Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Centres of Influence, Contact Spheres and Hubs

by: Christel Wintels

 Do you have one? Are you one? Do you need one?

In continuing to learn the skills of building your business by referral, centres of influence, contact spheres and hubs are extremely valuable. They become your most active networking relationships and in many cases, can become the primary source of ongoing referrals to your business.

One of the myths in the business by referral world is that you have to know a lot of people, and all those people must refer business to you. That’s just not true.

It’s not how many people you know – it’s who you know and how well you know them. Successful referral generation isn’t based on the quantity it’s based on quality! The quality people are those tied to, or serving, the same target market that you serve. Once you’ve decided who your clients should be, your contact sphere represents the people who do business with those people.

By clearly defining your target market – your preferred client – you determine exactly who should be in your contact sphere. For many business people clearly defining a target market is counterintuitive. As business people we think there is no one who can’t benefit from our product or service. That’s not a realistic attitude, for a couple of reasons. We can’t do business with everyone. It’s simply impossible. And everyone doesn’t want to do business with us. Besides, the time, effort and cost of trying to market to everyone would be prohibitive. 

Using a stepping stone approach, when we decide exactly what type of client we want to do business with and define specifically who that type of client is through demographics, we’ve defined our target market. Once we’ve defined our target market then we know who to network with. From our networking we determine who will be part of our contact sphere.

What’s the difference between a centre of influence, contact sphere and hub?

A centre of influence is a person, well-connected and well-respected within the community, who could recommend you to your target market.  Usually this person has high credibility with the people you want to meet. A recommendation from a centre of influence to your target market is incredibly valuable. A centre of influence may also develop into a consistent referral source for you. An example would be a doggie day care centre focusing on a well known veterinarian as a centre of influence. 

A contact sphere is a group of business professionals, in non-competing industries, that serve the same target market. Cooperative relationships between these businesses can be the source of dramatic competitive strength, and a consistent source of high quality referrals to each other. A centre of influence can, and should, be part of your contact sphere. Businesses in the same mall, for instance, could be a terrific contact sphere.

A hub is the key business within a contact sphere that acts as the lynchpin for the sphere.  The hub firm becomes the central force within the sphere. The hub firm leverages the other businesses, organizes the contact sphere’s activities and is generally viewed as the common link between the cooperative firms. By becoming a hub firm, you make yourself and your organization the key link in a network of businesses. An example would be a renovation contractor who is connected to interior designers and decorators, painters, etc.  Over time becoming a hub firm will substantially increase the number of referrals you will receive. As a successful businessperson, if time allows, you may want to develop your company into a hub firm.

Developing and nurturing effective, mutually beneficial connections with other business professionals is one of the cornerstones of building a strong referral-based business. And that makes dollars and sense!  

Posted in: Networking, Sales and Marketing