Beyond Referrals Read online

  2. Discuss value. As you reengage, start with the value discussion of the VIPS Method as outlined earlier in this chapter. These orphaned clients need to see value in reengaging with you and your firm before they will do additional business with you or provide you with referrals.

  3. Ask for referrals. As they experience and recognize your value, once again you are in a position to bring up referrals. One important key to success in asking for referrals is to come prepared with specific people or categories of people (preferably both) to suggest for this brainstorming conversation. Don’t make the mistake of throwing the conversation open to the whole universe. Be specific.

  ACTION STEP

  If you are new in your firm, take on all the orphans you can. Get good at delivering value, serve people who need serving, and make a little money along the way. Within a few years, however, you need to be self-sufficient. If you want to reach the top of your game, you want to be self-generating with new client acquisition.

  USING CLIENT SURVEYS TO TRIGGER REFERRALS

  Do you ever send written satisfaction surveys to your clients or customers? Consider adding this powerful question to the survey: Would you be willing to refer us to others?

  Now, just because someone answers no to this question doesn’t mean the person isn’t a satisfied and loyal client. Not everyone likes to give referrals, especially in the area of financial matters where people get more private. However, once someone says yes to this question, it creates an opening for a referral conversation.

  Here is a sample conversation that you can use to craft your approach to people who say they are “willing to refer”:

  George, thank you for taking the time to complete the survey our company sent to you last month. We count on feedback from our clients to make sure we keep our service level as high as possible. I noticed that you said yes to the question, “Would you be willing to refer our company?” When you checked that box, did you have one or more people in mind you think should know about us, or was this more of a general vote of confidence—and if someone did inquire, would you then recommend us?

  Of course, if George said he did have some specific people in mind, your next step is to see if he’d be willing to create an introduction for you. You would assure him that you would be soft in your approach to them.

  If this was more a general vote of confidence, then teach George how to create introductions rather than just generating word of mouth.

  George, I truly appreciate your willingness to spread the good word about us when the time is right. As you do so, please see if you can create a connection such that this person is open to hearing from me. Sometimes an electronic handshake through e-mail is a great way to get started. How does that sound?

  Two of the largest financial services companies in the world are my clients, and they use the willing-to-refer question. They have a high percentage of willing-to-refer clients. The advisors that follow this process as I just described have been able to tap into that goldmine. (Would you believe that some of their reps don’t speak to these clients about referrals? Unbelievable!)

  REACH HARD-TO-REACH REFERRAL PROSPECTS

  Here’s a quick little strategy that you’re going to love because it’s so easy to use and so effective. I got this from a financial advisor in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He uses it with his formal networking group, but you can use it with your clients, COIs … anyone.

  When you’re asking for referrals, simply say something like, “Are there people you know who should know about the work I do, but you’re not sure how to introduce them to me?” Or consider these variations:

  Variation 1. “As you consider who might benefit from the work I do, I want you to think about people you know would benefit, but you’re just not sure how to make the introduction.”

  Variation 2. “Over the time we’ve been doing business together, you’ve probably thought of one or more individuals who should know about me, but you weren’t quite sure how to bring me up in conversation. Let’s talk about those folks for a minute.”

  Every one of your clients knows one or more people who could benefit from knowing you. But your clients’ own fear or awkwardness with referrals doesn’t let them consider the referral process—unless you bring it up and make it comfortable for them. This strategy will allow you to go there, and together you can brainstorm the best way to get the introduction.

  ACTION STEP

  Take the above idea and write it out in your own words. How would you say this? Then start using it in your conversations with clients.

  5 CREATE “WORD OF INTERNET”

  CREATE “WORD OF INTERNET”

  If you haven’t figured this out yet, the new social media—services like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn (to name only three)—is one huge word-of-mouth and referral machine.

  This chapter looks at some of the basic things you should be doing with the new social media to stimulate referrals and word of mouth or “word of Internet.”

  Are You Easy to Find?

  You never want to be your own best kept secret. When people talk about you and others go looking, are you easy to find?

  1. Maintain a website. You can be assured that most of the people who hear about you will go to your website before calling you (or before you contact them). Make sure your website is maximized for SEO (search engine optimization). Unless your web designer or webmaster is an expert in SEO, hire an expert. This has become a very specialized field.

  2. Write articles for as many other websites as you can with a link back to your site. These links give you a great boost in SEO. The larger the site your article is on, the more powerful that site’s link to your site becomes.

  3. Create a YouTube channel and post videos from time to time. YouTube is owned (at the time of this writing) by Google, which gives high rankings to YouTube videos, and so content on YouTube helps you rank high in Google searches. Write a blog that’s attached to your site. When people like your blog, they will forward it to others. Having the blog attached to your site also helps you with SEO.

