Beyond Referrals Page 4
Nick is an insurance agent in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Nick came up to me before a speech and told me: “Since I usually wimp out with asking for referrals, I thought I would just start adding the phrase ‘Don’t keep me a secret’ on all handwritten thank you notes and saying it at the end of meetings. In just 4 weeks I have received 10 referrals, set 10 appointments, and closed 7 of them. Just by saying ‘Don’t keep me a secret.’”
A few weeks later, Nick sent me this success story: “Bill—I have continued to use the phrase ‘Don’t keep me a secret’ on all of my handwritten thank you cards. Today I received a call from a new client that found out the policy he has with me is much better than the policies of the other contractors he works with. He had the HR department send out an e-mail to all independent contractors they work with about switching their Contractor’s Liability Insurance to me. I just received the copy of the e-mail and the 53 names, addresses, and phone numbers of these contractors. They have even set up dates for me to bring in pizza for lunch to meet these guys. Needless to say … I’m not a secret anymore!”
CONDITION YOUR REFERRAL SOURCES
Erin Tamberells, founder of Executive Transformations (http://www.ExecutiveTransformations.com), shared this great strategy with me:
“Once a year, you should explain the referral process to all your A and B clients. This first referral conditioning component is easily introduced casually at the end of client reviews or other meetings. Close the meeting with your client by saying, ‘By the way, there’s one last area I’d like to discuss with you. I think it’s important to take just a couple of minutes to walk you through how I handle referrals so that you’re comfortable with that process and I can answer any questions you may have.’
“Then simply take one minute to explain your referral process to clients step-by-step. It literally takes about one minute to do, and in that one minute you’ve accomplished several objectives. First and foremost, you let your clients know—without asking for anything and without putting anyone on the spot—that you want and expect referrals.
“You’re also in a position to alleviate at least two of the most common fears that prevent clients (and others) from giving referrals. People hesitate to give referrals for the following reasons: (1) They are afraid you are going to hound the referral; or (2) they worry about confidentiality issues. If these are discussed up front, you can clear the way for more referrals when the time is right.
“Finally, you can answer whatever questions your clients may have. These may be questions that would never have been asked if you hadn’t taken the time to explain your process. You may also want to ask if clients have any suggestions. This can give you some valuable insights, and it’s a good way to gauge how your clients really feel about referrals.”
ACTION STEP
Make sure you are hosting yearly (if not more frequent) review meetings with your clients to make sure the communication is clear and fluid and the relationship is on solid ground. Then, at least once a year, follow Erin’s advice and explain your referral process to them so they’ll feel comfortable giving you referrals and be reminded of the possibility of referrals.
DO YOUR CLIENTS KNOW HOW TO REFER YOU?
Many clients don’t give you referrals, not because you’re not referable in their eyes, but because they don’t know how. They don’t know whom you serve the best, or perhaps they don’t know how to talk about your business. You can teach them this, without being pushy or aggressive or looking needy.
The Kiss-of-Death Way to Describe Your Business
I hope you never find yourself describing your business like this: “My clients’ needs are quite varied, so it’s a little difficult to describe exactly what I do with my clients.”
Ask Your Clients
The next few times you’re sitting down with clients—choose clients with whom you have a strong and friendly relationship—ask them the following questions: “Have you ever had the occasion to talk to others about the work I do? And if so, how do you describe what I do?”
In some cases, you’ll see that your clients have no clue about how to talk about you. In other cases, you’ll learn from them! They’ll say words or use turns of phrases that you’d never think about. You can then use these words when you talk to future prospects and COIs.
Do They Know Whom You Serve the Best?
Do your clients know who fits your business and who doesn’t? Do you think that if they knew this, you’d likely get the right kind of referrals (without even having to ask for them)? The answer is yes!
When your clients know whom you serve the best and how to talk about you, you’ll get more and better referrals. And more and better referrals equal more and better clients.
ACTION STEP
First, make sure you have a clear and concise way to tell your clients about whom you serve the best these days and how they can describe to others the work you do. Next, start creating opportunities with clients to talk about their concepts of what you do. Set appointments or set aside a little time at an upcoming meeting or phone appointment to do this.
A Great Idea for Branding and Referrals
Here is something you can do that will help you get more and better referrals, as well as work on how you brand yourself in the marketplace. Either during a review meeting or just taking your clients to lunch, tell them that you’re doing a little work on your branding and you were hoping they could be of some assistance.
Then say to them something like, “Say you’re meeting a friend for lunch and I happen to be eating at the same place and stop by for a minute just to say hello. After I leave and your friend says, ‘He’s a nice guy. What does he do?’ What do you think you would say?”
You can follow up with several questions like, “How do you think I’m different from other people in my profession?” and “What do you like most about the work I do?”
