Sales and Sales Management Blog

June 11, 2011

Understand the Four Pillars of a Referral and You’ll Get More and Better Referrals

Filed under: business,lead generation,marketing,Personal Marketing,prospecting,Referral Selling,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 12:56 pm
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At first glance, a referral is a pretty simple thing.  For most salespeople, managers, and trainers, a referral is just a name and phone number that a client has given the salesperson once the salesperson has completed the sale and has done a good job for the client.

Once a salesperson has received a referral, contacting the referred party is just as simple.  The salesperson either will call the referred party mentioning to him or her that the client, which they know, referred the salesperson to them, or will ask the client to write a referral letter to the prospect and then the salesperson will call the prospect after they have received the letter.  A very simple, straightforward process.

Unfortunately, this process is totally and completely wrong, and has been proven by millions of salespeople to not work worth a darn. Nevertheless, this is what is taught in almost every sales course in the world.  And not only is it a waste of time and effort, it deceives the salespeople who don’t succeed with it into believing that the fault lies with them, not with a “system” that doesn’t work.

Generating a large number of high quality referrals requires far more than “doing a good job and asking for referrals.”  It requires a systematic process of planting referral seeds, watering them at every chance, weeding out problems and issues, and then reaping the rewards. 

If you want to generate a large number of high quality referrals from your clients, you must understand what a referral is based on.

A Referral is Based on a Foundation with Four Pillars-and you can control 3 of them:

The relationship between you and your client:  you can control this pillar of the foundation.  By instituting the full client relationship building process in detailed in Creating a Million Dollar a Year Sales Income: Sales Success through Client Referrals (John Wiley and Sons, 2007), you can create a strong relationship with your client built on mutual trust.  Clients don’t give referrals because they like you or even because you did a good job.  Clients hate to give referrals and unless they have a deep trust that you will not embarrass them and that you’ll deal honestly with the prospect they refer, they won’t be willing to give quality referrals.

Your client’s purchasing experience: you can control this pillar of the foundation.  You must discover exactly what your client’s expectations and priorities are, then meet-, and hopefully exceed them.  You cannot afford to guess or “think” you know what these are-you must know exactly and you can only do that by discussing them with your client and then making sure you meet them or exceed them-nothing less will do.

The relationship between your client and the prospect: you have no control over this pillar.  Clients will refer you to people they have very strong, positive relationships with and people they have very negative relationships with.  If the prospect trusts and respects our client, some that trust and respect will be automatically imbued to you.  On the other hand, if the prospect distrusts or doesn’t respect your client, some of that distrust or disrespect will also be imbued to you.  Your job is to find out exactly what the relationship between client and prospect is and then plan you approach accordingly.

Your initial contact with the prospect: you control this pillar also.  If you have built your relationship with the client properly, your client will be happy to contact the prospect in whatever method you desire.  As outlined in Creating a Million Dollar a Year Sales Income, there are a number of methods of contacting clients, each with their own pros and cons, depending on the strength or weakness of the client/prospect relationship.

As seen above, you have control of the majority of the pillars upon which a referral is based.  If any of the above is weak, your likelihood of generating quality referrals will decline and the weakness must be made up elsewhere.  In actuality, if one of the first two segments is weak, you will not be getting quality referrals-period.  However, you can mitigate the affects of the last two.

If the relationship between client and prospect is weak, use a stronger contact method.  Moreover, if the contact method is weak, convert the method into a stronger one.  For example, if your contact method is a phone call to a prospect who has a weak relationship with your client, try to bring in one or two other clients the prospect may know by reputation to build additional credibility.  Better yet, try to arrange a conference call between the prospect and your client.

Generating a large number of quality sales isn’t done by chance or luck, and neither is generating a large number of high quality referrals. Just as you need a well thought out process to consistently sell, you need a well thought out process to generate quality referrals.   You can significantly increase the volume and the success of your referrals if you understand the dynamics that generate quality referrals and then control those dynamics.

March 22, 2011

Using Social Media to Help You Generate Referrals from Clients

Filed under: lead generation,prospecting,Referral Selling,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 1:59 pm
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Referrals.

We all want them.

Yet most of us don’t get very many quality referrals. 

Instead we get the occasional name and phone number that we call a “referral” to someone who either has no need or want for our product or service, or couldn’t afford it even if they did want it.

What seems to be the problem with us sellers that prevents us from getting more than just a mere handful of quality referrals?

The good news is the problem isn’t with us.  We’re just fine.

The problem is the way we’ve been taught to get referrals.  It doesn’t work very well.

Most sales trainers and managers teach sellers that getting referrals is easy—just “do a good job” and then ask for referrals.  All you have to do to get referrals, they teach, is satisfy your client and then ask a question such as, “Ms. Client, who do you know that could benefit from my products or services?”

Simple, huh?

Yep.  So simple in fact that it’s just another piece of traditional sales training crap that isn’t worth the 45 seconds it takes to teach it.

The problem is the very concept of asking your client to do your prospecting for you is totally wrong.

Asking is passive.  When you ask your client to come up with a referral prospect for you, you’re asking them to do something they aren’t capable of doing.  You’re asking them to figure out who would be a good prospect for you—as though they knew your business.  As though they knew what constitutes a good prospect for you.  Unless they are your competitor, they don’t know.  It isn’t their job to know—it’s your job.  When you ask your client that silly referral question, you’re taking the future of your sales business out of your hands and putting it in their hands.

Asking is unfair.  When you ask your client for a referral you’re putting them on the spot.  Would you want someone to put you on the spot where you felt pressured to do something even if you didn’t want to? 

Asking is a waste of time.  Most of the time when we ask for a referral we are literally standing in front of or are on the phone expecting them to give us an immediate  answer.  We are giving our client 10 or 15 seconds to go through their mental file cabinet to come up with a great referral for us.  And then we’re surprised when they can’t.

So if asking doesn’t work, what does?

Instead of asking for a referral from your client, generate a referral for your client to give you.

Referral generation is proactive.  When you generate a referral for your client to give you, you are doing all the work for your client.  You’re making it easy for them to give you great referrals.  You’re taking the load off them so they don’t have to come up with a referral—all they have to do is utter one simple little word—“yes.”

