Businesswoman Carmen Parkinson believes networking and referrals by word of mouth are the way ahead for success in the island.
She said: ‘The one thing I have learned since starting to come over here is that this island depends very very heavily on word of mouth and recommendations.
‘Everybody seems to know everybody. If you do a great job everybody knows about it. If you do a poor job everybody knows about it.’
Carmen from Preston, Lancashire, started coming over in January in her capacity as a director of BNI - the Business Network International.
She oversees the Isle of Man’s Manannan chapter with which she says she is particularly fond. As Business News recently reported on these pages, this cross-section of enthusiastic people have generated referral business which has totalled more than £1 million. They meet every week at 7am at a Douglas hotel.
Now Carmen, 51, is planning to expand her connections with the island even further.
Carmen is a firm believer in referral market strategy. and organises something called the Referral Institute in the north of the British Isles.
She told Business News: ‘I’ve started to learn the ways of the island, if you will.
‘I started to investigate with the 32 members of the BNI group whether there would be an opportunity to bring the Referral Institute over to the Isle of Man.
‘The general consensus of opinion was that there is.
‘So people who don’t necessarily want to commit to a weekly meeting, as in the BNI, might possibly be interested in having a referral meeting once a month.’
As part of her plans she is organising a special gathering with information to understand the referral process.
The three hour workshop is being planned to take place on Monday, December 2 at the Palace Hotel, Douglas.
‘Most business owners I talk to say they will get a lot of business through referrals.
‘What my business does is it guarantees to double a business owner’s turnover in the first 12 months of working with me if they apply the strategy.
‘If they fail to double their turnover I refund the tuition fees. It’s a money back guarantee I am offering.
‘We’re achieving around £50,000 return.’ (with other classes in the north of England.)
Carmen says she is confident business people can plan ahead for making money using referral marketing.
Carmen says she has been running the Referral Institute in the north for the last six years. She stressed that living in the north west of England presents ‘no barrier’ to coming over here.
She said there had been a ‘shift in mindset’ among members of the BNI in the island as they had been introduced to businesses in the UK to work with over the last few months.
Asked what the benefits for the island are Carmen said: ‘New business opportunities and business owners are going to be looking to double their turnover and I don’t see what there is not to like in this.
Carmen said in business people like to work with people they like. ‘In referral strategy or word of mouth recommendations you are only going to work with people you like. That’s a great way to live and work. I’m always optimistic because I work with people I like. I’m helping to grow their businesses so nobody is losing.’
Carmen said she is confident she can do a good thing for the island’s economy. She said a number of businesses in the local chapter of the BNI have said they will be coming along to the workshop on December 2. And she hopes many more businesses will be interested in ‘coming along for the ride.’
Carmen can be contacted on 0781 8620163.
carmen@referralinstitutepr.co.uk
www.referral institute.com