Referral. Chapter 0. Foreword by Ken blanchard.

Coauthor of The One Minute Manager ®, Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute, Raving Fans®, Gung Ho!®, Whale Done!

and Full Steam Ahead!

I am thrilled that Tim Templeton’s book The Referral of a Lifetime is the first in the Blanchard series with Berrett-Koehler.

In starting this series, I was committed to help bring to leaders and managers short, easy-to-understand, parabletype books that offer simple truths and profound wisdom focused on uplifting the best in the human spirit within organizations. My hope was that all readers would want to share these books with the important people in their lives.

The Referral of a Lifetime fits that vision perfectly.

With so many deadlines to meet, places to go, and things to do, we rarely have the time to stop and thank the people who have helped us achieve our goals along the way. The Referral of a Lifetime will help you realize how priceless those relationships are, both personally and professionally. While reading this book, you will not only learn to value relationships in a new light, but you will also find a number of truths that will help you simplify and increase your business.

Appropriately, I was referred to this wonderful little book by my good friend Vince Siciliano, whose relationship I trust and respect. It’s my strong relationship with Vince that motivated me to pick up The Referral of a Lifetime and read it in one sitting.

Within the time it took me to read the book, I found myself reevaluating myself, our employees, and how we all view relationships at home and at work. I started to imagine the possibilities of my business and personal life excelling and staying grounded by simply applying the golden rule and always putting relationships first. I immediately wanted to share this book with my most important relationship,my wife, Margie,and then together we soon shared it with the rest of our family and the key leaders in our company.

The concept of putting relationships first is not a complicated one, but it’s certainly one that’s been taken for granted by many organizations. If you are interested in increasing client retention, building more referrals, and better serving your current client base, The Referral of a Lifetime may be the answer you seek. I guarantee it will help you stop and value the relationships you do have and help you not to let them slip away.

Thanks, Tim, for not only reminding us how valuable our relationships can be for one another but also for showing us how to make them valuable as they relate to achieving our business goals. I wish you success in your business and hope your valuable relationships last a lifetime.