Referral generation takes work.  Where asking is easy, referral generation takes work.  Like most things in life, getting high quality referrals takes work.  Although asking for referrals is easy, the result is what most easy things in life bring—little to nothing.  In order to generate a referral for your client to give you, you have to figure out who your client knows that you know you want to be referred to.  That means you have to become a bit of a detective.

Referral generation guarantees you get great referrals.  When you generate a referral for your client to give, you insure you get a great referral because it is a referral to someone you know you want to be referred to.  How would you like to get one or two or three referrals from every one of your clients, all to prospects that you know are great prospects for you?  It would change your business overnight.

The process of referral generation is really pretty simple.  You figure out who your client knows that you know you want to be referred to.  Then when it comes time to ask for a referral, you ask your client if they know the person you want to be referred to.  If you’ve done your homework well, they’ll say they know them.  Then you ask for the introduction.

The conversation goes something like this:

You:  “John, I’ve been trying to connect with Don Jones at XYZ Corporation for quite some time and just haven’t been able to make the connection.  It dawned on me that you just might know Don.  Do you know him?”  If you’ve done your homework well, you know the answer will be yes—or at least you have good reason to believe it will be yes.

John:  “Sure, I’ve known Don for about four years, why?”

You:  “Great.  Would you be comfortable introducing me to him?”  If you’ve done your job well and have a very satisfied client who trusts you, he’ll agree to give the introduction.

John didn’t have to come up with a name.  He didn’t have to fret over who to refer or what it was you really wanted.  He didn’t have to invest time or effort.  All he had to do was say “yes.”

You get an introduction to a great prospect and all your client had to do way say one little word.

Super easy—for your client.  And really not very hard for you, either.

But how do you find out who your client knows?

That may seem like the hard part, but with practice, it’s really pretty easy and doesn’t take a great deal of time.

Learning to really listen to your client is one key.  In the course of getting to know your client you can pick up a great many ideas about who they know—references to friends, family, and co-workers.  References to employers, past employers, organizations and associations, or places of worship or recreation they belong to.  All of these are fruitful areas to figure out who your client knows or likely knows.  Small talk can become one of the most informative areas of helping you generate referrals.

Becoming highly observant is also key.  If you meet in your client’s office or home, you can pick up all kinds of clues: what awards or certifications do they have on the wall?  Are their pictures with potential prospects?  Who are their vendors and suppliers?  What association or organization directories are in the bookcase?

Today social media can be a quick way to discover who your client knows that you know you want to be referred to. 

Does your client have a LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook account? 

If they do, search through their connections, followers, and/or friends to find great referral prospects for you.  Once you’ve identified a few, try to figure out which ones your client knows best and concentrate on using them as your generated referral.

What groups does your client belong to on LinkedIn and Facebook?  These not only tell you what their interests are, but can also help identify prospects that your client knows.

Does your client have a blog?  If so spend some time reading it.  It is a great way to get to know your client—and who they know.  Do they talk about specific people or companies they know or deal with?  Are there certain people that comment frequently on their posts?

Do a Google search on your client.  You might find other social media sites your client belongs to or possibly comments he or she has made on blogs or various media sites.

Social media is proving to be a tremendous help in a number of business applications.  Referral generation is one—and one that you should be taking advantage of. 

Don’t waste your time asking for referrals.  Learn to make giving you high quality referrals so easy your clients will love saying yes.

March 15, 2011

Five Keys to Generating High Quality Referrals

Filed under: lead generation,prospecting,Referral Selling,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 9:52 am
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From the time we enter the sales industry we’ve heard that referrals are by far the best prospecting and marketing method in existence.  Yet, very few of us actually get very many high quality referrals. 

Certainly some of us manage to get a name and phone number here and another there.  A few of us will manage to get several.  However, most of these “referrals” are worthless–just names and phone numbers of people or businesses that have no interest in or need for or can’t afford our product or service.

Nevertheless, there are a few salespeople and business owners who have found a way to not only generate more than just a few referrals, but somehow they manage to generate enough high quality referrals to run very successful sales practices almost exclusively from the referrals they receive from their clients. 

Do they have some great secret the rest of us don’t know?

In a sense, they do know something most of us don’t.  They’ve learned that what most of us are doing to get referrals—just asking a question such as, “Ms. Client, do you know of anyone else that I might help”–doesn’t work.   

Moreover, they have learned ways that do work. 

Let’s look at five of the most basic things these mega-referral producers have learned:

1.  Ask for referrals:  Sounds stupid right?  If you don’t ask, how do you expect to get them?  Unfortunately, over 50% of salespeople simply never ask—and the majorities who do ‘ask,’ really don’t ask for referrals. 

2.  Really Ask:  Asking means a direct request for referrals.  Studies have also shown that the majority of salespeople and business owners who ask for referrals don’t really ask–they suggest.  They’ll say something like “Don, if you happen to run across someone who could use my service, would you give them one of my cards?” and then they hand the client a bunch of cards—that usually go straight into the trash.

3.  Let the client know who’s a good referral:  Very few salespeople ever define for the client exactly who a good referral is.  They assume the client knows.  Bad assumption.  Clients aren’t in your business.  Why should they know?  You have to let them know exactly who you’re looking for.

4   Better yet, make the referral easy for them:  Instead of making your client come up with the referral, do the work for them.  During the course of the sale do some detective work and figure out who your client knows that you know you want to be referred to.  Then, when it comes time to ask for referrals, make it easy for them.  Say something such as, “Ms. Client, I’ve been trying to connect with Joe Blow at XYZ Company for quite some time and just haven’t been able to make the connection.  It dawned on me that you might know Joe.  Do you know him?” 

If I’ve done my homework well, I know—or at least have good reason to believe—the answer will be yes.

If I know my client trusts me and that I’ve done a good job for her, I then suggest the referral:  “Great.  Would you be comfortable introducing me to him?”

My client doesn’t have to wonder who might make a good referral for me.  She doesn’t have to think.  She doesn’t have to do anything other than to utter one simple word, “yes.”  It’s a lot easier for a client to say “yes” than it is to figure out who would be a good referral.  It takes no time.  It takes no effort.  It’s easy.  I get a referral to someone that I know I want to be referred to.

5  Don’t get names and phone numbers, get introduced.  A name and phone number is just a nme and phone number, not a referral.  Get introduced to the prospect through an introduction letter, phone call, or lunch meeting.

