Referrals as a Source of New Business: A Practitioner Perspective

Stuart Grierson, Visiting Research Fellow, Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

Ross Brennan, Professor of Industrial Marketing, Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, d.r.brennan@herts.ac.uk (author for correspondence)

Author biographies

Dr Stuart Grierson is an experienced senior practitioner. To summarise his business experience, Stuart founded, developed and sold two highly successful professional service firms. He has also been CEO and Non-executive Chairman for two firms in the City of London. His experience embraces sourcing clients, managing fast growing businesses, staff development, succession planning together with negotiating the purchase and disposal of regulated businesses. Stuart holds the academic qualifications of Doctor of Business Administration, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration, BSc (Hons). He also holds numerous professional qualifications including: Chartered Financial Adviser; Fellow of the Chartered Securities & Investment Institute; Certified Financial Planner; Investment Management Certificate; Advanced Taxation & Trusts, and was an examiner for the Institute of Financial Planning (2012-2015). In sum, Dr Grierson offers experience as a practitioner and entrepreneur augmented by academic and professional credentials.

Ross Brennan is professor of industrial marketing at the University of Hertfordshire. His principal research and teaching interests are in business-to-business marketing, social marketing, and marketing pedagogy. Ross is co-author of ‘Marketing: An Introduction’ (with Gary Armstrong, Philip Kotler & Michael Harker), and of ‘Business to Business Marketing’ (with Louise Canning & Ray McDowell). His research has been published in such journals as the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Marketing Education, the European Journal of Marketing, Marketing Theory, and Industrial Marketing Management.

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Referrals as a Source of New Business: A Practitioner Perspective

Abstract

It is widely assumed among providers of professional services that conventional marketing methods are largely ineffective and that client referrals are the key to business growth. Furthermore, it is supposed that firms can take steps to generate referrals and that referrals can be actively managed. This paper presents a contrary point of view, arguing that referrals largely arise through processes that lie outside the control of the firm. The actions that firms may take to generate and manage referrals have very little effect on client referral behaviour. In addition, there is confusion and conflation in connection with the concepts of word-of-mouth, recommendation and referral. The article arg1ues that referrals are best conceptualised as a process rather than as a discrete action, and a framework for the referral process is proposed.

Key words

Referral; service business; word-of-mouth; financial advice.

1 This is a pre-print of an article to be published in the Journal of Customer Behavious, Westburn Publishing, https://www.westburn-publishers.com/journals/customer-behaviour/

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Introduction

This article addresses the question of how to acquire clients in professional services

using the UK independent financial advice (IFA) sector as an illustration. Clients are the

lifeblood of professional service firms and sourcing new clients who are able and willing

to pay fees is of paramount importance. Most IFA firms do not have the financial

resources or the brand recognition to embark upon the type of marketing campaigns

available to larger institutions and instead rely on word-of-mouth to obtain new

business.

Financial advice is a highly intangible service where the effectiveness of orthodox

marketing is called into question. Conventional marketing methods, successful in other

fields, are relatively ineffective when it comes to capturing clients for financial advisory

firms. Wealthy consumers are understandably cautious when selecting an advisor and

IFAs have found that they are unlikely to respond to such forms of marketing

communication as direct mail or advertising.

Fashionable methods of acquiring new clients come and go. For example, when

developing his first IFA practice, the first author (Grierson), found ‘marketing seminars’

to be a successful method of attracting new clients, perhaps in part due to the relatively

novel nature of such seminars at that time. However, by the middle 1990’s it became

evident that new entrants had also realised the potential of seminars. With widespread

use, growing investor cynicism and better-informed investors, gradually the

effectiveness of seminars declined.

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Just about every conceivable marketing strategy has been tried to acquire new IFA

clients including: advertising, local and national; mailings, mail and hand drops:

seminars; buying and renting mailing lists and leads; employing lead generation

consultants; business lunches and breakfast networking; sports sponsorship including

professional football and squash clubs; distribution of promotional items; billboards;

speaking at events for investment clubs, rotary and lions’ clubs, ladies’ circles,

corporate resettlement courses; writing articles for magazines and journals;

appearances on national radio; forging commercial links with accountancy and law

firms; and, utilising equity for influence.

Save for the questionable value of enhancing brand awareness, Grierson found that

none of the above strategies could be relied upon to generate new clients.

