnerships and how one connection can create a chain reaction of high-quality, pre-vetted opportunities. We break down why referrals consistently outperform cold DMs, how to build meaningful relationships that actually convert, and the role of trust in creating a strong, scalable network.

You’ll also learn:

•  Why referrals are the #1 driver of sustainable growth 
•  How to create a “ripple effect” through your network 
•  The importance of pre-vetted introductions 
•  How to confidently communicate who you serve and what you need 
•  Why masterminds and communities amplify your reach 

If you’re tired of one-off sales conversations and want a smarter, relationship-driven way to grow your business, this episode is for you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Welcome back, everybody. And it is partnerships on purpose today. We have a really cool thing that keeps coming up in our world. And we just want to open up the topic, chat about it. And then if you have any thoughts or suggestions or experiences of this, of course you can put it in the chat. We would love to open up the conversation and keep things going. So, um, Anne-Marie, I was just telling you about this, but I want to give some context for our listeners. Um, often I get asked, why am I in partnerships in the first place? Why does it work for you? Why should we be doing this in out there in the world? Because it does take time, right? Like partnerships are relationship-based marketing. You know, you can't just have a relationship with somebody on a one-night stand. So we want to go and we want to support people consistently. We want to have good relationships with them. And the thing that I keep coming up with, and this term, I don't know if I've heard it somewhere. I don't know if it just came to me one day while I was driving around. Um, but it was about the referral ripple, the ripple effect of having a referral partner. And obviously, we love, love, love people who are giving us introductions. We love them that they are saying, hey, you should meet somebody. Referrals are gold. We have said this, I don't know how long have we said this, Annory. This has been like 10 plus years. Like, send me an introduction. It is better than anything else that somebody could give me. It's like gift of Christmas. And we get it every single day. So the idea is this ripple effect of referral networks. And this is the way that I see it in my mind. I'm a very visual person. So I think about this little pinpoint in the middle of a lake, right? I go like this and I tell somebody about what I'm doing and who my what my business is, who I love to work with, and that person goes out and ripples into all the different people that they might know. I don't necessarily have access to all the people that that person knows, but I know that when I say something to them, they can go out into the world and say, oh, you should know so-and-so, right? You should know Sally. Sally has this thing. She would be great for you. Can I make an introduction? Of course, yes. And the beautiful thing with that is that when those ripples go out, they come back with only your right referrals. So that means the person has your best interest in mind, which means they are pre-vetting the people that they're sending to you. I would say this is probably make a bold statement. This is probably the number one reason why we use referrals as our primary way to get new clients, new members into our community, um, new partners into our database, is because we are getting pre-vetted referrals back from the ripple effect of partnership conversations. So that was kind of a lot of laying out there. But Ann Maria, I'm just like, uh we were talking about it, and I just want to be like, okay, this is an idea. Is this completely crazy? Is it something? So, what are your thoughts about all this?