Mega-referral producers have a detailed process they use to generate a large number of high quality referrals from every one of their clients–and even prospects.  They have developed a disciplined and effective procedure they use with each client that leads to a predictable end—receiving a large number of high quality referrals. 

But even without learning the process they use, if you simply implement these 7 simple tips, you’ll increase both the number and quality of the referrals you receive from your clients immediately. 

Want to learn the high referral generation process they use?  Contact me at pmccord@mccordandassociates.com or give me a call at 281-216-6845.

December 3, 2010

Can You Build Your Business From Referrals? Depends on the Question You Ask

Filed under: marketing,prospecting,Referral Selling,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 11:03 am
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Over the past few years I’ve worked with thousands of sellers, helping them learn how to radically increase both the quantity and quality of referrals they get from their clients.  In the early stages of working with these men and women I usually hear the same comments and frustrations about referrals: from how asking for referrals is a waste of time because seldom do the referred prospects buy, to how asking for referrals makes the seller look weak, to how clients resent being asked for referrals.

There are dozens of reasons sellers have had less than great experience with referrals, and almost all of them are because the way they’ve been taught to seek referrals creates more problems than it solves. 

Most sellers have been taught that all you have to do to get referrals is ask for them after the sale has been completed.  Just do a good job for your client and then, after the sale, ask them if they know of anyone who could benefit from your products or services.  Depending upon the seller you ask, that simple referral question can take many different forms, such as:

“Ms. Client, who do you know that could use my products or services?”

“Mr. Client, who do you know that I should be talking to?”

“Mr. Client, who else do you know that I could help?”

“Ms. Client, if you happen to run across anyone else that I might be able to help, would you give them one of my cards?”

No matter how they phrase the request, seldom will these questions produce quality referrals because they don’t address the basic anxiety that many clients have about giving referrals, and worse, the seller is asking their client to do their prospecting for them, an unrealistic request and one that puts the client in an awkward position.

By waiting until the end of the sale to introduce the idea of referrals, sellers are making it very difficult to acquire quality referrals.  Most clients need time to get comfortable with the idea of giving referrals and they certainly need time to think about whom to refer.  Furthermore, they need a clear idea of who would make a great referred prospect.  And since most clients do things for the same reason most people do things, because they see doing the thing to be in their own best interests to do, the seller needs to give the client a good reason to give referrals.

All of the issues above work to make getting quality referrals difficult.  But in the end, the single biggest reason sellers don’t get many high quality referrals from their clients is because the client simply doesn’t know who to refer.  We think it is obvious whom to refer—we want them to refer someone just like themselves.  It isn’t obvious to them.  Although we may think they do, our clients don’t really understand all of the things we can do or all of the needs and issues we can solve.  Consequently, they really don’t know who to refer. 

So if asking your client for a referral to someone they know who might need your products or services doesn’t work very well, is it possible to get a large number of high quality referrals from clients?

Yes, absolutely it is.

But instead of asking a silly, weak question like “who do you know that might be able to use my products or services,” ask to be referred to a specific person.  Although the typical referral question is simple, it is very ineffective. 

More difficult and extremely effective is doing a bit of detective work to discover who your client knows that you know you want to be referred to and then asking for a direct introduction to that person.

 This method demands more from you than popping off a throwaway question at the end of the sale, but it is powerful because:

  • You are no longer asking your client to do your prospecting for you, taking an unwanted burden off them because you’re doing the work for them
  • You are far more likely to get a positive response from your client because instead of asking them to rummage around their mental file cabinet trying to figure out who to refer, you’re asking for a specific and easy to fulfill action—an introduction to someone they know
  • The introduction you get will be to a quality prospect because it will be to a prospect that you pick and that you know you want to be introduced to
  • You will have a much greater chance of setting an appointment with the prospect by being personally introduced by your client than if you just get their name and phone number and call them out of the blue
  • Over time, you can get multiple high quality introductions from each client.  They become a never ending source of quality referrals by simply asking for additional specific introductions as you earn them

Top sellers have learned how to build their businesses from referrals, and for most of them, that weak referral question most sellers ask isn’t a part of their referral strategy.  They’ve learned that if they make giving referrals easy for their clients, getting referrals becomes easy.  Better yet, they’ve learned that if they control the referral process and get referred to the prospects they want to be referred to, their closing ratio from referrals doubles, triples, quadruples, or more.

Referrals can be the cornerstone of your sales business if you learn to do a little detective work and make it easy for your clients to give the great referrals you’ve always wanted.

November 6, 2010

How to Guarantee You Get Great Referrals

Filed under: marketing,prospecting,Referral Selling,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 4:01 pm
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At first glance, a referral is a pretty simple thing.  For most sellers, managers, and trainers, a referral is just a name and phone number that a client has given once the seller has completed the sale, has done a good job for the client, and then asks a general question such as, “do you know of anyone else that I might be able to help?,” or, “do you know of anyone else that might benefit from my products and services?”.

Once a seller has received a referral, contacting the referred party is just as simple.  The seller will call the referred party mentioning to him or her that the client, which the prospect knows, referred the seller to them, or on occasion they will ask the client to write a referral letter to the prospect and then the seller will call the prospect after they have received the letter.  A very simple, straightforward process.

Unfortunately, this “do a good job and ask for a referral” process is totally and completely wrong, and has been proven by millions of sellers to not work worth a darn. Nevertheless, this is what is taught in almost every sales course that mentions referrals.  And not only is it a waste of time and effort, it deceives the seller who don’t succeed when using it into believing that the fault lies with him or her, not with a “system” that doesn’t work.

Generating a large number of high quality referrals requires far more than “doing a good job and asking for a referral.” 

If you want to generate a large number of high quality referrals from your clients, you must understand what creates a quality referral.

A high quality referral is built on a foundation that has four solid pillars—and as the seller; you have control over three of them:

  1. Your relationship with your client:  Most clients don’t give referrals because they like you or even because you did a good job.  Certainly there are a few clients that will give referrals at the drop of a hat, but most clients hate to give referrals and unless they have a deep trust that you will not embarrass them and that you’ll deal honestly and competently with the prospect they refer, they won’t be willing to give quality referrals. 

    Most clients believe that when they give a referral they’re not just suggesting that someone they know speak to the person they are referring, they believe that they are endorsing the seller, in essence telling the person they refer to the seller that they don’t need to do any research because the referrer has already done it and this person they’re referring is the best choice.  To get clients to take this step doesn’t come without having built a strong bond of trust.