When conventional marketing methods fail to acquire sufficient new clients, the

professional service provider may turn to other avenues. There are plenty of consultants

only too willing to provide ‘secret’ strategies to attract new clients, for a fee. In particular,

there are systems that claim to generate client referrals. Indeed, it seemed widely

accepted that referrals were regarded as the magic ingredient for growing a client base.

However, no evidence was provided that systems to generate referrals worked, or that

anyone really understood how referrals came about. With a deep-seated scepticism for

magic referrals solutions, born out of 30 years’ experience, first author Grierson

embarked on a qualitative study of the referral process, the results of which are

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summarised below. In brief, the qualitative data gathering process comprised 61 semi-

structured interviews, of which 20 were with financial advice professionals (practitioner

interviews), 26 with clients using professional financial advice services, and 15 with

private individuals who choose to manage their own financial portfolio and not to use

professional financial advice. The interviewees were identified initially using the

professional network of the first author, and then additional interviewees were obtained

through snowballing, that is, by asking interviewees for introductions to subsequent

interviewees. Although the sampling process was non-random, successful efforts were

made to achieve a reasonably diverse group of consumers (i.e. clients of financial

advisors, and interviewees managing their own portfolios). As is to be expected, these

interviewees were drawn from relatively well-remunerated walks of life, such as

solicitors, accountants, civil servants, and successful self-employed business-people

including a landscape gardener and a restaurant owner. Interviews were transcribed

and thematic qualitative coding was carried out on the interview transcripts. Further

methodological details of the interviews can be found in Grierson & Brennan (2017) and

Grierson (2015).

The practitioner perspective

The assumption that asking for referrals is effective appears to be so widely held that it

was intriguing to explore whether or not it is valid. Almost all IFA practitioner

interviewees stated that they rarely or never asked for referrals. It was fascinating to

hear advisors say that they believe that they influence clients to refer by ‘asking

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indirectly’ when most rarely or never ask for referrals. It is therefore unsurprising to find

that advisors’ resort to other indirect tactics in order to ‘make it subliminally known that I

am interested in referrals’. Perhaps acknowledging their reluctance to ask for referrals,

many advisors said that they sought to ‘ask without asking’.

During the interviews, advisors were asked how they generated referrals. This yielded a

number of interesting replies, chief among them is the notion that advisors believe they

can influence clients to become ambassadors, who will consciously seek out new

clients, to refer. This idea was explored during interviews with clients of IFAs, since,

evidently, advisors believe that they influence existing clients to refer. However, no

evidence was found to support the notion of ‘customer-initiated referrals’, whereby

consumers are willing to become ‘unpaid’ advisor ‘advocates’ (Buttle,1998:245). Indeed,

it was found that clients were unwilling to countenance being part of any marketing

process as ‘it’s not up to me to find work for my advisors…they are paid to do a job of

work’.

It seems therefore that something resembling a paradox arises. The paradox of referrals

is that, on the one hand, it is not understood whether referrals can be solicited but, on

the other hand, certain advisors claim to be successful referral generators. However,

when interpreting the results, the number of referrals claimed often seemed inconsistent

with the size and resources available to the firm, suggesting that the number of referrals

claimed by advisors should be treated with a degree of caution. A possible explanation

for this contradiction is that overestimations may reflect a desire to be perceived as a

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recipient of referrals, which some in the advice community undoubtedly view as

signifying a badge of quality. It was also apparent in the discussions with advisors that a

referral is held in high esteem, seemingly regarding them as a form of endorsement of

their own professional capability.

None of the practitioners interviewed had a clearly defined marketing strategy. IFA firms

also view orthodox forms of marketing as ineffective and consequently, none was

implementing a formal marketing strategy. The founders of IFA firms explained that they

had experimented with forms of marketing, including digital, ‘without success’ and now

placed greater reliance on referrals from introductory sources which they find are more

‘cost effective’ and ‘successful’ (Brush et al, 2009:489). Practitioners view referrals to be

crucial and value referrals above all other sources of new client capture.

Several inconsistencies have been detected, notably that while advisors believe they

should ask for referrals the data suggests that they are reluctant to do so, and that while

clients are prepared to refer they are unwilling to introduce someone without a prior

request. A body of assumptive language and embedded beliefs has built up

concerning referrals, supported by the consultancy industry, professional bodies and

others, and characterised by an absence of empirical evidence.