SPEAKER_00 4:05

It's not crazy. Um, it's thank you. I appreciate that. It's really important. I spent the morning at a networking event, and obviously uh referrals are key, right? Um, it's interesting, and I had a couple of connection calls this week. And what I tell people is like when you're on a call with somebody and you're connecting and you're learning more about what they do, um, you know, who they serve, all that beautiful stuff, uh, where they're from, uh, you know, if they have a dog or no dog, because I always ask that question. Um, but then you're you're absolutely right. Then my brain just goes into how can I best help this person? How can I serve this person? Most of the time it leads to what are the connections and referrals that I can make. Um, and I think in that conversation, in that 30-minute conversation I'm having with somebody, um for me, it's like it's really important for me to identify who what referrals I can make. And I'll give you an example. I was on a call with a wonderful person this week. Um, and as we were talking and as she was explaining her business to me, um, and she does a variety of different things, and I said, tell me everything about yourself. Um, I in that call, um, I was able to make four referral connections for her. So at the end of the con, and she just kept talking, and I was like, oh my God, this would be a perfect fit for this person. Oh my god, this would be a perfect um uh referral for this person. So when you and and obviously we talked about this in our other episode, but I I had a connection with this person. I felt this person was really real and authentic and you know, somebody that I know, like and trust, right? So you happily make those referrals when you're talking to these people. Now, um, in her world, so then you know, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna introduce you this. And then she's automatically, then I share what I do, and then she's like, oh my God, you would be such a good fit for this person and this person. And then that's how the partnership starts. That's how the relationship and the connection starts. So it has that ripple effect because then what will happen is I have introduced her to somebody in my networking community, and my hope is then that will go a step further, right? Because they will connect and they will love each other just because I love them both. But that ripple effect is there. So I do think it's extremely important. Um, and as much as possible, even if you can't do it in the moment, I think it's important to think about listen to what the person is saying. And sometimes it's not clear right away, but then think about it and say, hey, you know what? Sometimes it's just I want to connect you with this person just because they're amazing and I want you to meet them. And I don't know what the connection will be, but you know, um, I just think there's some synergies in terms of personalities and you know, uh things like that. So I think it's really, really important. And I think without referrals, um it's really hard to build your network.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Yeah, I don't know how people go out there and try to talk individually to one client, one client, one client. I mean, it's the reason that we're in referrals in general. Um, while you were talking, something came to me like you have this beautiful thing where you did like three little pings in your in your lake, right? And you were sending out all these different referrals back to this wonderful human. We also have the ability and I think the responsibility to refer not refer people who don't feel like they're well aligned. Um, like we've talked about this so many times, and it's the reason that we get on so many connection calls. It's the reason that we do um, I won't say require, but we highly encourage. As in if you can't get on a call with Anne-Marie or I for 30 minutes, you aren't getting a referral out. Like we have that power and we also have that responsibility because we have the ability to affect other people's businesses through those referrals. And if somebody feels misaligned, we talk about this inside of our membership all the time, right? Like you have that gut feeling. It's your responsibility to listen to that. If you have a gut feeling, like verify it with data, intuition verified by data. But at the end of the day, like you can also say, you know, I just don't know of anybody in my world. And I don't usually say I don't know anyone. What comes out, and this is kind of terminology for people who were, you get that gut feeling, you're like, I'm not sure if this is gonna work out. You don't have to say, uh, no, you're crazy town. I'm not introducing you to anybody. What you can say is, you know what, I'm so glad that we're connected. Let's keep the conversation going. Um, you know, let's just stay connected. You kind of just allow it to just dissipate, right? It's that ripple that doesn't have any motion in it and it just kind of fades away. Um, but those are just as powerful as making the five or six different introductions to one person because you're sending a lot of power and energy and importance to that business. And um, obviously we believe in it wholeheartedly because we train people on this and we have a podcast about how important it is. Um, and the so the ripple effect is one thing, but then there's also these vetted referrals that come back. Um, I know I have an example of this, but I'd love like, because you you have different types of conversations and you're, I mean, obviously we're in the same business, but um, you just see things a little bit differently, which is why we make beautiful partners. But um, so I have this example of I have this wonderful coach that I've been um involved with for many, many years. She's absolutely beautiful person. I've hired her, she's been my coach. Um, and I also send her a lot of referrals. The thing that she does for me because she knows who I am and because we've developed a long-term relationship, is she will only send me people that I am 99% sure will either be an amazing partner or become a client. So because of this relationship, I'm getting pre-vetted, absolutely, not no like trust. It's like these people are like, I don't know, this person already said you're amazing, so we're gonna work together. It's like the sales part of it just dissipates. Or it's like, hey, they love being a partner with you, and we want to make sure that we support you as well because obviously you're doing good work. Like, I can't if and we do this for our clients all the time. It's like if you have 20 people that are doing that all the time to your business, like it can completely transform. And it is that pre-vetted um introduction that's coming back to you. And um, it's the reason we've grown our business. Um, and I don't know how people do it like cold. I just think about like the contraries, like cold DMs and stuff like that. I'm like, I I haven't heard anybody who's like cold DMs work, great. Yeah. Um and maybe we haven't got the right partners, or maybe we're just not their ripple effect is not coming back to us. But like most of our people are like, yeah, if I have a connection with somebody, I'll have a call. If it's a cold DM, like answer's no. Um, so anyway, I just wanted to open up that thought to you.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