  2. Your client’s purchasing experience:  Discover what your client’s purchasing expectations and priorities are, then meet and, hopefully, exceed them. 

    Few sellers ever exceed their client’s expectations because even though they think they know what the client’s expectations are, they never really try to find out, they never ask.  You cannot afford to guess or “think” you know what your client’s expectations are–you must know exactly, and you can only do that by discussing them with your client and then making sure you meet or exceed them–nothing less will do. 

    If you don’t specifically ask your client what their expectations are, the best you can do is meet or exceed what you think your client’s expectations should be.

    Clients assume that the purchasing experience anyone they refer you  to will have a similar or WORSE experience than they had.  The further away from their desired purchasing experience they have, the less likely they will be to give a quality referral.

  3. The relationship between your client and the prospect:  This is the one pillar you have no control over.  Clients will refer you to people they have very strong, positive relationships with–and people they have very negative relationships with. 

    If the prospect trusts and respects your client, some of that trust and respect will be automatically imbued to you and you start your relationship with them from a position of strength.  On the other hand, if the prospect distrusts or doesn’t respect your client, some of that distrust or disrespect will also be imbued to you and you will start your relationship with them from a position of weakness.  Your job is to find out exactly what the relationship between client and prospect is and then plan you introduction approach to them accordingly.

  4. Your initial contact with the prospect:  To this point you’ve invested a great deal time and effort in establishing your relationship with your client, making sure they have exactly the purchasing experience they want, and finding out what the relationship is between your client and the prospect they are referring.  After investing so much time and attention to get this far, the last thing you want is just a name and phone number.

    Instead of getting a traditional “referral” consisting of the name and phone of the prospect and permission to use your client’s name, get a direct introduction from your client to the prospect. 

    There are three primary methods of getting a direct introduction:

    Letter of introduction from your client to the prospect:  Ask your client to write a letter introducing you to the prospect.  However, once you’ve asked your client to write the letter, let them know that you know how busy they are.  Offer to take the burden off of them by writing the letter for their signature.  If you allow them to write the letter it won’t communicate a reason for the prospect to meet with you and it will be written on their schedule—which could be never.

    The letter you write should give a brief overview of what you’ve done for your client and why the client believes it would be beneficial for the prospect to meet with you, as well as the time and date to expect a call from you.  Have your client sign it.  Phone the prospect at the exact time your client indicated you’d be calling.

    Introductory phone call from your client to the prospect:  An even stronger introduction is a phone call from your client to the prospect to introduce you.  This method puts additional pressure on the prospect to agree to set an appointment with you as it is difficult for the prospect to say “no” to your meeting request when they know that their friend, co-worker, or associate is standing next to you when you ask.

    The downside to a phone call is it gives the prospect the opportunity to ask questions of your client.  If there were aspects to the sale that didn’t go well there is a good chance they will surface during the phone call.

    Lunch meeting with your client, the prospect, and yourself:  A tremendously strong introduction method.  Have your client invite the prospect to lunch or coffee with the three of you.  Encourage your client to let the prospect know this is NOT a sales meeting, just an opportunity for the two of you to meet one another. 

    One of the strange things that often happens during the meeting is the client ends up being your salesperson and you are there simply as the consultant.  And, again, it is very difficult for the prospect to say “no” when you request a meeting.

As seen above, you have control of the majority of the pillars upon which a referral is based.  If any of the above is weak, your likelihood of generating quality referrals will decline and the weakness must be made up elsewhere.  In actuality, if one of the first two segments is weak, you will not be getting quality referrals–period.  However, you can mitigate the third one by using a strong method of introduction.

Generating a large number of quality sales isn’t done by chance or luck, and neither is generating a large number of high quality referrals. Just as you need a well thought out process to consistently sell, you need a well thought out process to generate quality referrals.   You can significantly increase the volume and the success of your referrals if you understand the dynamics that generate quality referrals and then control those dynamics.

September 1, 2010

Three Steps to Getting Hiqh Quality Referrals From Your Clients

Filed under: lead generation,marketing,prospecting,Referral Selling,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 1:58 pm
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Are you finding that you’re just not getting the number of quality referrals you want from your clients?  Chances are you said yes because that’s the case with most sellers.  Oh, sure, we all have some clients that will give us referrals all day long.  Just ask and they’ll give you name after name.  Other clients, the majority, aren’t nearly as generous with their referrals.

The biggest problem in both cases is so often the referral we get isn’t much better than pointing at a name in the phonebook at random.

How can you guarantee that you get great referrals?  Simple.  Make sure the client gives you a great referral by finding the referral for them to give you, rather than relying on them coming up with a quality referral to give.

The reality is that clients really don’t know who we’re looking for and most of them just don’t have a real incentive to invest the time and energy to come up with a great referral for us.

But we know who is a great referral for us.  And certainly we’re willing to invest the time and energy to find a great referral (if we’re not, we have some real serious issues to deal with).

Since we’re the one with the need; and we’re the one with the desire; and we’re the one who knows who makes a good referral for us, why would we rely on anyone else other than our self to come up with the referral?

So how can we come up with the referral for our client to give us?

Here are three steps to guaranteeing you get great referrals from your clients:

  1. 1.     Get Your Client On-board to Give Referrals.  Most sellers wait until after the sale has been completed before they bring up the idea of referrals.  Bad idea. 

    Most clients need time to get comfortable with the idea of giving referrals, so bring up referrals early in the relationship.  Don’t ask for referrals; just let your client know that your business is built on referrals and then drop referral seeds as the sale progresses.  Since your prospects and clients aren’t stupid, if they hear you mention referrals often in a casual manner, they’ll get the impression referrals are important to you and they will be expecting you to ask for them at some point.

  2. 2.    Find Out Who Your Client Knows.  We’ve already established that in order to get great referrals you have to do the work for your client, so do it by discovering during the course of the relationship who they know that you know you want to be referred to.

    How do you find out? Through small-talk (who do they mention in conversation they know); paying attention to what’s in their environment (pictures, association directories, membership plaques, and such); their background (where did they work previously); their work (what vendors and suppliers do they interact with).  Your job is to be a detective and to uncover the relationships they have with people or companies that you know you want to be referred to.  The more you uncover the more quality referrals you uncover.

