Can you use referrals to get your first set of ten customers?

Some folks seem to think so because it's an answer I've been given during live sales and business training sessions.

Whether this is possible or not depends on your definition of the word "referral".

If by referral you mean any form of "word of mouth", then that's possible.

If you come from a large enough family, or you're popular enough, you can get enough people to refer business to you even if you’re an unknown entity in the market.

So yes it’s possible to go into business as a baker TODAY and get your first set of ten orders next week from “referrals”.

Remember we’re using a VERY LOOSE definition of referrals here in scenario 1.

However more traditional folks will define "referrals" only as "word of mouth" coming from clients you have ALREADY SERVICED BEFORE! Let’s refer to this as scenario 2.

When more traditional people say, "check out Chinyere, she's great for XYZ", it turns out to be more than a recommendation. It's almost an endorsement!

Word of mouth BEFORE you service an individual and word of mouth AFTER you satisfy a client don't carry the same weight.

If in the first case I'm recommending Chinyere because I think she's a nice girl. It doesn’t carry the same weight.

If I'm recommending Chinyere in the second case, it's because I KNOW and I HAVE EXPERIENCED FIRST HAND what she can do in her field of expertise.

A referral in this case almost comes as a personal guarantee... which is why people don't give it freely!

If I make the referral in scenario 2 and Chinyere doesn't live up to the hype, then I'm going to look really bad. People will think me a man of poor taste, or a poor judge of character and competency.

If you want to get your first set of 10 customers for your business, then YES you should get all your friends, family members, associates, classmates, and any one else talking about you and giving you referrals.

But the real magic happens AFTER you've gotten the first 10 clients and you start getting referrals from them.

If you do a "correct" job with the first 10 and you have good customer service, professional delivery, and good bedside manners, you could get a few choice referrals from them.

These kinds of referrals almost smell like endorsements.

You can rely on them more than referrals form random conversations.