No pressure. No pressure, no, obviously no pressure. Um so many things come to mind as you were talking about that. And um another podcast topic came to mind because I think it's really important um who you're getting the referrals from, right? And I think that's important because if I um if I support what you do, and and you said it's not no like trust, but at the end of the day, that has some of it to do. Like if I know like trust you, well then any referral that's gonna come from you, I'm gonna be like, yeah, if Marie's doing it, I'm in. Um and I think that is um a big part of the referrals, right? Like if I'm getting a referral from somebody that um is doing amazing work and has built an amazing business and is doing like awesome things, I'm gonna be like, yeah, I want to know more. I want to get on a connection call with this person and learn more about what they're doing because not only have they vetted them, right? But they I believe and trust and know and all the other stuff that this person is doing the right thing and in my best interest. And I think that's the example you were giving where you're working with this coach, she's sending people your way because she knows it's in your best interest. And whether that results in a client or um whatever it may be, um, I think that's that's a big part of it, right? So you can get referrals from a lot of people, but I think the referrals that come from people that you trust are much more valuable than you know, any referral. We get referrals every day on LinkedIn, you know, all the time. Uh sometimes from random people, hey, I want to introduce you to this person. I'm like, I don't even know you, right? So why would I why would I take it a step further? So um I do think that that's an important um point. Um the other thing we we talked about before um getting on this podcast was, you know, a lot of us are part of communities, are part of groups, um, and we choose where we want to be and what groups we want to be part of. Um, you know, and I just want to take an opportunity to talk about our um JV Powerhouse group, right? Which is a group of amazing people that we have been connected to um for a couple of years now. And that for me is probably the most valuable referral network that we have. Um, and you know, we we get on monthly calls. Um we kind of created this little industry of our own where we get on calls and we're like, hey, this is what we're doing. These are our clients, this is what's happening in our businesses. But by the nature of doing that, then we're like, oh my God, I need to connect you with this person. And Marie, I need to connect you with, and and then it's that ripple effect because you're having those conversations with people and you've chosen these people, right? So we bring these amazing people into this group. So that is, you know, also another way. So when you put yourself in a group or a networking event or things like that, and you create these spaces where you're like, oh my God, these are amazing people, like all the people that I met this morning. I'm like, yeah, I I I want to refer. I want them to refer me, you know. So um I think, yeah, that's just another point that I wanted to share, you know, is it's it's another opportunity and way of getting referrals that are kind of vetted, right? Because you know that they have your best interest.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