  3. 3.    Don’t Ask for Referrals, Ask for THE Referral.  Now when it comes time to ask for referrals, you’re not going to be like every other seller and ask a weak question such as, “Donna, do you happen to know anyone else (or another company) that might be able to use my products or services (or that I can help—or any other such weak question)?”

    Instead you’re going to ask for a specific referral:  “Donna, I’ve been trying to connect with David Jones for some time without success.  You mentioned that you’ve worked with David for several years, would you be comfortable introducing me to him?”  You know she knows David.  You have reason to believe David is a good prospect for you.  Don’t waste Donna’s time with that weak general referral question; ask to get connected to a person you know she knows that you know you want to connect with.

Referrals can be the foundation of your sales business if you just develop the skills necessary to be a referral-based salesperson.  If Donna knows three people or companies you know you want to be referred to and you can get introductions to them from her, how much time and energy have you saved getting those three introductions through referrals instead of cold calling or sending out direct mail or hoping to bump into them at a networking event?

Forget what you’ve been taught about asking for referrals.  Referral generation is a PROACTIVE process where you do the work, not your client.  Your client doesn’t have the motivation, you do.  They don’t have the understanding of who makes a good referral like you do.  Your client doesn’t have the time to invest in figuring out a good referral like you do.  It’s your business, not theirs.  Make it easy to give quality referrals—you’ll get a ton of them if you do.

December 28, 2009

Free Webinar, Jan 21: 4 Quick Steps to Triple Your Client Referrals

Filed under: lead generation,Personal Marketing,prospecting,Referral Selling,sales,sales training,selling — Paul McCord @ 2:10 pm
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Free Webinar: 4 Quick Steps to Triple Your Client Referrals

Thursday, January 21  2PM Central Daylight Time

LIMITED SEATING so register early

Few sellers generate enough high quality referrals to seriously impact their sales and income because few have been taught how to work with their clients to generate high quality referrals. 

Most sellers have been “taught” that all you need to do is ask a satisfied client for referrals and they’ll give them.  Most find that asking doesn’t work.  Sure, there are a few clients who willing give “referrals,” but most won’t.  And even the “referrals” most sellers do get are nothing more than worthless names and phone numbers of people who have no interest in or need for their product or service.

Asking for referrals won’t get you where you want to go.

You must learn to work with your client to generate introductions to prospects who want and/or need your products and services.

That takes far more than asking some silly question such as “Ms. Client, do you know of anyone else that might be able to use my products or services?”

On January 21 we’ll focus on 4 easy to implement actions that will dramatically increase the number and quality of referrals you receive from each of your clients.

During this Hour You’ll Learn:

  • Why asking for referrals is a total waste of time
  • How to make your client comfortable and confident in giving high quality referrals
  • How to get your client to willing agree to give you multiple high quality referrals
  • How to get 3, 4, or more high quality referrals from your client—even if they say they have none to give you
  • How to nail down appoints with your referred prospects

The mega-producers don’t ask for referrals–but most have built their business on referrals.  Learn why you need to forget everything you’ve been taught about referrals—and learn how to generate them the same way the mega-producers do.

Start 2010 off right by learning how to fill your pipeline with great prospects.

LIMITED SEATING

Register HERE

December 18, 2009

Blast Your Pipeline with Dozens of Quality Referrals in 30 Days

Filed under: lead generation,prospecting,Referral Selling,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 8:59 am
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This is chapter three from my e-book: Recession Proof Your Pipeline: A Dozen Strategies to Fill Your Pipeline in 30 Days

Blast Your Pipeline with Dozens of Quality Referrals in 30 Days

Large numbers of high quality referrals are difficult for most salespeople to generate.  Certainly, many will manage to get a name and phone number here and there.  However, most of those names and phone numbers are little better than taking out the phonebook and pointing a finger at a name. 

It need not be that way.

By learning a disciplined, effective, proven process for generating a large number of high quality referrals from each of your clients and even your prospects, referral selling can become a reality.  It is for many of the top producers in every industry.

Yet of course, you can’t possibly learn and implement a systematic process of referral generation and expect to see significant results in only 30 days.

The good news, however, is that you can still generate a substantial flow of business in only 30 days if you learn to turbo charge your client’s ability to give you a large number of quality referrals in a very short period of time—virtually overnight.

Whom do You Want to Be Referred To?

If you expect to use referrals as an igniter of your pipeline in short order, you’ll have to do all of the work for your clients.  Asking your database of clients for referrals will generate referrals if done correctly.  However, the fruits of that request won’t be seen quickly.

You, of course, don’t have the luxury of waiting.  You need business NOW.

Therefore, you’re going to make giving referrals easy—for your client.

Sit down right now and draw up a list of 100 individuals or companies YOU KNOW you want to be referred to.  Be specific.  List the name, the phone number and the address of each individual or the name, phone number, address, and the specific person within the company for each company you wish to be referred into.

You may have to do some serious research.  Nevertheless, your list is the critical part of this strategy.

Don’t stop at 50, or 70, or 90.  List a minimum of 100 individuals or companies.  Remember, you’re going to make it easy for your client to refer you.  Someone must do the work—and that’s you.

When making your list, leave room on the right side of the sheet beside each name to put the name of the person who is going to refer you to that person or company.

Who Is Going To Refer You to Whom?

Great.  You know 100 individuals or companies you want to be referred to. 

So, how are you going to get referred to them?  By your clients, of course.

Now, take your database of clients and examine each one.  Which client do you have reason to believe can refer you to the first person on your list?  The second?  The third?

The more you know about each of your clients, the easier this part of the task will be.  Hopefully, you’ve come to know the majority of your clients well.

Beside each prospect, list the client–and their phone number–that you believe can refer you to that prospect.

If you have a list of 100 people or companies you know you want to be referred into, you’ll probably be able to identify 70 or so that you have reason to believe one of your clients may know and can refer you to.

If you have 70 prospects your clients may know, you’ll probably find they can actually refer you to about 47.

If you are referred to 47, you’ll probably set appoints with about 35

If you set appointments with 35, then multiply 35 by your average close ratio—that is what you can expect to close.  If your close ratio is 40%, you should have in your hand 14 short-term sales

Get the Referrals

Now the question is: how do you turn your list into referrals?