This conversation does a few things:
1. It lets you learn how your clients talk about you. If you don’t think they talk about you in a way that makes you an attractive resource to others, you can give them some other ideas.
2. It provides an opportunity for you to pick up some great words and phrases that you can use in your branding—how you talk about yourself to others—live and in your promotional material.
3. It may open the way to create a referral moment where you can either promote referrals (like “Don’t keep me a secret!”) or even ask for referrals.
Do you know what your clients are saying about you when you’re not around? Is it helping you or hurting you? Best to find out.
ACTION STEP
Identify a dozen clients to take to breakfast, lunch, or dinner (or take for a round of golf) and do this exercise). You’ll find it very enlightening and useful.
CREATING BUZZ
One way to get people talking about you (creating “buzz”) is by giving your clients high-quality promotional items, items with your name or logo on them (emphasis on “high quality”). They should be able to use these items in their day-to-day activities. If the items are particularly creative and utilitarian, they can become conversations starters that create word of mouth for you. Here are a few real-world examples:
My daughter is a student at High Point University (High Point, North Carolina). Among the many things done to create buzz for the school, High Point is offering free airport shuttle service to the two neighboring airports if, and only if, the students wear clothing with “High Point” written on it. As students travel home on breaks, they are traveling billboards for the school.
Harry (Tysons Corner, Virginia) is a financial advisor specializing in helping teachers save and prepare for retirement. Every time one of his teacher clients gives him a referral, he thanks the teacher with a high-quality canvas book bag from Land’s End. The other teachers ask their colleague, “Where did you get that nice book bag?” The response is always, “My financial advisor gave it to me.”
Paul is a business consultant in San Francisco
. Paul has seen the power of creating buzz many times over the years. Every year he creates one or two high-quality gifts that his clients will use. In the last 10 years he’s given his clients high-end apparel, sturdy golf umbrellas, top-level golf balls, glass beer mugs, and other items. Because of the high-utilitarian nature of these items (and the first-rate quality), his clients use these items in their day-to-day activities. Paul raves about the word of mouth and referrals these items have created for him over the years.
LITTLE SOLDIERS
Here’s a simple idea we use at Referral Coach International that I learned from Lisa Sasevich, founder of the Sales Authenticity & Success Mastermind and often referred to as the “queen of sales conversion” (http://www.LisaSasevich.com). Lisa calls this strategy “little soldiers.” Every time someone orders one or more of our referral tools, we add a little something to the shipment that adds value for the client and encourages the client to tell others about us. On a 5½ × 8½ envelope, we’ve printed the words “Look Inside: A Special Gift for You and Your Colleagues.” Inside the envelope are three audio CDs of an interview I did with people having great success with our referral system. It’s done in such a way that anyone who listens to it will find it helpful. Along with the three CDs are instructions explaining that one of the CDs is for the client and the others are to share with colleagues.
ACTION STEP
What can you give to your clients that will add some value for them and encourage them to pass on to others? For instance, can you write a special report related to your product or service that will be so helpful (not promotional) that your clients will want to share it with others?
SHOULD YOU PAY TO PLAY?
I am often asked if one should pay their clients to give them referrals. My answer is always a resounding no. Say thank you with a small gift if you want, but don’t tie a referral to the reward.
First, it cheapens the referral. It can even backfire. When the referral prospect learns that his or her friend or colleague is being compensated in some way for the referral, the credibility of the endorsement comes into question.
Second, it usually doesn’t work very well. I’m sure there are some exceptions, but I’ve worked with a number of companies that have tried to create some sort of payment for referrals and have had little or no success. A home improvement contractor in Indianapolis equipped its sales force with a U.S. Savings Bond program for referrals. It was a waste of time and money.
I’ve worked with a property and casualty insurance company that gave its referring clients a $25 gas credit card. I can tell you that the money does not create referrals. The value that the client perceives is what makes a rep or a company referable, not a $25 gift card. The only positive in this is that, for some reps, having this sort of reward boosts their courage to bring up the topic of referrals more often. This, over a period of time, will likely increase referrals a bit—because they’re bringing the subject up.
SAYING THANK YOU CAN LEAD TO MORE REFERRALS
How you say thank you for referrals can lead to more referrals. “The experience of referring a prospect to you should be a rewarding experience,” notes Stephanie Bogan, president of Quantuvis Consulting. “Showing your appreciation in creative ways can leave a lasting impression.” And I would add, make you more referable. “When it comes to thank you gifts,” Stephanie says, “the more personal and tailored to the clients’ individual tastes, the better. For instance, a round of golf may be perfect for a weekend athlete, while theater tickets might be ideal for a committed arts patron. Remember, it’s more important to encourage the behavior of referring than to focus on the outcome of the referral.”