  4. Find ways to put lots of content on your site—articles from you and from others. This will build your credibility in the eyes of your visitors as well as, you guessed it, help with SEO. If you’re serious about this, look into the new field of blog curation. It’s an easy way to add content and a powerful way to draw people to your site.

  GET YOUR CLIENTS TO BRAG ABOUT YOU

  Get your clients to brag about you on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. When clients show that they recognize the value in the work you do, say to them something like, “Hey! Are you active on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn? I don’t suppose you could spread the good word about me? Let’s not keep this good thing a secret. Okay?” Of course, some clients will go for it and some won’t, but I guarantee you’ll get a smile.

  Get a Recommendation

  In addition to asking them to say nice things about you on their profiles, you can ask your clients to write a recommendation on your LinkedIn profile or Facebook fan page (and any other social media service you may be using). To make it easy for them, you can craft a little something for them to use. If you’re concerned about what they might write, ask them to run it by you first.

  ACTION STEP

  Look at your client list. Who among them would readily tell others about you on their profiles? Who among them would be willing to write a recommendation on your profile? Start calling these people and ask for what you want. You can e-mail them, but a phone call will probably be more effective.

  BLOG YOUR WAY TO REFERRALS

  A high-content blog can be a great tool for creating word of mouth and referrals, as well as helping your website with SEO. When people read your blog and like what you have to say, they naturally want to share it with others and will send it either to people of like mind or to people whose thinking they want to challenge. According to Ford Saeks, president of the Prime Concepts Group, an integrated marketing company out of Wichita, Kansas (http://www.Prim
eConcepts.com), two main factors go into having a blog help you with word of mouth and referrals:

  1. High content. Whatever you write about in your blog must be worthy of sharing with others. In other words, your blog must be referable. It must be relevant and helpful to the readers—and their friends and colleagues. You can write in a conversational tone and make certain aspects of your blog personal, but the bottom line is that someone must learn a new perspective, idea, strategy, or tactic. It must have value. Expressing a very strong opinion, or even being controversial, can often stimulate people to share your blog with others. But don’t be controversial just for the sake of it. This will likely backfire if it’s out of character for you or doesn’t fit your market.

  2. Ability to share. There are two types of links you want to have on your blog page. First are the links to your various social media profile sites (such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube). But for creating word of mouth and referrals, the more important links are what are known as share buttons and like buttons. When a reader clicks one of these buttons, it tells everyone linked to them on that site that they like the blog. This naturally encourages others to go to your blog to see why their friend or colleague likes it.

  At Referral Coach, we use both a written blog and a video blog (sometimes called a vlog). A video blog is pretty much the same as a written blog, just using video. Check it out at http://www.Referral CoachTV.com.

  TO LINK OR NOT TO LINK. THAT IS THE QUESTION!

  Whom do you link up with on LinkedIn? (You do have a LinkedIn profile, don’t you?) This is a running debate, and I’d say it depends on the nature of your business. For instance, for my business, I want as many people linked to me as possible. Every time I post a message of value, it goes to thousands of people. I build my reputation and interest in my work by providing messages of value.

  Financial advisors (and other similar professionals) usually serve a narrow geographic area and are often very selective about whom they choose to work with. In this case, they should be very careful with whom they link and should manage those relationships very carefully.

  The important thing is that you have a clear strategy. One thing we’ve done is look at our database of several thousand clients and key prospects and extend invitations to connect on LinkedIn. These connections to us do two things: (1) provide ongoing messages of value and (2) let us see the people they’re connected to so that we can ask for introductions.

  Using LinkedIn to Suggest Possible Referrals

  One of the most common questions I get these days is, “Do you use LinkedIn to research your client connections and then suggest those connections as possible referrals?” The answer is, “It depends.”

  As discussed earlier, once you’re connected to someone on LinkedIn, you can see their connections. The level of service you’ve chosen with LinkedIn will determine how deep into your clients’ connections you can go. But how do you use this knowledge without clients thinking you’re stalking them. I think it depends on the relationship you’ve established with them. The relationship (mutual trust, value, and likability) should always be the guiding light in these sorts of questions.

  If you are just getting to know a client, wait. You can look at the person’s LinkedIn profile, but be careful bringing that up too quickly. On the other hand, if you’ve established trust, value, and likability, then go for it. “George, I was looking at your LinkedIn profile and noticed you’re connected with Rachel Kaplan. I have a good feeling I could be a great resource for Rachel and her business. How do you feel about introducing me to Rachel in some way?”

  Contacting People Who Have Viewed Your Profile

  You can also tell if someone has viewed your profile, and I don’t see any problem in contacting someone who has viewed it. The key is to be soft and lead with value. Here is a possible message you might send through LinkedIn messaging. Make it fit you and your type of business, of course.

