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Get your ASK in Gear
How to ask for referrals effectively and get business
Who supports your family? You. Are you willing to give up business when you support your family with that income by not asking for referrals? If you are not willing to lose money, then read on …
Most people just don’t ask for referrals. Some are nervous, some are shy and some just don’t remember to ask. For many, it’s a confidence thing, but you have to ask for referrals in order to get them.
Before you start reading this, the biggest thing to understand about referrals is making sure that the person you’re asking must want to refer you.
Here are some tips to help you get the business.
Ask for referrals with intent
Who do you want referrals from? What clients are you seeking? Who is your perfect client? If you can’t answer these, then you may easily fall into the trap of doing the drive-by referral. Don’t. Make sure you ask for referrals after people understand what you do!
- Qualify your audience: don’t just ask anybody — know who to ask.
- Educate everyone: tell people how to give you a referral, and do it consistently.
- Build relationships: don’t ask someone you met five minutes ago for a referral. It’s a turn-off, so concentrate on building a relationship first.
- First impressions count: you have three seconds to make an impression, so don’t blow it at the get-go with a drive-by request for a referral.
Create a referral strategy and structure
- Plan your time: Set aside two days every month, let’s say the first and the fifteenth, to send an email out or make phone calls to ask for referrals.
- Use email: do an email introduction, save it and reuse it the next month, updating the distribution list.
- Organize: keep an Excel list of the people you’ve asked for referrals and track/highlight the one’s you’ve already asked.
- Networking groups: create a different strategy for these groups, because they are excellent. The typical rule of thumb is that if a group is sucking away at your time and energy, it’s time to move on.
- Leads groups: make a list of who you need to meet with and would like to get referrals from … then make the time to get to know them.
Develop partnerships
Get yourself some power and referral partners, and setup a regular weekly or monthly time to talk.
- Be specific whenever you create these relationships, so that expectations are both reasonable and formal/informal, whatever you decide.
- Power partners often share the same clients so for example, as a business coach, I could have a power partnership with a life coach. You and your power partner would refer business to each other.
- Referral partners are when you don’t have a similar client base. A good example of this is Larry, who produces my show, because he has a referral partnership with Heidi, my stylist. Yet he also has a power partnership with me.
Last but not least, everyone can pass out a business card, but you need to have a referral purpose … and strategy. And, on top of everything mentioned above, you need to believe in your product or service, and present it with confidence.
If you’re still feeling challenged in asking for referrals, call me to set up a free 30-minute consultation, and I can help you get on the right track.
And mark your calendar for next week’s Coached by Susan Radio Show on Wednesday, December 10th for: “Business expectations – how unrealistic they can be?”
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