Naturally, you are going to go back to each of the clients that you have identified as a potential referrer to someone on your list.

Start with the clients you have the strongest relationship with first.  Better to get some positive reinforcement from your best relationship clients before you approach those you have a weaker relationship with.

However, before you approach anyone, you need to get comfortable with what you’re going to say.  You don’t want to stumble and stammer.  You want to come across to your client as comfortable, confident, and in control.

Referrals can be tricky.  They are hard to generate if your client doesn’t believe you expect them and that you have earned them.  If you doubt, that doubt will be picked up by your client, who will be less likely to agree to give them.  After all, if you don’t believe what you’re saying, why should your client?

Get your act together before you make your call to your first client.

Don’t ask for referrals via a letter or email.  You will be far more successful if you ask in person.  Short of that, you must make a personal phone call.  Generating referrals is a relationship action, not an impersonal request.  You must deal with your client on a one-on-one, personal level. 

When you call, before bringing up the referrals you seek, find out if your client has ANY needs, concerns, or requests regarding your product or service.  In other words, make sure you still have a happy and fully satisfied client.  If you don’t, you cannot expect referrals.  If the client is dissatisfied for any reason, instead of referrals to get, you have customer service work to perform.

Then, once you know your client is still ‘on the team,’ explain that you have a favor to ask.  You have two or three people you believe you can help but have not been successful in being able to meet through the normal course of business.  These are people that you thought for whatever reason the client might know and are hoping that if they do know them, that they would be comfortable referring you to these prospects. 

If you have done your research and matching of prospect to client well, your client will probably know one or two of the prospects you ask about. 

Once they acknowledge they know them, find out how well.  With a referral, you are hoping to build a relationship with the referred prospect based on their trust and respect for your client.  If the prospect trusts and respects your client, some of that trust and respect is imbued to you—so you start your relationship with the prospect from a positive position.

However, the person you’re asking about may not trust and respect your client.  If they are just casual acquaintances, their trust relationship is neutral, as will be your starting point.  In addition, if the prospect distrusts and disrespects your client, your starting point will be from a negative position because some of the distrust for your client will also be imbued to you.

It is important that you know where you start–the stronger the relationship between client and prospect, the better your chances of getting an appointment and a sale.

If you have done your job for the client well, they should have no problems referring you into the prospects they know.

Work your way through your list of 100 prospects.  You should have more than a month’s work ahead of you.  Again, you will probably have about 70 prospects to contact and set appointments with.

Don’t Just Get Referred, Get Introduced

One of the biggest mistakes you can make with a referral is to simply get your client to agree to refer you.  That’s what the average salesperson does—and it doesn’t work well.

Instead of just getting a verbal referral, that is having your client say, “Sure, I’ll refer you to them,” get a direct introduction to the prospect.  Not only is a direct introduction more powerful than an agreement to use the client’s name, a direct introduction, if done correctly, almost guarantees a private meeting with the prospect.

Although there are a number of ways of getting a direct introduction, when under the time pressure of a 30-day explosion of production, you have 3 realistic options:

  1. A Letter from Your Client Written by You for Your Client’s Signature.  A letter of introduction will probably be your standard format for a direct introduction.  Don’t ask your client to write the letter because they will not have the sense of urgency you need, nor will they write the letter you want written.
            Instead, write the letter for your client, on your client’s stationary, in your client’s voice.  Use a standard format:  1st paragraph informs the prospect of what you did for the client; the 2nd gives the prospect an idea of what you might be able to do for the them; the 3rd states an exact day and time the client has asked you to call the prospect; and the 4th has your client asking the prospect to call the client after your meeting with the prospect so the client can get the prospect’s opinion of you and your company ( the reason the client requests this is because the client respects the prospect’s judgment).
           Have your client sign the letter and then mail it to the prospect.  A day or two after the letter should have arrived, call the prospect.  Assume the prospect has not read the letter.  When you reach the prospect, immediately refer to your client and the letter, not to yourself.  If you introduce yourself first, the prospect may determine you are nothing but another tele-marketer before you have the opportunity to mention your client’s name and they may mentally block you out.  Don’t give them the chance.  Gain their interest with your client’s name first.
             Some salespeople think they can get around the letter by simply acting as if a letter has been sent.  Bad move.  Some prospects, after getting off the phone will look for the letter.  If it isn’t there, only one of two things could have happened—the letter was lost in the mail or the salesperson lied.  Guess which one they’ll assume?
  2. A Phone Call to the Prospect From Your Client While You’re in the Client’s Office.  This is, of course, a more powerful introduction than a letter.  Don’t’ let your client call without you being present.  You want a direct introduction and you want to know everything that is said during the conversation. 
         Although powerful, this format has some drawbacks.  This method is powerful because it is unusual and because it allows the prospect to ask direct questions about you, your product and the client’s purchasing experience.  This format can backfire if there are questions you’d rather the prospect not ask.  If there are weak areas in your client’s purchase, this may not be your best choice.
    However, this format almost guarantees a meeting with the prospect since it is difficult for the prospect to decline a meeting request when the client is also on the line.
  3. A Lunch Meeting with Your Client, the Prospect and Yourself.  This is, by far, the most powerful introduction format you can use in this circumstance.  A lunch format allows you to get to know the prospect as a friend prior to getting to know them as a prospect or client.  In addition, in this format, your client acts as your salesperson during the lunch, you’re there as the consultant.  As with the phone call format, it is very difficult for the prospect to decline a meeting request in front of the client.  Furthermore, since the meeting format is informal, you’ll have the opportunity to learn a great deal about the prospect and their business long before you begin discussing business.  If you pay attention, you should have a great deal of ammunition before the subject of business comes up.

Execution

Developing referrals from your clients can take some time.  You must develop your list of prospects you want to be referred to; you have to match those prospects to individual clients in your database; you must contact each individual client for the referrals; write the letters or arrange the calls or lunches; and then have the actual contact with the prospect.  All of this before you even have the individual meeting with the prospect. 

This method requires you to be disciplined, very well organized, and committed to working the process.  You must have a sense of urgency or time will slip away and you won’t meet your 30-day goal. 

Commit yourself to having your prospect list completed within 2 days.  Keep in mind, developing this list may take some serious research.  Then, once you have your prospect list, you should have matched prospects to clients by the end of day three.  By the end of the fourth day, you should have contacted and received referrals from several clients.

