To all our highly valued clients and acquaintances:
I am finding that many people are feeling underappreciated and underserved, given the value they believe they were promised. This can spell opportunities for introductions and referrals for profit (even non-profit) professionals to offer and deliver desired value.
As written about the next few months, we will continue with messages about field-tested, tried-and-true productivity resources for you to put to good use for your work.
Our intent is to serve your focused efforts for the strongest possible year-end finish, as a highly productive crescendo for 2022, as well as to create momentum going into 2023.
Let’s focus is on what we can control, regardless of any external circumstances.
October is for optimizing referral opportunities for coming holidays.
We are paid to think, create, innovate, and execute, as we work to provide our value.
We must be adding value all the time – bringing the plus – to enable people to respond.
Peter Drucker, considered the 20th Century’s leading management thinker, asked:
1. What is your mission?
2. Who is your customer?
3. What does your customer value?
4. What results do you seek?
5. What is your plan?
Given our response to these core questions, are we improving our client’s conditions??
Are we collaborating with people to achieve better lives as a result of our interactions??
The Art of Consistently Getting Quality Referrals
Building and Running a Referral Engine That Won’t Quit
Every time we work with someone, we have opportunity to provide stellar service and thereby develop the potential to gain additional referral business as a three-way win.
Often, this is seen as “awkward.” While other competitors may be hesitant, anxious, and fearful, we can be speaking with more potential clients than we ever imagined. Referrals from our best clients are simply easier to convert and more profitable than clients from any other source. Yet many professionals resist learning how to ask for introductions.
In this post, we want to introduce practical strategies for optimizing this lucrative, client acquisition channel. This includes identifying several key challenges that you may face:
- Addressing key challenges that you may face getting quality referrals.
- Hearing fresh scripts, approaches and strategies that focus on offering value.
- Suggestions for how to set up and follow a systematic process that best fits you.
- Encouragement for you to engage in real time role plays to achieve greater mastery.
If you are willing to develop a fresh mindset, tool set and skill set, you can upgrade how you work with your best clients, especially during turbulent times, so that all come out stronger in the end. While competitors might be “singing the blues”, you can be singing a happier song. We believe you can create greater good for yourself and your business.
Generate a Recurring Referral Request System That Never Lets Up
I was once challenged about over-servicing my clients, getting testimonial letters, and politely asking for introductions to others that may benefit from my professional services. Sometimes, in public presentations, a person in the audience may say, “’well, it sounds good’ and I would respond ‘it is good!’ I can give you the name of 20 people (with their permission, of course) that have worked with us in recent years and who would be happy to speak with you. You can ask them directly what their experience was like as we worked together.” Often, 70-80% of those inquiries became win-win clients.
Jonah Berger, marketing professor at the Wharton School and bestselling author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On (amongst other books) cites research data that personal introductions are the best way to get great clients. (https://jonahberger.com/)
Referrals can be a triple win. For your clients, it frees up your marketing time for priority service for them, as well as the satisfaction of introducing their colleagues to reliable resources. For the person referred, it can lead to greater prosperity and fulfillment with trustworthy support. For you, it’s a way to offer your unique market value and to receive equitable compensation, as well as introductions, as you keep growing your business.
Some actionable ideas/strategies, to reinforce/advance your process:
PRODUCE A WELCOME PACK
Provide new clients with a Welcome Pack, including quality business cards, website information or even a printed folder with a pocket into which you can insert the following:
- Mission Statement and Company Values
- Practice Information Leaflet/Brochure/Profiles
- Client Service Standards and Menu of Services
- Testimonials, Terms and Conditions and Promises
DEVELOP A REFERRAL SYSTEM and EVEN A REFERRAL ENGINE
Birds of a feather flock together. You can create generations of referrals – like a tree with branches. Often, referred people refer people, given their own client experience.
