I referred my good friend and teammate, Barry Kaplan, the I.P. Attorney on our team, to a client in need of extensive help with their intellectual property. I work as a fractional CMO for the company, and the owner is a serial entrepreneur with several businesses. We are taking one of his brands and building a line of clothing and accessories associated with it. I'll be involved with the branding and rollout of the line, and a quick USPTO search showed that the brand itself was not properly protected - lacking even basic protections. Before moving any further, I enlisted Barry to help the owner and his business attorney restructure his organizations to better protect their intellectual property from potential infringement before proceeding further. When it comes to I.P. Patents and Trademarks, Barry Kaplan is the best in the business!

My referral was to Patty, the banker on our team.  I am the mortgage classification seat, cosulting with a past client seeking a cash-out refinance to do some home improvements.  With the rapiod increase in mortgage rates, it didn't make economic sense to refi the mortgage and lose the significantly lower rate of my borrower to pull out $60k.  I provided her w quick #s and reason in comparison to go the route of a home equity line of credit (heloc) making more sense long term.  I do not offer helocs, and quickly referred her to our banker seat member via a 3way email describing Patty's professionalism, service focus, and educated them as well on the heloc product. 

This is an easy one for me because a big part of my business is helping individuals transition to Medicare. One question I get a lot is, when and how to enroll into Medicare, do I have to enroll at 65 and once enrolled, what are my options? Many individuals are working past the age of 65, still employed with a company and if the company is 20 or more employees and they are covered under their employer healh insurance, they are not required to enroll into Medicare. They have creditable coverage and will not be penalized later in life.

This usually leads to a question about retirement and about Social Security and when is the best time to activate Social Security. I ask a few questions about how long they plan on continuing to work, do they have a 401K or IRA and are they working with an advisor. The answer is usually no and this gives me the perfect opportunity to recommend my teammate Mike Breit of Edward Jones Financial. I will connect Mike in a 3 way email and let them take it from there. This gives him the perfect opportunity to advise and talk about Social Security but more importantly to fact find which may lead him to acquiring a client. 

Louis Agudo

Open Door Insurance LLC

louis@opendoor-insurance.com

Our purpose is to give referrals. That can begin with an offer. Name a Member you have successfully created a referral for. Tell the story –

* What was your client doing or talking about?  - The referral was sharing some family problems.  A close relative was having marital problems and the relative and their child might need to move in.  She'd been considering refinishing her basement as an apartment for herself then let her relative use the upstairs.

* What did you offer them? – I can introduce you to some people I know and trust who do that kind of work.

* What did they ask?  - Do you need the most economical or are you do want to ensure it’s done well?

* How did you communicate the connection?  - Do you want me to text you Robert Slocum’s information or should I tell him to call you?

This one was actually very easy for me to refer.  A long time customer, Richard, came into my office and asked me if I knew of a great insurance agent.  I told him about the Allstate Agent on my Team and an Independent Agent on my previous team.  I gave him both of their business cards so he could compare and get the best agent for himself.  I then followed up with Ryan Tingle with Tabb Insurance Agency by phone as that is who the customer said he chose.  When Richard came back in the bank he thanked me for the referral.  He said that Ryan was very professional, thorough and responsive.  He also saved him 30% on his insurance. He was with his last agent for 25 years and he just wasn't being responsive.  Richard is now referring Ryan to his contacts.  This was a win win for both of them.  I keep my PowerCore Roster with everyones business cards handy for referrals all time!

When I am talking with clients, I ask questions to determine who else they need to talk with for their situation.  Last week I was referred to a client that  won a large amount of money in the lottery.  He has never owned a home and wants to purchase a home.  After we met and established  what he was interested in, I asked about different people that he should be talking to and if I could make a recommendation.  The first call was to Mitch Boehm, the financial advisor on our team with Edward Jones.  I know that Mitch would take good care of him and advise him on how to grow and protect his money.  I made the connection through email and the client was thrilled.  Mitch is very responsive and I know keeps his clients best interest at heart.  This is a win for both the client and for Mitch.  I hope they will have a very successful relationship together  

I successfully created a referral for Greg Golden.  My client was complaining about his former family law attorney and his complicated divorce.  He said that he had spoken to several attorneys and they could not quite figure out what to do.  I told my client that "I've got the perfect man for the job."  Greg specializes in complicated, convaluted cases that no one else can quite figure out.  My client was skeptical but called Greg and hired him.  Sure enough, Greg was able to roll up his sleeves, figure out the issues, and successfully litigate the case (and a few ancillary issues later on).  

I was able to successfully create a referral for Patty Voelz, my fellow Sandy Springs team member, who's with Ameris Bank.  I knew from past experience that she takes excellent care of her clients, so I was able to very confidently refer her to a client of mine who owns a mobile auto body business.  While meeting with this client to discuss payroll, the topic of banks came up.  The client was quite unhappy with their current bank and I knew immediatley who could help!  I made sure that the client was ok with me passing their contact info to Patty, then after the meeting with the client I called Patty (and followed up with an email) so she would have all the info needed to reach out to the client.  Patty set them up with personal and business accounts, and my payroll client is much happier with Ameris than their former bank.