In the search for a definition for referrals, an interesting sub-plot emerged. It was

found that, despite denigrating those who sell products while appreciating that

‘persuasion’ is usually associated with a sales process (Johlke, 2006:319), advisors

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feel it is necessary to persuade consumers to buy their service. This reveals a further

paradox. Like many professionals providing services (such as doctors, lawyers and

accountants), IFAs like to see themselves as disinterested experts who are largely or

wholly detached from the commercial business of acquiring clients and generating new

business. However, the fact remains that their businesses need new clients if they are

to survive and thrive (and if the advisor is to maintain a healthy income). Therefore,

advisors face the inescapable (and possibly dissonant) fact that their client interactions

inevitably involve some component of sales and marketing, much as Gummesson

(1991) emphasised the role of the part-time marketer in service businesses.

IFAs have not found an effective marketing strategy and all appear to accept that

referrals cannot be elicited or predicted. No firm had a networking or referral strategy

with many conceded that they merely ‘waited for the telephone to ring’. To some extent,

the rejection of marketing strategies and the reliance on referrals suggests that advisors

believe that consumers will wish to utilise a service just because it exists. However,

authors argue that marketing is necessary and dismiss the notion that just being

available for business will attract consumers (De Brentani & Ragot, 1996).

The interviews with practitioners did not identify any advisor currently using a referral

programme, which was a surprise given the proliferation of offerings on the internet and

their promotion by consultancy services. Scholars were found to be sceptical that

operational referral programs are effective (Zeithaml et al, 1985) and, while others

argue that retention may be enhanced through effective communication, detecting

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academic support for a connection with referrals is problematic (Sharma &

Paterson,1999). When asked directly about referral programs, advisors seemed

unimpressed. One made it clear that he had little faith in ‘lead generation schemes as

the database they use is rarely kept up to date’, while another simply said ‘a friend

bought one and it failed’. The collective view from advisors about referral programmes

among advisors can best be summarised by the following comment: ‘I made a

conscious decision not to use a referral program, I don’t think any of these firms really

care what they give you as long as they get paid for it’.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding referral generation, large numbers of practitioners,

commercial enterprises and academics appear to have implicit beliefs that referrals can

be managed. However, it is observed that this explanation is at odds with research that

considers referrals to be a largely ‘unmanageable marketing phenomenon’ (Helm,

2003:124). There is reason to doubt much of what has been written about referrals by

practitioners, consultants and other industry participants. Industry journals, magazines

and organisers of events targeted at practitioners perpetuate the notion that life

assurance companies, professional bodies and consultancy providers understand new

client capture. Consequently, advisors hear and read communications that appear

intuitively helpful seemingly without questioning the methodology underpinning the

messages. Yet, it is unlikely these organisations have any real understanding or

experience of referral generation, noting advisors seem to have discovered for

themselves that unproven strategies from the past are ineffective.

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Reflecting on the data, it was puzzling that advisors thought they influenced referrals as

they could not directly link a referral to their influence. Advisors spoke of discussions

with existing clients but could not explain how those conversations had led to a referral.

It was initially speculated that advisors did not wish to acknowledge a lack of

understanding or actual misunderstandings, about how referrals are generated and had

sought refuge in commonly held explanations.

It also seemed possible that they have unconsciously come to realise that they

cannot influence referrals but are unwilling to admit it. This reasoning was soon

discounted, however, as many of the participants were very experienced and it

seemed unlikely that they would be ill-informed. Nevertheless, this does not explain

why only one advisor was prepared to acknowledge that referrals happen naturally,

absent of practitioner influence. It is clear that a discrepancy exits between what the

advisors say and what the data indicate. One reason for this apparently contradictory

behaviour, which fits with the lack of management information about referral numbers, is

that advisors do not concern themselves with exploring the antecedents of each referral;

rather, they focus on the opportunity in front of them, as they may not have entirely

grasped the complexity of the issue.

In sum, it appears that referrals are a rarity, particularly for smaller companies, since

they have often mined their limited referral sources to the extent that the flow of referrals

is rationed. A referral is relatively uncommon and a cause for celebration. No evidence

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was found that rewards are effective since client-facing staff rarely obtain referrals

regardless of the inducement.

