In our industry, too many people act as if earning a free lead is a matter of being nice or less expensive than the competition. But a true referral is different. Referral leads are emotionally based and therefore require that you think about the customer’s experience not in terms of service, but in terms of experience.

There has been a good deal of news lately about pirates raiding ships along the African coast. Bucking all authority and rule of law, these criminals capture sea-bound vessels filled with precious cargo. There is a version of this in our industry, though it may be more of a question of incompetence rather than out-and-out piracy.