Recently I was in an audience where the presenter spoke of how our advocates can move our cause forward.  As most of you know my clients and I use an Advocate Strategy to get our telephones to ring off the hook with new prospects and referrals.  As I listened to the presenter I thought it would be fun to explore the word advocate and the Advocate Strategy to see how both apply to our personal and business lives.

As defined in the dictionary, advocate, noun, 1. A person who pleads another’s cause, as a lawyer. 2. A person who speaks or writes in support of something.  As we look at our personal lives mom, dad, and the family unit might be considered advocates.  They speak in support of us, tell others what we do and who we are, and they are familiar with our character, upbringing, nature, and our worth of being.  Compared to the Advocate Strategy, all of these CAN be true, however, each must be scrutinized as it applies to our business.

As a business strategy we are looking for more.  We want business, and we want business now!  We want our Advocate Strategy to deliver business today and every day.  We want those telephones to ring off the hook with business.  The telephone needs to ring when the economy is good or when the economy is bad.  Our Advocates need to be proactive.  They need to be connectors.  They need to be sold on our ability to do the business NOW.  When talking about us, the people hearing them would think themselves foolish if they did business with anyone else but us!  We need to be reminding our Advocates of our strength in the work place every chance we get, doing so at least once every 30 days.  We need to deliver something that promotes thought and stimulates conversation in our support.  The best Advocates are those closest to our target markets.  It could be said that people in our target markets make the best Advocates.

Remember that we are talking about a strategy that will create warm business now.  Leads, referrals and tips are all good.  Leads, referrals, and tips are easier to cash at the bank when they are business.  When you have strong Advocates you will spend more time cashing checks and less time scratching for leads, referrals, and tips.

Who will Advocate for you?  Do you have a trained sales force as part of your Advocate Strategy?  Are there at least 25 people on a list that send you business every 30 days? What are you doing to find this group?  What are you doing to train this group of expert supporters?  Are you sending them business with regularity?  What is your return on your time investment?  Where will you find these Advocates?  Let’s explore.

The first place to look is to those who are currently sending you business.  The next place is to those who have sent you business in the last year.  The third place is existing and new clients.  All of these people believe in what you do.  They are willing to bring the world to you with new prospects and referrals.

Advocates can be found wherever you find your target market.  Organizations where they congregate are a good place to find future Advocates.  When meeting new Advocate prospects you may need to cultivate the relationship.  It is always worthwhile to cultivate new relationships while maintaining the old.  “Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other gold.”