The Referral Enigma

It seems that virtually all new clients arrive via referrals or professional introductions.

Yet, incongruously, despite accepting that clients cannot be easily sourced, practitioners

demonstrated a high ‘internal locus of control’ (Shane et al, 2012), and expressed a

belief that their actions will influence the future. It was found that practitioners believe

they influence referrals in four main ways: excellent service; higher qualifications;

contact frequency; and, speed of response. However, interviews with clients clearly

indicate that referrals are not the outcome of agency; they are a random occurrence,

determined by happenstance and the result of an opportunist conversation between a

prospect and a client.

Despite valuing value referrals above all other sources of new client capture,

practitioners do not monitor referral numbers, dates, sources, or causation.

Consequently, they are unable to explain the relative differences in referral generation

for advisors within the same practice and appear to suffer from ‘strategic myopia’

(Mazzarol, 2005:15). It seems that practitioners are unwilling to admit that referrals are

hard to come by. During interviews advisors maintained that they did influence referral

generation, but it became clear that they were unable to provide examples to defend the

claim. It appears that advisors would like the world to believe that they obtain numerous

clients from referrals, whatever the facts.

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The consumer perspective

Contrary to the advice of consultancy providers, asking for referrals was found to be

ineffective and not welcomed by consumers. While word-of-mouth (WOM) often

instigates referral generation, the value of WOM, needs be treated with caution, since

consumers were found to have limited understanding of the service provided by

independent advisors.

Most consumers interviewed said they would only provide a referral if they had been

asked to do so by a friend or relative or colleague. The interview responses confirm that

consumers would be uncomfortable if their advisor asked them to provide a referral.

Many clients confirmed their reluctance to offer referrals, one suggesting that the

practice is ‘…not very nice… puts me off to be fair…might give them the name of

someone I don’t like [laughs]’. Another viewed the practice as potentially exposing a

weakness, raising the possibility that asking may be counterproductive, when they

made it clear ‘I would not introduce anyone they must be struggling if they have to ask

me for an introduction’. A negative reaction to being asked for referrals was widespread

amongst consumers, characterised by one who made clear his ‘dislike of unsolicited

requests’. Another noted his discomfiture at being asked for an introduction by

explaining ‘I would help but I don’t know anyone suitable and I wouldn’t want to put

someone in an embarrassing position’.

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To investigate the unpredictably of referrals, all consumers interviewed were asked to

describe the circumstances surrounding the most recent recommendation they had

made. Perhaps confirming the scarcity of referrals, in this field, while consumers

commonly spoke of providing recommendations for less complex services like

restaurants, films, hairdressers and garages, none immediately mentioned financial

advice without prompting. In turn, no interviewee chose professionalism of service or

indicated that service excellence stimulated them to refer.

Whatever advisors believe, consumers seem clear that they are not influenced to

become advisor advocates by forms of persuasion, service standards, qualifications,

likeability, response times or oral requests. They do say, however, that they have

shared information with friends, about their advisor, that they think will be found

interesting. The comments of the client interviewees show that referrals are as likely by

chance as by design. They explained that referrals are typically the result of a friend or

colleague indicating that they need assistance with money management, rather than

being instigated by the client. Clients said that they responded when they were ‘asked

for help’, when ‘he was talking about money’, or ‘complaining about death duties’ or

simply because someone had ‘asked for my advice’. The language clients used clearly

indicates that the stimulus for the initial word-of-mouth exchange is externally driven, in

that it was instigated by the requester. If this proposition is even partially correct, then

asking for referrals as advocated by many commercial companies, may be

counterproductive.

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To probe for greater insight consumers were asked to explain why they choose to refer.

To ensure consistency all participants were allotted the same time span, and all were

asked to explain what prompted them to provide a referral, and why they recommended

their advisor. It seemed that the answers could be differentiated between those relating

to the background to referral generation versus those describing the prelude to a

recommendation. The former utilises linguistic connections (Ryan & Bernard, 2003),

linking cause to effect (for example, ‘I referred because’), whereas the latter makes

unsupported statements. On closer inspection, since the data appeared to be polarised

between referrals instigated by a third party (defined as ‘external influence’) and ‘other

influences’. The responses are set out and paraphrased in Table 1. The responses

suggest that the influences upon clients to refer are thought to be largely external, that

is clients refer following discourse with a prospective client, since little evidence of

advisors influencing referrals could be found.

