For more information about the Referral Institute,
email us at info@referralinstitute.com or call us at 707-780-8110.
The Referral Institute’s vision is to be the world’s leader helping entrepreneurs create Referrals For Life®. Creating Referrals For Life® means that our clients will be working within communities of like minded entrepreneurs to:
- Work with the type of people they enjoy
- Eliminate cold calls
- Work less, play more and make more money
Referrals For Life® is not just a marketing technique, it’s a life style.
REFERRAL INSTITUTE COMPANY STORY
Today, the Referral Institute is a franchise company with over 50 regions on four continents….yet the early beginnings of the company were just a bit different. In the beginning, the forming members of the Referral Institute were also part of an organization called BNI, Business Network Intl. Directors for BNI develop professional referral groups. Seeing the need for additional referral marketing training, Dr. Ivan Misner began cultivating material that would train business professionals to implement specific procedures on referral based marketing. Dr. Misners’ many best selling books on the subject led to creating Certified Networker, a 12 module training program that allows participants to receive the foundational knowledge that they need for a referral marketing plan for their business.
After a few years of being a “brain trust” many of the participants began developing more customizable material on referral marketing. In 2002, the company name changed from Business Referral Institute to simply Referral Institute. Dr. Ivan Misner partnered with Mike Macedonio and appointed Mike to President in May of 2003. At a partners meeting in November of 2003, the challenge of becoming a franchised training organization was decided. September 2004, marks the first sale of a Referral Institute franchise and as President, Mike Macedonio immediately spearheaded the opening of over 40 franchised regions in 8 different countries in just over 2 years! Please note that all of these franchises were generated 100% by referral! In fact, Entrepreneur.com has listed the Referral Institute in their annual top 500 franchises three years in a row.
The mission of the Referral Institute is to help people create Referrals For Life®
During a partners’ meeting in November 2006 a very strong conversation about exactly what our clients needs were was discussed - the result revolutionized our company as we discovered the 3 Core Competencies of Referral Marketing. The 3 Core Competencies are:
- People must have the RIGHT referral marketing knowledge
- They need to stay immersed in the information and implement their referral plan
- Their referral network needs to be trained properly by experts
The program that brought all of these items together for our clients is the “Referral For Life®” program. This program allows our students to spend a minimum of one year with us attending any and or all of the programs that we offer, it provides several opportunities to bring their referral network to the experts, and the most important benefit is that the student stays immersed in the material basically guaranteeing implementation of the material into their business.
As the company continued to expand there was a need to appoint more management positions, hence the “April 2007 Challenge” was laid out. Dr. Misner and Mike Macedonio created a challenge for all of the franchise owners: Any franchise owner attaining a specific revenue goal would have the opportunity to be interviewed for the position of partner within the organization.
The first person to hit this milestone was Eddie Esposito, franchise owner in the New Orleans area. He was able to accomplish this feat just 2 years after the devastating Hurricane Katrina hit his area. Out of any region in the world, this was one of the most unlikely places for business owners to be investing in our training programs, yet Eddie, through his incredible relationships knew that he could help these business owners “Create Referrals For Life®”. Eddie was accepted to be the first VP and Partner into the organization. One of Eddie’s tasks as a partner is to work with the Franchise Advisory Board on crucial issues that the company faces. Eddie is also a Master Trainer for the Franchisee Training Program.
Victoria Trafton, franchise owner for the Phoenix area, was the next person to hit the revenue requirement. She was able to hit this goal in 10 short months! Her interview was then conducted by all 3 partners and she accepted the position of VP & Partner. Victoria immediately, with all of her corporate background, took over the coordination of our 2 annual conferences. Victoria is also a Master Trainer for the Behavioral Sytle Certification.
Dawn Lyons , co-owner of the San Francisco Bay Area franchise, hit the mark in December of 2007. With over 18 years of public speaking and sale experience Dawn Lyons coordinates a majority of the training material, directs the Master Trainer Team, and is the co-administrator for the Referral Institute Foundation. Dawn is also a Master Trainer for Pipeline Certification, Franchisee Certification, Master Franchisor Certification, Behavioral Sytle Certification, and the Sales Program.
The organization continues to grow 100% by referral. In fact, in order to be involved with our company you must be referred! Yet, whether you are in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Middle East or the United States, the Referral Institute has material to help all professional business owners create MORE business by referral. As we continue to coach our clients, add new training programs, and offer customized consulting, you can be assured that the Referral Institute will be in the forefront of proactive referral strategies for its’ clients. We look forward to seeing you at the next program!
Key Executives of the Referral Institute include Senior Partner Ivan R. Misner, Ph.D.,and Partner & President, Michael Macedonio.