For your happy clients, that’s how the world works and they’re glad to do so. If they tell you how grateful they are for your service, let them know how much you appreciate that, given your commitment to them. If they are one of your better clients, tell them that you’d be happy to make time to offer a free consultation to anyone that they suggest.
Do you have a system for asking existing clients to refer others to you? When do you ask for referrals? Make case for referrals with your clients, with sentences like this:
“Most of our new business comes through personal recommendations. We promise and help you achieve your priorities. If we do a good job, we’d like you to introduce others to us that may benefit from a second opinion, another perspective, or our service process.”
We encourage that you include your referral request statements on websites, LinkedIn pages, social media, in electronic newsletters and any other printed marketing material.
“We have vacancies available for the right type of client. Please feel free to recommend us to anyone you think might benefit from another perspective, or our service process.”
PRODUCE A REFERRAL CARD
Your Referral Card gives people insights into what you do and what sort of clients you are looking for. Roughly double the size of a business card and printed on both sides, ideally it should include the following information: (You can see an example of one here)
- Logo, contact info, your photo
- Description of your ideal client
- A mini menu of what you offer
BUILD YOUR RESERVOIR
Imagine that all the people you meet are represented by the water that builds up in a reservoir. The reservoir is made up of people who have said ‘No, not now’ When the reservoir is full, the water begins to trickle over the top. When you have enough people in your reservoir, by a natural process some of them will automatically spill over the top and be ready to consider your services. Some say it’s like fish jumping into your boat.
Create a Reservoir System, devote yourself to filling it with 1,000 names, make sure that it is continually filled through marketing activities and make sure you ‘tickle’ the people in your reservoir continually. Tickling = a system of following-up on a regular basis. (e.g., follow up calls, newsletter, tips, special offers, newspaper articles etc.)
Sources from which to Cultivate Your Referral Network
- Current or former clients
- People you have given referrals to
- Anyone who has given you referrals
- Other members of business referral groups
- People in your contact sphere (Complimentary)
- Current or former staff members, past or full time
- People who get more business when you get more business
- People you do business with, other than your suppliers and vendors
Here’s a Basic Process for Training Your Referral Partners
- Business Partner Makes the Initial Contact
- Business Partner Sends Prospect Information
- Business Partner Tells the Prospect About the Relationship
- Business Partner Gives a Brief Description or Endorsement
- Business Partner Arranges Personal Introduction to Prospect
- Business Partner Then Follows Up Afterwards with The Prospect
The referral request process is not one of begging, looking needy, feeling clumsy, or even being embarrassed. It has the potential to be quite the opposite. With personalized design and rehearsal practice, it can work for you with grace and ease. I learned that people who did this well seemed like virtuoso performing artists. You couldn’t even tell that they were doing it. They were very natural, conversational, and highly effective.
Of course, we can certainly go in greater detail to design your own effective referral engine, processes, or system. The main thing is to do something. As the expression goes, the best marketing is the marketing that gets done. It’s about progress, not perfection.
Recommended reading if you’re committed to improving as a leader:
Trust and Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others (Hardcover – April 5, 2022) by Stephen M.R. Covey (Author)
“For years, I have told people that my favorite book is The Speed of Trust—after reading Trust & Inspire, I now have to say I have two favorite books.” – ERIC YUAN, Founder and CEO, Zoom Video Communications
“The need to move to a new style of leadership, one relevant for the new world of work, has never been more important.” – SATYA NADELLA, Chairman & CEO, Microsoft
I initially thought that this book was going to be more of the same ideas. While certainly standing on the shoulders of their major body of work, I couldn’t have been more wrong, with their upgraded thinking, processes, and real-life examples. I encourage you to look.
I am now completing my own study of the book and the audios, which I intend to review.
Questions about anything we have written here? Write to us anytime.
I look forward to further communications in the weeks ahead, as we work to finish 2022 as well as possible and create momentum as we all turn the corner into the Year 2023.
Gratefully yours,
Don