I have kept in touch with my real estate agent since my wife and I bought our first home years ago. She and I had discussed mortgage services in the past. I recently ran across my real estate agent and she started talking about a client of hers that needed a mortgage broker. I jumped at the opportunity to tell her about Randy Garrett, the mortgage broker on my PowerCore team. She asked me about his experience. I told her how Randy was a former banker turned mortgage broker, and he has been in business for 15 plus years. I also told her about Randy's 100% closing record.

I gave my real estate agent Randy's contact information and told her I would have Randy call her. Then, I called Randy to share her need and her contact information. Randy was happy to follow up, and he let me know he had reached out to her. 

I was able to make a referral to my teammate, Rob Burgner. Rob holds our team's web design seat. Here's a link to his profile page: https://powercore.net/members/rob-burgner

One of my longstanding and best clients, for whom I do patent, trademark, and IP licensing work, was having an issue getting work completed by his former web designer/ web developer. That work was mission-critical and time sensitive to my client's business, and it also significantly impacted the work I was performing at the time for my client.

My client had expressed ongoing frustration over the situation. I had offered a referral several times, but my client tried to work with the former provider until he simply couldn't tolerate it any longer. At that point, he was more-than-ready for my referral to Rob.

Although I can't remember, I believe I gave my client Rob's business card, and that I called Rob to let him know to expect my client's call. Because my client trusts me, he called Rob without question or further delay.

Rob has been working with my client ever since, and my client could not be happier. Rob's work has been right on time and exactly what the client wants. My client has thanked me repeatedly for introducing him to Rob, which reflects well on me, of course! (Thank you Rob!)

I created a referral for myself with my teamate Sean Mooney from GO Roofing. After he did a one minute on how they do roofs better I explained how my roofing company could not get the roof approved with my insurance carrier. He suggested another try and that persistence can payoff with insurance carriers. He had the adjuster come out and he got the insurance company to pay for the roof repair. They did an excellent job and now I have a personal testimonial I can give to future clients, prospects and friends. 

I referred my community HOA commercial insurance to Trevor Balliet.  Our yearly insurance was up and being on my community board I immidiately thought of using Trevor's expertise.  We communicated primiarly through email and Trevor was very responsive and extreamly knowledgeable & patient.  Dealing with 5 board members and a property manager can be a hard.  He provided better coverage, offered us a savings and I will be sure to use Trevor for future commercial insurance needs.

During a recent family gathering, I heard my son and daughter-in-law talking about their dog sleeping in their bed and they hoped to get him out of this habit and start using his own bed in the corner of the room.  I mentioned that Nick Garrison from Good Dog Happy Owner Dog Training was part of our team and he has been talking about correcting habits like this with positive reinforcement and great results.  I passed along his card and they were thrilled to have the info.

My referral was to Mitch Boehm, the financial advisor on my team. My wife's friend had just inherited an IRA but did not know what to do with it. I discussed with her that there could be tax implications and she should discuss her options with Mitch. I knew about the possible implications from listening to Mitch's infominutes and seven minutes. I made the connection through a 3 way email where Mitch handled it from there!

The last referral I passed was to JB for an individual looking for a natural gas provider. They were moving into a new house and had a crazy checklist of things to do. I asked them about natural gas and pitched JB by saying “won’t it be nice to not have to call all of the companies to compare rates?”. They agreed, so I introduced them via 3-way text. 

While speaking with my fiance's grandmother, she mentioned that Christine, the representative of the newly constructed nursing home that she is about to be admitted to, was very kind and was looking for local businesses to add to their vendor list. Lisa Wrenn, our teams real estate agent, came to mind because of the fact that most people have to sell a property before moving into assisted living. I offered to introduce Christine to Lisa as a resource for their incoming residents. Christine asked why Lisa would be a good resource for The Vineyard and I told her that Lisa is a certified senior real estate specialist. She agreed that Lisa was someone she should know and I formed a 3 way email introduction. 

Being a new member to the team I am also setting up some referrals for team members. After meeting one-on-one with Trevor Balliet I have been able to speak to other small business owners about what he has to offer with business insurance. I hope to have coffee's with them again in the near future and be able to get them connected with Trevor.

I'm new to the team, but I have a couple referrals I am developing. I have a colleague who runs her own business and pays one employee and two independent contractors. At this point she does her own payroll and I know she would like to have less admin time and more time with her patients. I have filled out a referral for a three way introduction to my payroll services team member. 

The other is also for a small business owner who handles 5-10 independent contractors, I am meeting with her next week and will ask her about her payroll system. I am almost positive she handles it herself or through a cheapie internet platform. She could definitely use less stress and someone like my team member to handle it. 

It is easier to give a referral if you link it to a benefit for the client.  A client had begun to spend significantly on research and development.  In discussing the research, I asked if he was protecting this investment.  This conversation led to a referal to Barry Kaplan, Patent/IP Attorney.  The client had not thought of the risk and was appreciative of the referral.  I called the client and, upon approval, generated a three way email.  When working with clients, we watch for opportunities to guide/advise; being on the Sandy Springs Team provides me with professionals I trust to assist my clients.