Well, in our JV Powerhouse people, there's like throwing big rocks into the lake, right? Like they make big waves. Um we develop that, right? We we pour into that community and we do the same. We're a big rock for them. Um, any we have partnerships with them. Some of them are our best partners in our business, even and I think the point is is like they have a very similar business to us, but we don't serve necessarily the same audience. We don't do the same supports, and it's in our best interest to have a referral partner that feels really well aligned. Um, and I absolutely love that group. Um, I was gonna say when you were chatting, you something came up about um just when you're joining masterminds and things, when you are joining community, when you're in um, you know, times where you get together with with a small group often, um, that's where the most powerful connections come from. It's like not only is it um it's referral-based marketing, and we do it a lot with kind of not necessarily cold but lukewarm people, right? Like let's have a conversation. Um, but when you're in a small group mastermind, it's like on steroids, right? Like they become your big rocks, they become your advocates, they become the people who are saying, hey, this person is gonna succeed because I'm supporting them. And not that it's a requirement, but it's almost like it's our gift to do that. It's just like your husband or your kids or somebody else who's like rooting you on. You, you like you create an extended family. And those masterminds are so, so, so important. Um, I know you're in one, I'm in one, we're always in a paid one. We usually are not in the same one because then we can make that. And then we we host our own and we create that community inside of it and we encourage those people to support each other. Um, not everybody has the same business, but they do have people that they're talking to regularly. And because of the nature of our work, everybody is doing partnership conversations. It becomes like it's like it, you can't help but snowball it because everything is just happening consistently. You're getting referrals, you're you're saying, hey, she should meet this person, and then staying top of mind and all the different things that we train and and we do ourselves consistently. Like, so I'm just encouraging people like if you're not already in a mastermind and you feel like you're doing it all by yourself, um, that is not that's not the way. Um, if you feel like right now you're just going out there having one sales conversation at a time and you think that there's a better way, a partnership is it, just so you know. So it's huge. And it just, I can't even um I had a conversation with somebody earlier today, uh, and she was saying, you know, people are out there just like they don't even know about partnerships. They don't even know about creating relationships. I was like, it's crazy, absolutely crazy. And this lady is doing, you know, a hundred to a hundred and fifty thousand dollar um packages. Like she's out there getting referrals coming in and she's making millions of dollars of this because she is only using relationship-based marketing, and I absolutely love it. Um, we had a great conversation, of course. But um this happens to us all the time. And I hope that, you know, through the conversation today, first you just think about the people that you're introducing to other people. And then at the same time, thinking about um how you can present yourself best when you are talking to people. Don't be shy to share what you need and who you're looking for. If you are not stating that to somebody that you're on a call with, if you're having a connection call, and no offense, if you're only talking about your dog, like it's not necessarily the best use of your time. We do chat about dogs around here. So if you have a pup and you want to put the chat and you want to share a picture, and Marie will absolutely fawn over it. Um, but the biggest thing is for you to share a little bit about who you're looking for, what kind of connections you need. Um, because when you do that, you you give that power to somebody to say, oh, I know somebody. That's these are like golden words, right? Like, I know somebody you should meet. Yeah, I know, I know this person. Hey, you should know so and so. When that happens, like it's like, yes, thank you. Please open it up, say yes. Um anyway, just get kind of excited about it.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Yeah, no, and and you said, you know, you you said presence, right? You said like have that presence. And that is, I think, so important. And I know I understand, you know, we live in a world of introverts, extroverts, and all of that beautiful stuff, but be confident in who you are, what you do, um, because that's really important. At the networking event I went this morning, you know, I had so many people come up to me and they're like, you're so well versed. Like you know, like we love listening to you. Like you're just it just, you know, somebody said, What do you do? And then the girl beside me is like, let her tell you what she does because she's got it down to like a T. Um, so it's interesting because, you know, and obviously we do this as a living, so it's different, but take a little bit of time to prepare yourself, right? Like, what is it that you do? Who do you serve? What are you looking for? Exactly what you said, right? Who do you want to connect with? Right. Um, because that's important. Because when you explain that and when you share that with people, that's where the light bulbs go off, right? And you know, that's where it's like in the conversation that I had with um that amazing woman this week, it was like, as she was talking to me, it was like boom, boom, boom, boom, right? Because she was telling me everything that I needed to know about her, her business, what she does. And that just allowed me to um, you know, think about okay, who in my world, how can, and I always say that to people, who in my world can I connect you with? You know, um, so I think that's really important to you also have to take a little bit of time. Um, and when you feel, when you have that, when you feel confident, then you have that presence and then you're able to articulate exactly what you're looking for. And then that ripple effect will happen because you've shared exactly what you want and what you need.

SPEAKER_01 20:47

Yeah. I'll say too, like um, as we're finishing up here, one of the things is is like networking calls in general are a great way to practice that. It's a very low lift. Yes, say your say what you want to say, practice it before you go. You know, obviously you want to be professional and you want to be confident, and it's a place for you to say aloud without a whole lot of pressure, right? You're not trying to make a hundred thousand dollar sale, you're not trying to, you know, close five million people into your membership community, whatever the things are that you're trying to do to make money. Um, but you take those opportunities to share with other people. Um, and I've had people come to me and they're like, you know, I just need to practice this out. Like we're in a networking community, they're like, I just created a new offer. And I'm like, great, just tell me about it, or just tell me about you. Tell me about who you like to work with. Yeah. It's just, it's not as hard as being like, I work with. It's more like, hey, I just love hanging out with people who are doing this and that and the other thing. And you're just like, okay, awesome. I know some people who have those people. So anyway, I love this topic. I am so thankful that we had a chance to chat about it. Um, if you have any other examples of what a ripple effect is inside of your business and um some of those partnership conversations that have worked out really, really well with you, please put it in the comments, um, message us, let us know if you have any other topics that you would like us to um go over, say, uh, because we are always open to uh sharing our experiences, sharing um kind of behind the scenes of how we like to run things. And so thankful, Anne Marie, that you were here today. Thank you so much and have a good rest of your day. All right, bye bye.