As soon as you have referrals, start the introduction process.  Don’t try to go through all 100 prospects prior to beginning getting introductions.  You’ll run out of time.  Again, this format calls for good organizational and coordination skills.  You’ll have to be gathering referrals while working referrals.

More than likely, you’ll find that you’ve filled your pipeline and still have more referrals to pursue.  Good job!  Not only will you have jumpstarted your sales again, you’ll carry that momentum into the coming months as well.

Want more strategies to help fill your pipeline quickly?  You’ll find 11 more strategies for using the phone, networking, creating marketing partnerships and more in Recession Proof Your Pipeline.  Order it here

November 24, 2009

Using Incentives to Get Referrals

Filed under: business,lead generation,marketing,Personal Marketing,prospecting,Referral Selling,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 12:01 pm
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I’m often asked why I don’t advocate using incentives to influence clients and prospects to give referrals.  My reasoning is two fold:  first, if your referral generation process is effective and you execute it correctly, you don’t need to give incentives; and second, if done correctly, incentives can be very effective—but most salespeople find giving effective incentives to be cumbersome and time consuming.

Let me explain.

I coach and train clients who use incentives very effectively.  They are a key part of their referral generation process.  They follow the PWWR Referral Generation System™ to the letter—with the exception of their explanation of why it is in the client’s best interest to give them referrals.  Instead of explaining to the client how their being referral-based is an asset to the client and why giving referrals insures the client receives the purchasing experience they want, these salespeople prefer giving incentives.

The difference between the incentives they give and those most salespeople give is the secret to why their incentive program is so successful—and why it is so cumbersome.

Typically, salespeople will make one of three mistakes when giving incentives:

  • The incentive is not an incentive, it’s a bribe—a sizable chunk of money, at least in relation to the cost/value of their product or service, in the hopes of getting referrals.
  • The incentive is not an incentive, it’s a come-on—it is nothing more than a discount for their own products or services which many clients see as nothing more than another way for the salesperson to get more business from the client.
  • The incentive has limited appeal.  For instance, they’ll give a $10 gift card to Starbucks or coupon for a car wash.  That is, an incentive given to everyone but with limited appeal.

Incentives need to be just that—an incentive, something that encourages people to give referrals, not a reward, not a bounty. 

What does an effective and reasonable incentive look like?

Let me give an example from one of my clients.

I have a small IT client who uses incentives very effectively.  As a matter of fact, prior to working with me, they gave cash incentives believing money would motivate clients.  Although they initially resisted changing their incentive program, since changing they’ve increased their referrals by over 1,700%.  Much of that change is due to implementing the PWWR Referral Generation System, but the incentive they provide is their reason referrals are in their client’s best interest to give.  Not only have they saved a small fortune by not giving large cash incentives, the incentive itself is far more effective.

They focus mainly on installation and service work for small to mid-size companies.  They, of course, are constantly looking for other small to mid-size companies that don’t have an IT department that they can help with both their installation and performance issues. 

They use incentives as their reason that it is in their client’s best interest to give referrals.  But their incentive isn’t a discount nor is it dollars.  Rather, they get to know their clients very, very well.  They get to know their clients so well that they can focus their incentive to meet that individual client’s personality and interests. 

For instance, one of their clients is a small publishing company.  The company publishes cookbooks.  The owner of the company collects antique and rare cookbooks.  Although her collection is quite large, she is still constantly looking to add to her collection.  Every time she refers someone to her IT service company, they go to a used and rare bookstore and purchase her—you guessed it, an antique cookbook.

They never spend more than 25 or 35 dollars.  The incentive is small—nothing compared to what she will spend with them over the course of the year—or what they would have given her in the past.  But she will kill to find new referrals that she can make because she appreciates the attention they give her.  Obviously, they aren’t giving every client who refers someone to them a cookbook.  They go out of their way to show their appreciation to her by doing something unique just for her.

Another of their clients is a minor league baseball team.  This team has been around since the 50’s.  Over the years, they’ve had hundreds of players come through their team and eventually go on to the majors, some for only a few days, others have become stars.  What do they do for this client?  Every time the team gives them a referral they find and purchase a baseball artifact associated with one of the players that had played for the team who eventually went on to the majors.  The team has started a “museum” (read trophy case) based on the artifacts they’ve received from their referrals.  Again, they only spend a few dollars on each item.  The dollars they spend isn’t what gets the client’s attention—it’s the attention to detail and the uniquely personal nature of the incentive.  Like the publisher above, the baseball team is always looking for referrals to give—and new artifacts to include in their display.

Obviously, this incentive system requires getting to know the client well.  That’s actually the easy part.  The tough part is finding the incentive item.  The IT company above may spend weeks looking for the appropriate incentive gift for their minor league client.  Instead of investing money in the client’s incentive, they invest their time, their effort, and their creativity.  Most importantly, they invest their attention and their sincere interest in the client.

Using incentives can be very effective and need not be costly if done correctly.  Avoid costly bribes.  Don’t give money; give personal attention.  Certainly, don’t give a discount coupon or any other “incentive” to spend more money with you.  And avoid blanket incentives that are easy to give and have little impact.

The key to an effective incentive program isn’t the dollar value—it’s the personal value.

June 15, 2009

Boost Your Sales series: “Laying the Foundation for Referrals,” by Ian Brodie

Filed under: marketing,Personal Marketing,prospecting,Referral Selling,sales,selling,Word of Mouth Marketing — Paul McCord @ 6:28 am
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It’s Referrals and Word of Mouth week at the Boost Your Sales blog series. 

We start off with Ian Brodie’s advice on how to prepare your clients to give quality referrals

Tuesday it’s Bill Cates with “Make Sure You Get One Great Referral”

Wednesday Joanne Black is here with “There’s No Such Thing as a Warm Sales Call”

Thursday Dr. Martin Russell discusses “Marketing Is What You Do When Your Product Is No Good”

and finally, on Friday I up with “Your Connections are Your Key to Your Success”

 

Stay tuned in next week as a great list of experts—Jeb Blount, Nigel Edelshain, Cindy King and Ardath Albee give great guidance on “Prospecting and Social Media”

____________________________________________________________________

Laying the Foundations for Referrals
by Ian Brodie

A lot of what’s been written on Referrals over the years has been on the practical strategies and methods for getting them. And there’s no better source for the best thinking on these topics than Paul’s book: Creating a Million Dollar a Year Sales Income: Sales Success through Client Referrals (Wiley: 2007).

