The Referral Bench

After two years of recording The Referral Bench Podcast, Phil and Ian did the impossible - they talked themselves out! After a lot of discussion and soul searching, Phil and Ian have decided to make this the final episode of The Referral Bench podcast. In today's episode, they discuss the past two years of episodes, what they've learned, and some key takeaways. Thank you for being a part of this journey with us. It's been a great ride, and we've both enjoyed it immensely. Don't forget to keep in touch! Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

If your goals don't make you uncomfortable, they're probably not big enough. In today's episode of The Referral Bench Podcast, Phil and Ian talk about the importance of thinking big and how to set goals that will help you catapult to where you want to be. Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

It feels like something that's so simple, but for some reason it's missed by so many people. If you look for ways to contribute and add value first, you'd be amazed at how far it can take you. Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

I'm sure you're heard of The Golden Rule. I'm pretty sure that we all heard it over an over again growing up - "treat others the way that you would want to be treated". Well, today we're going to talk a bit about The Platinum Rule - "treat others the way that THEY want to be treated". It seems like that's the only rule worth paying attention to when you're doing business. Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

We all have the tendency to make things hard on ourselves. It seems like it's in our nature to come up with the hardest way possible to do anything. In today's episode of The Referral Bench Podcast, Phil and Ian talk about just how simple networking and referrals actually CAN be. Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

Gratitude can make a massive impact in your life. From the way that you show up for work, networking events, and pretty much everything else in your life to the way that you're able to develop connections. How has gratitude made an impact on you? Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

Entrepreneurial Problem Solver with a bias toward technical solutions, Rob Broadhead has a wide range of experience and tends to choose pragmatic solutions more than the latest "whiz-bang" solution. He believes that a great solution to a problem you don't need to solve is not a solution. His broad experience helps him quickly assess companies and systems to find where to dig to get at the heart of where a system is robust and/or weak. He also brings solutions from other lines of business to new areas to leverage the experience of those who have already solved similar problems. He would rather find new uses for "the wheel" than reinvent it. Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Connect with Rob Rob's LinkedIn Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

LinkedIn studied the way that 20 million users were able to use their connections to get jobs. The goal was to find out who was more effective in helping those users get connected to those jobs - close connections or loose connections. The results were really interesting. In today's episode of The Referral Bench Podcast, Phil and Ian discuss the study and talk about how you can use your loose connections more effectively to build your business. Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

Gary Marco is an emerging leader in the personal growth and leadership development industry. He is an American author, coach, trainer, and speaker. His courage, persistence, and ability to overcome adversity helped him survive a poor and abusive upbringing to succeed in life. He has had a varied and exciting career. Gary has played both pro beach volleyball and professional golf at the minor league level. He has also worked and consulted with organizations as big as fortune 100 companies to small family-owned businesses. He was also one of only three coaches selected nationwide to work with leaders at the Centers of Disease Control.  He has been writing, teaching, and training about leadership development and personal growth for almost twenty years. He is the founder of Gary Marco and Associates and Thought Innovators, companies dedicated to teaching, training, and equipping leaders on how to enhance their businesses and lives by improving their leadership skills and corporate cultures. “The true measure of success is not what you have accumulated in life but rather how your life has impacted others. You have succeeded when you have left the Maximum Positive Impact on those you lead or have influence with.” Check out Gary's Social Profiles Facebook Twitter Instagram Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

The Referral Bench Podcast just hit 100 episodes! And to celebrate this milestone, we brought a couple of our past guests, Nate Jorgensen and Justin Davis, back for a conversation to look back over the past couple years in the world of business and networking to see how things have changed, and what's stayed the same. This was a really great conversation and we'd love for you to check it out and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

Let's face it - more often than not, our close friends and families never turn out to be our best referral partners. We know this to be true...whether we want to admit it or not. But why? Shouldn't they know how great we are and how much of an impact we can make? No doubt they do, but they also know all the other, less flattering aspects of our history, too. In today's episode of The Referral Bench Podcast, Ian and Phil talk about why our closest connections probably aren't the right people to talk to about sending business your way, and more importantly, who we should be talking to. Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

Introverts tend to get a bad wrap when it comes to networking and business development - and often times, it comes from the voices in our own heads. What so many people forget, though, is that introverts can still make for powerhouse networkers without necessarily sacrificing their need to recharge on their own. In today's episode of The Referral Bench Podcast, Ian and Phil talk about some of the differences that we face when networking as introverts and the strategies and tactics that we can implement when we go out networking that will help those of us that classify ourselves as introverts still make a big impact. Check it out and let us know your thoughts on our social media channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

Every time you go to a networking event, it seems like there's at least one person there who's regaling everyone they meet with stories of their background, where they went to school, and who they worked for in the past. And for some reason everyone there seems like they're soaking it in...but why? In today's episode of The Referral Bench Podcast, Phil and Ian talk about why we seem to care so much about the backgrounds of the people we meet in business scenarios...and whether we should care. Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts in the comments! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

In business, it's really easy to become a pretty one dimensional person - at least to the people around you. It's so easy to focus exclusively on business and business conversations and leave everything about who you are outside of business out of your conversations. It may seem natural, but what are you missing out on? In today's episode of The Referral Bench podcast, Phil and Ian talk about the value of letting people see the other sides of you that may not be related to your business. Give it a listen and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

We learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. Whether it's in business, in sports, or in life in general, failure provides us with lessons that we'd never learn otherwise. In today's episode of The Referral Bench podcast, Phil shares the story of his attempt at the Leadville 100, along with some of the lessons that it taught him. Give it a listen and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

A couple months ago, Phil and Ian talked about how to make a graceful exit from your network to avoid ruining the relationships that you've developed. In today's episode, Phil and Ian are talking about how to redevelop your network if your exit wasn't quite as graceful as you would have liked it to have been. Check out today's episode and share your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

One thing that's been proven time and time again is that getting referrals comes when you believe in what you're selling. But it doesn't work so well if you just believe in it because of the paycheck. If you really believe in what you're doing, and you're working for a company that you know can really serve the people that they work for, referrals flow so much easier. In today's episode of The Referral Bench Podcast, Phil and Ian talk about some of the issues with working with a company that you don't believe in, or doesn't have a reputation equal to yours, and how much easier it is to get referrals when you're doing something that you really believe in. Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

When you reach a certain point of success, it becomes a lot easier to give back and help other people grow and build their success along with you. But how can you help others grow? In today's episode of The Referral Bench Podcast, Phil and Ian talk about some ways that you can use your success to help inspire other people, mentor other people, or just make connections for them. Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

I know that as professionals, we always follow through with what we say we'll do...but sometimes people do forget, or maybe they just hoped that you'd forget. How do you hold them accountable? In today's episode of The Referral Bench Podcast, Phil and Ian talk about some ways to hold your referral partners accountable for making introductions that they say they'll make, and what to do if they ignore you. Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website

Consider this Festivus and it's time to air out some grievances! We all have those networking pet peeves that make us roll our eyes and today's episode is all about those pet peeves. Sure, it's cathartic to vent our frustrations with networkers but, more importantly, our hope is to help identify the things that frustrate other people so that you can figure out if you need to do some fine tuning in your networking game. Do you have any networking faux pas that you want to share? Let us know on our social channels! Check out today's episode and let us know your thoughts on our social channels! Get Social!   Check out our Facebook page Check out our LinkedIn page Contact Phil & Firestorm   Phil's LinkedIn Firestorm Website Contact Ian & Mission Suite   Ian's LinkedIn Mission Suite Website