In light of the above, this article diverges significantly from the limited number of

previous definitions, which have tended to assume that positive WOM of itself is a

referral (Helm, 2003; Kumar et al, 2010; Ryu & Feick, 2007). The literature has a

tendency to reinforce a common misunderstanding that it is the client who instigates the

discourse and misapprehending that ultimately it is the prospect who makes the

decision whether to proceed to client status. Other academics take a different approach

by arguing that a referral is defined when clients influence and advise others to become

clients (Verhoef et al, 2002). Contrastingly, this paper argues that a referral is not

completed until advice is provided, agreed and paid for. Lastly, although Verhoef et al

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(2002) describe a referral as a transfer of advice, a completed referral, within regulated

advice, inevitably, requires several meetings, the production of a written report, and a

signed agreement before a referral can said to be satisfied. In other words, a referral

requires entering a commercial undertaking, and the delivery, acceptance and payment

for services, where progression is dependent on the actions of the recipient of positive

WOM.

Correspondingly, questions are raised over the validity of arguments that champion

the influence of WOM in decision making (Buttle, 1998). It seems possible that its

effect may be directional in nature and less influential than authors believe as

consumers are likely to defer decision making until a proposition is presented. No

evidence was found to support the idea of ‘maven’ behaviour or that receipt of this

type of WOM is likely to stimulate clients to act (Buttle, 1998:249). However, the

evidence was somewhat contradictory. As one participant said, ‘I think I would make

my mind up after meeting with the service provider although a recommendation is a

great start’. That view was supported by another consumer who suggested

that ‘the opinion of someone might lead to me meeting a service provider, but it

would be the personal experience of meeting them that would lead me to actually

use them’. Another was more fulsome and explained that:

‘A recommendation would get a service provider a hearing, but I would then

want to see how knowledgeable the provider was and whether I think that I

could work with them. Recently my husband and I met with a Financial

Advisor from a very well-known online company. The advisor did not impress,

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and seemed to have a different agenda from the one he was invited to

discuss. His listening skills were poor, and he seemed completely unaware

that I had turned off and was answering e-mails 40 minutes into the meeting’.

Reconceptualising referrals

The data collected has presented an opportunity to redefine and reconceptualise

referrals and to build a conceptual framework for the referral process. The approach

taken is to distinguish between the formation of a referral and a completed referral, and

then develop a framework of the entire process. Table 1 accordingly attributes a value

to each element of an emerging referral, utilising abridged examples from statements

made by prospects and clients, to provide an indication of the discourse during the

referral process.

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Table 1 Antecedents of an embryonic referral

Elements WOM Recommendation Introduction Embryonic Referral

Value Weakest Intermediate Strong StrongestIndicator Positive or

negativediscussion

Endorsement of the firm or advisor

Provision of contact details

Offer to contact/introduce prospect to firm

Prospects ‘I am in a muddle with…’

‘Are they any good?’ Do you find them helpful?

‘Not sure if I have enough money’

‘Can I have their details?’

Clients ‘I have someone who does that for me’

‘I find they are very helpful and they are local’. ‘They take time to explain issues’.

‘Would you like their contact details?’

‘Shall I contact them to see if they are accepting new clients?’

Source: Grierson, S., & Brennan, R. (2017). Referrals for new client acquisition in professional services. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 20(1), 28-42.

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It is emphasised that a referral is not fully complete until an agreement is reached, and

a legal contract agreed. It is also argued that the role of the advisor is passive, in the

embryonic referral process, as the referral is stimulated by external forces. The role of

the advisor only becomes active when contact is established between the prospect and

the advisor. The conclusion was reached that a referral is dynamic, but not linear, as it

requires a number of elements to be aligned at the same time.

The reality is that prospects do not blindly accept word-of-mouth and decision

making is deferred until a meeting has taken place and assessment of the service

provider has been arrived at. It was found that referrals are random, occurring when a

prospect identifies a need, seeks information and decides how to proceed with

recommendation should one be forthcoming. Related studies appear to endorse these

findings by noting that WOM is normally ‘sought’ or requested, rather than provided, and

then only really valued when a need arises (Sweeney et al,2008:355). Accordingly,

referrals may be considered uncontrollable since managing for referrals is challenging if

not impossible (Woo & Ennew, 2005; Helm, 2003). To some extent, the term ‘referral

management’ could be considered an oxymoron.