But I want to take a slightly different slant in this post. Assuming you know how to prepare and ask your clients and business partners for referrals in an effective way – how can you increase your chances of a strong referral occuring?

I’m going to cover three topics: 1) What motivates people to give referrals in the first place? 2) How you can help your referrers get better at giving referrals and 3) How to attract referrals without having to ask for them.

Motivating Referrers
What motivates someone to actually give a referral? What’s in it for them?

In my experience across multiple professions, I’ve found that clients and business partners are actually very generous when it comes to giving referrals. Their main concern is less one of self interest, and more one of helping their own clients, colleagues and friends.

But what they are concerned about is risk. They will want to be absolutely sure you will do a good job before they refer you to people whose relationship they value. They simply can’t afford to take the risk of you doing a bad job and their reputation and relationship suffering.

Your current and recent clients should have the confidence in you to know this won’t happen. But for business partners (and also perhaps for ex-clients from a while back) you will need to invest time to make sure they are fully confident in your capabilities and your intent to do a great job for whoever they refer you to. And you must be able to demonstrate this – not just claim it. Far better to invite a referral partner to a seminar you are running where you showcase your expertise than to simply tell them you have it.

The other risk for business partners is that you may attempt to “steal” the relationship from them (perhaps unintentionally in some cases). It’s advisable to set out clearly how you would proceed should they refer you – and emphasize that you would ensure they retained the primary relationship.

After these risks have been dealt with, you can increase the urgency and dedication with which your referral partners go about referring you. The prospect of reciprocation (if genuine) can obviously help. But sometimes referral relationships are by nature one-sided.  Accountants, in particular, are often able to give more referrals to lawyers than they get – simply by nature of the number of long-term business relationships they have. So making sure you are “going the extra mile” and visibly doing whatever you can to get high quality referrals back to them helps. In addition, you may be able to help them in other ways: introducing them to wider circles of contacts, giving them specialist advice on their own affairs, allowing them to showcase their expertise as guest presenters at your events.

Helping Your Referrers Get Better at Giving Referrals
In some cases your contacts would like to give referrals to you – but are simply not good at spotting referral situations and making the initial contact. Sometimes they just need a little help.

This is particularly important when the need for your services is not immediately apparent from outside. Companies contemplating layoffs and in need of employment advice don’t often advertise the fact in advance, for example. A close confidante may be privy to discussions that would alert them to these sorts of needs – but often most people don’t see the signs until it’s too late to act.

One method to help referrers identify situations where your services would be of value is to educate them about the externally visible “trigger events” which cause a need for your services. An obvious example would be the hiring of a new general counsel – often presaging a change in retained law firm. News of a potential new product may break well in advance of hiring a marketing consultant to help with the launch.

By thinking through (preferably with the aid of some of your clients themselves) the events that triggered the need for your services you can compile a simple list of “things to look for” which can help you and your referrers steal a march on your competitors.

In other situations, it may be that the referrer can spot the need – but struggles to find the words to discuss it with the potential client. In the case of divorce law for example, it may be very clear to your referral partner that someone needs professional advice – but they may be too embarrassed or uncomfortable to broach the subject with the person they are trying to help.

In this case, you need to help them by firstly educating them about the right time to intervene in the person’s best interest – and giving them some examples of words they can use to gently introduce the subject without the risk of damaging their relationship.

Becoming a “Referral Magnet” – How to Attract Referrals Without needing to Ask for Them.
Most of our discussion so far has focused on how to get more and better “outbound referrals”. In other words, referrals where the referrer reaches out to the prospect to recommend you.

However, the same lessons apply to “inbound referrals” – where the prospect themselves contact your referrer and ask for a recommendation. These types of referral can be incredibly valuable – as they are to highly qualified prospects – ones who are essentially saying “I have a need and I need help now”. Being able to attract these sorts of referrals will pay huge dividends.

The challenge here is that since needs for many products and services arise fairly infrequently, by the time your referrer is contacted by the prospect you won’t necessarily be “front of mind”. So they may not give you a particularly strong referral. After all, how many other lawyers does that accountant you count as a partner know and refer to? How many other printers does that consultant you met at the chamber of commerce pass referrals to already? Usually quite a few.

In order to get these referrals – often the most valuable ones – you must be front of mind with your referral partners when they receive the call.

Now, if they are a current or recent client you have done great work for then the chances are that you will be the only one referred. Or if you are part of a “leads group” then members of that group will automatically refer to you. But these situations are in the minority for most referral situations for most people. In order to maximize the number of referrals you get, you need a wide network of high potential referral partners, and you must be front of mind with them despite them not being recent clients or part of a “club” with you.

How do you do this? In the same way you stay front of mind with high potential clients. You invest in and nurture the relationship. You may not be able to work with them daily or meet them every week – but you can keep in touch and you can add value to them with every interaction.

It’s exactly the approach you would take with a high potential client: you would log them on your contact management system. You would invest in the relationship to secure future business. You would schedule regular events with them, send them clippings or news items of interest, proactively offer advice and guidance for free. Doing the same thing with high potential referral partners can have just as high a payoff. If they are regularly being contacted to give recommendations in your field then you must make sure you have a plan to stay front of mind with them.

You can’t do this with all your potential referrers – but you should be able to identify who are the ones with the most potential to refer business to you and to focus on them.

At minimum, you should be reviewing the list of your top referral sources weekly and your next tier monthly, in order to keep them front of mind for you and ensure that during the week you are awake to possible ideas and resources that might help them. Connect with them on Linkedin and monitor their status updates. Track them and their company via Google Alerts or other tracking methods.  Make sure you keep in touch and maintain your relationship by phone and face to face, not just by email.

Above all, if you are genuinely interested and concerned for them as human beings, then the right sort of nurturing behavior will follow.

Ian Brodie works with professional service firms – consultants, lawyers, accountants, surveyors, architects and coaches – to help them attract more clients and win more new business.  Ian has just launched the Rainmaker Network which is a worldwide free to join network focused on helping partners, marketers and business developers in Professional Service Firms to attract new clients and win new business.

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