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How Do I Get More Referrals?

Written by: Adam Sonnhalter

Article Overview: If you want your business to get more referrals, it boils down to answering 2 simple questions: 1. Who should I ask for referrals? 2. How should I ask for referrals?

How Do I Get More Referrals?

If you want your business to get more referrals, it boils down to answering 2 simple questions: 1. Who should I ask for referrals?

2. How should I ask for referrals?

Let's address the "Who" question first. In order for someone to refer you/your business, you'll need the following three things:

Know

Like

Trust

Before someone will refer you, they have to Know that you exist. What are you doing to continually increase the number of people who Know you?

Next, chances are someone has to Like you/your business to refer you. Unless your product or service is so unique and can really solve someone's problem, I'm guessing you aren't being referred by too many people who don't Like you. What are you doing to move those folks who Know you into the Like column?

Last, but certainly not least, you typically Trust the person you are referring. Trust can be defined in a multitude of ways, but it basically means that you believe that they can not only do the job well, but they won't be a bozo when doing it and thus reflect poorly on you. Once somebody Knows and Likes you, what are you doing to move them into the bucket of people who Trust you?

So, if it's as simple as getting the people who Know, Like, and Trust ("KLT") you to refer you, why is it often so hard to get more referrals?

That's where the "How" question comes in. In our experience of working with and owning small businesses, the number one source of new business (no matter the industry) is referrals/word-of-mouth. Even with that being the case, many businesses have no formalized strategy or system for "How" to ask for referrals.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when asking for referrals from your KLT list:

1. Ask for Help: this is a key word when engaging your KLT list. People who KLT you want to "help" you. Many people don't want to necessarily "refer" you, but they do like to help. So if you're one of those people who has trouble asking for help, get over yourself and just ask. No one I've met who is successful has done it by themselves. You won't be any different.

2. Make It Easy: what I mean by this is don't make your KLT person work too hard to figure out who they should introduce you to. It's your job to put in the upfront time and work to narrow down your list of targets. This could be an actual list of companies and/or people you'd like to meet or it could be more broadly focused characteristics of the type of people you'd like to meet. For instance, for our business coaching, we're looking to meet owners of companies that have 1-25 employees. That's pretty broad. So we'll break it into smaller groups. Underneath the umbrella of business owners with 1-25 employees, we'd like to meet those owners who have partners in their business (either family or non-family). This helps to narrow down the focus for our KLT person.

3. Don't Try To Sell Your Stuff: now this may be counter-intuitive to some people. Keep in mind that your main purpose of getting introduced to someone from a KLT person is for you to get to Know that new person and begin to form a relationship with that new person. If as part of getting to Know that new person, an opportunity is created for them to buy your products or services, they will let you know. They'll ask you, you won't need to ask them.

4. Make Contact Quickly: when one of your KLT people goes out of their way to make an introduction to someone for you, be sure to contact that new person within 24 hours. That way it's still fresh in their minds and your call will be warmly received.

5. Keep Your KLT Person in the Loop: this is one area where many people fall short and a big reason why they don't receive more referrals. Once you've made contact with the new person, be sure to keep your KLT person informed. If you have scheduled a meeting with the person they introduced you to, let them know about the meeting and then after the meeting takes place, be sure to give them an update for how the meeting went. Don't make them chase you down to see if you ever connected with their contact. And be sure to say thanks!

Think about KLT as 3 separate buckets or bars on a bar chart. Let's say you Know 1,000 people. Chances are, only about 75% of those people you Know, actually Like you. So now we're down to 750 people. Of those people who Know and Like you, chances are probably only about 10% - 15% actually Trust you. Which brings us to about 100 people who KLT you/your business.

While those 100 people who KLT you may be enough to get your business off the ground, chances are they are not enough to grow and sustain your business by themselves. So you and your business need to constantly be filling up your Know bucket and consistently and consciously moving them from K to L to T.

So what are you and your business doing to grow those three buckets? It all starts with growing your K bucket.

Related Articles
  Getting Referrals
  Did You Get Any Referrals Today?
  Stress-Free Selling® - Go After the Easy Sales First
  Karma Keys to a Referral-Based Business
  Are Business Networking Referrals Critical Business Strategies Within Your Strategic Plan?

Article Tags: ask for help, know like and trust, referrals



Related Forum Posts
Re: How do you get your clients? - I think staying away from gathering clients strictly online when first starting out is probably a good idea. Your first few clients could maybe be people you know, or know through somebody that may require some of your services. Another good way of gaining new clientel is offering your first few clients completely free service in exchange for placing your business card or promotional material in their business if you're doing b2b sales. Referrals are the lifeblood of many small businesses.
Re: How do you get your clients? - [quote="brata":2qa58hl5]I think staying away from gathering clients strictly online when first starting out is probably a good idea. Your first few clients could maybe be people you know, or know through somebody that may require some of your services. Another good way of gaining new clientel is offering your first few clients completely free service in exchange for placing your business card or promotional material in their business if you're doing b2b sales. Referrals are the lifeblood of many small businesses.[/quote:2qa58hl5] Ive been in business for a few years and my best way to get clients is door to door so far. However as my marketing budget grows I have stopped door to door business to business sales and shifted to mailers, billboards, radio, and just a tiny bit online.


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