Q: When you ask for referrals, do you identify companies that you want to get into or do you leave it open?
A: Be sure to describe your Ideal Client-exactly the person you want to meet. If you have specific companies you want as clients, by all means, ask for people they know in those companies. If your Referral Source doesn't know anyone, at least they will now know the kinds of companies you want to work with.
Q: What's the language that we should be using to ask for referrals?
A: A good way to phrase your request is: "Who are one or two people I should meet?" Or "Who are one or two people you can introduce me to?"
Q: What kind of referral introduction is best?
A: It depends how your Referral Source wishes to introduce you. They can make a phone call, arrange an in-person meeting, or send an email. However, if your Referral Source makes an email introduction, they need to speak to the other person first. Then, when you receive an email, the person who has been referred already knows about you. I usually put "Mutual Introduction" in the subject line.
Q: At what stage if the sales process should you ask for referrals?
A: You can ask at any point when you've delivered value. How will you know? Most likely your prospect will thank you. You may have given them a great idea, shared relevant research, or connected them to someone they need to meet. Don't fall into the trap of waiting until you have a signed contract, then waiting until you've implemented, and then waiting until you can demonstrate results. By then you're probably far away from your initial contact. Here's the beauty of the referral process-when you are referred to a prospect, that person is very likely to offer to help you-even before you've done anything for them.
After talking with Joanne and reading her excellent book I realised that there is a lot about getting referrals that I personally need to learn. (In fact, referrals seem to be an untapped goldmine for most of us in business.)
Action Step:
There are three things you can do right now to get more referral business.
1: Read my interview with Joanne in the "Unfair Business Advantage Report".
2: Get a copy of Joanne's book No More Cold Calling which explains in detail her complete system to create referral sales for any business.
3: Watch a free referral webinar by Joanne called 'Turn Cold into Gold' This webinar is on October 13, 2011 and is being recorded so you can replay it at a time to suit you. (This looks very useful and I plan to watch it myself.)
"One customer, well taken care of, could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising" said Jim Rohn.
Graham McGregor is a marketing consultant and the creator of the 396 page 'Unfair Business Advantage Report.' This is free and has now been read by business owners from 11 countries.
You can email Graham on graham@twomac.co.nz