Here are four things that should become firm habits for you:
1. Always thank people for giving you referrals. Don’t wait for the prospect to become a client. Reward the giving. I love the service SendOutCards for this. Through its website, I send a creative paper card with delicious brownies for only about $8. It’s quality, fast, and very inexpensive. I urge you to check out this service and send yourself a sample card (I’ll pick up the cost of your first card). Go to http://www.SendOutCards/billcates.
2. Get your new client to thank the referral source. This is one of the most effective ways to say thank you, and yet most people never think of doing this. When Client A gives you a referral to Prospect B, you thank Client A in some small way (per list item 1 above). When Prospect B becomes Client B and goes back to Client A to say thank you for the introduction to you, what happens? It validates the introduction and you become even more referable. You can ask the new client, “When you see George next, will you thank him for this introduction? He needs to know he did a good thing here.” Here’s an even more powerful way: Say to your new client, “Jennifer, I was thinking of taking George to lunch to say thank you for the introduction to you. I have a better idea. Let’s both take him to lunch. I’ll pick up the tab, but the thank you comes from both of us. He needs to know he did a good thing by putting us together. You up for something like that?” Wow! Talk about a powerful way to say thank you! Whom are they talking about at lunch? You! And whom else? Other people who should know you.
3. Thank your referral sources publicly, if you can. Cindy, a small business owner in Hunt Valley, Maryland, likes to thank her clients publicly. She has a monthly newsletter in which she features the “referral of the month.” With the permission of her referral source and her new client, she tells the story of the connection that was made and, in many cases, the problem she was able to solve for her new referral client. She told me, “My clients like the publicity, and I’ve had a number of clients tell me that this simple strategy has prompted them to think of people they can send my way.”
4. Go back to thank past referral givers and let them know how many people they have influenced or helped. One way to keep track of the referrals you receive is in the form of a referral family tree. You have your first-generation referral giver who leads you to one or more second-generation referral clients. These folks, in turn, lead you to more clients who are third generation in this referral lineage. As you see this build, go back to the earlier generations and let them know how they’ve been able to help people they don’t even know, just by getting the flow of referrals started. If your business requires confidentiality, then, of course, don’t reveal names.
George, I thought you might be interested to know how influential you’ve been. You introduced me to Linda. She in turn introduced me to two of her colleagues. They have since introduced me to several new clients. All told, I think you have helped me help about 12 more people through the important work I do. First, thank you for the trust you’ve placed in me. Second, you need to know how many lives you’ve been responsible for helping.
A great idea is to host a client appreciation event consisting of all your clients who are part of the same referral family tree. This simple, fun event goes a long way to help you solidify your business’s referral culture.
4 ASK FOR REFERRALS
APPROACHING CLIENTS FOR REFERRALS
There’s nothing wrong with word of mouth. Positive word of mouth can get your phone ringing. And it’s great when interested and qualified prospects call you. Nothing better! The problem is, for most businesses word of mouth is not enough. Their phones are not ringing off the hook. And sometimes the people who do call are not always a good match. I believe we need to always think in terms of getting introductions to people. When you think in terms of connections—getting introduced—you no longer settle for techniques that merely stimulate word of mouth. You work to have the connections made for you. One thing I’ve discovered is that even when you ask for referrals and don’t get them, you are creating opportunities for word of mouth and introductions down the road. There is a synergy among all the ideas in this book that will help you create a thriving referral culture for your business.
“You Can’t Ask for Referrals”
I’ve been teaching people how to ask for referrals since 1996. Lately, I’ve
heard a number of “sales gurus” say, “You can’t ask for referrals. No one is thinking about helping you, and no one wants to be put on the spot.” I agree that you don’t want to put people on the spot, but the notion that you can’t ask for referrals is a bunch of hooey! The key is doing it in the right way—so you don’t put people on the spot, you don’t look needy or aggressive, and you create a collaborative environment around referrals.
Much of my work is with very successful financial advisors who work with multimillionaires. There’s nothing more private than our personal finances, and yet thousands of financial professionals are having great success using my approach to asking for referrals. You can ask consumers for referrals. You can ask business owners and CEOs for referrals. You can ask anyone for referrals. You simply need an up-to-date approach.
This chapter will provide you with many strategies and tactics, all proved effective. You don’t need to use them all to start an abundant flow of referrals. Just use a few and you’ll see immediate results.
WHOM AM I GOING TO BE INTRODUCED TO TODAY?
How curious are you? Are you naturally curious? If not, it’s time to develop that “muscle.” From the moment you meet someone, pay attention to whom the person knows. When working with clients, pay attention to all the people in their life affected by the decisions you help the clients make. Beyond that, are they active in their community, industry association, club, or anywhere else?