The Referral framework

The following summarises the referral process as it relates to one professional service.

To begin with a consumer (hereafter, prospect) recognises (or speculates on) a possible

need for independent financial advice. To reduce the risks associated with purchasing

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an intangible service, the prospect seeks advice from someone they know, or believe to

be a consumer of independent financial advice. Subject to receiving satisfactory and

encouraging word-of-mouth, the prospect may ask for or be provided with a

recommendation and the contact details of an individual IFA or IFA practice.

At this point in the process, an embryonic referral has formed. Continuing the referral

process the prospective client decides whether, or not, to seek a further, second,

opinion. If the prospect elects to take up the recommendation, a meeting, with the IFA is

arranged, either by the client of the IFA or the prospect. Should the prospect be

satisfied, that the relationship, terms and conditions and financial advice are acceptable,

the referral process concludes with a contractual agreement that satisfies regulatory

guidelines. Although financial advisors reported that the majority of referrals became

clients, the process is fragile since, the advisor may reject the prospect as unsuitable

and the prospective client has the option to abort the process at any time.

Figure 1 offers a detailed conceptualisation of the natural referral process drawing from

the experience of a senior practitioner and utilising evidence from interview data with

consumers of advice and practitioners.

It is recognised that marketing academics have written extensively about consumer

behaviour and decision making and may associate the referral framework, presented

here, as being similar to the ‘hierarchy of effects models’, such as the well-known

‘AIDA’. But as Barry (1987:251:252) observes those connect consumers to advertising

and the purchase a product or brand, which is an entirely different conception to that

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required to produce a referral. In contrast the referral framework presented does not

focus solely on the consumer or the purchase of a product, nor is it decisive. Rather it is

dynamic, less certain in its outcome, and requires a number of iterative decisions to be

made. It is also observed that the timing of completed referral may be deferred as the

prospect may decide not to act immediately. Perhaps this affords the possibility to

classify referrals in two ways; conclusive and inconclusive.

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Figure 2. The natural referral process (Source: original)

EmbrynicEmbryonic

refee

Request for help - client

provides positive WOM

First Stage Conversation (WOM) instigated by prospective client

Embryonic Referral - Client offers a recommendation

Is the client influenced by advisor?

Prospect has to decide to accept or

reject the recommendation

Prospect may seek another

opinion

Prospect or client makes contact with

IFA

Meeting arranged between prospect and firm/IFA

Meeting to discuss suitability for both

parties

Advisor may reject

referral

Prospect may not relate to the advisor

IFA outlines client

proposition/fees

Discussion of prospects circumstances/objectives

(Fact Finding)

Subsequent meeting arranged/ report

preparation

Further meeting (s) to discuss report

Agree action plan. Sign terms of business/Fee

agreement

Prospect may decide not to

proceed

Final Stage Prospect now a

client Referral completed

Opportunity for a referral conversation

The natural referral process

Fee agreed for a report/ Fee deferred until service delivery

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Summary

The absence of an academic journal with connections to the financial advice community

has allowed a number of assumptions to evolve and flourish unchallenged by

independent academic research. Commercial organisations offering consultancy

services and product providers have both been allowed to perpetuate the growth in

assumptions without any academic challenges. The introduction of a peer-reviewed

journal to explore matters pertinent to practice is arguably an essential requirement for

any profession, particularly one that is desirous of higher recognition (such as

independent financial advice). The juxtaposition of academic research training

punctuated with practical experience amplifies the value of practitioner-based research.

The contention of this article is that referrals are not directly influenced by advisors, but

are determined by serendipity; they occur naturally, without reward, inducement or

advisor instigation. For practitioners, a referral is a process that represents a

commercial opportunity whereas for the consumer providing word-of-mouth it is an act,

a recommendation, without the prospect of financial benefit. It is evident that the referral

process cannot be characterised as a simple exchange of positive word-of-mouth since,

it is interactive and dynamic. This conceptualism of the referral process is offered as

something to be debated within the wider professional and academic communities.

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