  George, I noticed that you viewed my profile yesterday and just wanted to reach out and see if I can be of any service to you. I have a free report entitled “The 7 Biggest Mistakes People Make in Planning for Retirement and What to Do About Them.” I’d be happy to send that to you with no obligation. Would you like the report?

  Then, about a week after you send the report, you can send this message:

  George. Just following up to make sure you received the report and what you thought about it. I’d like to present myself as a possible resource for you. Would you be open to setting up a brief phone call to get the conversation started?

  Take the slow road and lead with value. Be a valuable resource first.

  ALL A TWITTER ABOUT REFERRALS

  Can Twitter help you get referrals? Of course! Remember, social media is just one big word-of-mouth and referral machine. Use it to your advantage. Kristin Andree, president of Andree Media & Consulting (http://www.AndreeMedia.com) out of Atlanta, told me this: “When I first started using Twitter, I saw little value in it aside from staying up on the latest celebrity gossip. Fast-forward a few years and, man, has my opinion and vision for this valuable business tool changed.

  “When used correctly, Twitter can serve as an excellent way to cultivate new relationships, build a community, and obtain new clients. People want to feel a connection, which, in today’s society, has become increasingly elusive. Many clients and prospects want to know the professionals they work with on a personal level—they want that connection. Relationship building in today’s world is done both in person and online. If you are not active in both places, you will most certainly miss out.”

  Here are a few ideas from Kristin for leveraging Twitter:

  Host your own tweetchats. Tweetchats are conversations around a particular topic that are arranged in advance and occur at a specified time. The conversations include a hashtag (#) to link the tweets together in a virtual conversation. This allows participants to be active in the conversation while being educated about the topic at hand. Use the tweetchat to educate your audience. Plan the topics in advance and be sure to promote the chat to your followers. And while you would not want to derail someone else’s chat, providing input in the chats of your strategic alliances and other complementary professionals could lead to interaction with new followers.

  Be interesting. Your goal should be to stand out in the sea of sameness. Make your content interesting. Consider piggybacking on something going on in the world and discussing the event as it relates to your work or your industry.

  Link to your website/blog. It’s hard to convey a concept or educate a client in 140 characters or less. To bring more value and content, use a bit.ly link (a URL shortener that you will find at http://https://bitly.com) to point followers to your website, blog, or even third-party articles and resources.

  Have a call to action. Ensure that those seeking more information and wanting to contact you will know exactly how to do so. Create a custom Twitter profile page to showcase your firm and list your contact info, being sure to include links to your website/blog.

  Says Kristin, “Twitter is a giant networking party (with several million attendees). Your goal at this party should not be to sell anything. Instead, seek to educate and engage your followers. It’s all about being active! By providing good content, and showing your personality, the prospects who are right for you and your business will begin to engage. And when they do, be sure to keep the conversation flowing.”

  ACTION STEP

  Spend a few minutes a day following Kristin’s advice. Or do what I have done: find a staff member capable of managing this process for you. I write the tweets (usually on plane flights), and she posts them.

  PUT ON YOUR BEST FACE

  Kristin Andree provides seven tips to help you create a buzzworthy Facebook fan page strategy:

  1. Make your fan page stand out. With Facebook’s new timeline feature, you have an opportunity to create a unique look and feel for your business page. Take the time to select a great “cover picture,” or have one custom-
made that contains your logo, pictures, and a bit about your firm. Then add a “profile picture” of yourself, or your firm’s logo. Use the “About” page to showcase who you work with and how you help them, while being sure to provide your contact information and a link to your website. It sounds simple; however, more than 75 percent of Facebook pages we reviewed lacked these basics.

  2. Invite people to “Like” your page. Your social media reach is in direct proportion to the number of people following your page. The rule here—don’t keep yourself a secret. Invite friends of your personal page, link to the page from your website, and provide a link in your e-mail auto-signature.

  3. Post valuable content. We are all bombarded with millions of messages each day and have learned to tune in to the important ones, while the rest become simply “noise.” The key to avoid being tuned out is to provide content that is relevant to your followers. Understanding your followers and the information they are seeking is key. Not all content needs to be created by you; while you want to offer some original material, it is also beneficial to provide links to other articles and information. People will only visit your site if they find value in it—it’s a “what have you done for me lately” world out there, so give them something current and important.

  4. Engage people. People want to feel important—they are seeking connection. Taking the time to personally engage your audience through conversations, polls, and discussions helps your followers see you as a real person, not just a financial advisor. And with the bad rep the industry often suffers, the opportunity to become personable will set you apart. Speak in your own voice, let them get to know you, and (if allowed by your compliance department) have a real conversation.