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How to Get Top Referrals

Written by: Donald F. Pooley

Article Overview: You can't do it hit or miss. You need a plan.

How to Get Top Referrals

You can't do it hit or miss. You need a plan.
Think about it. You'll spend perhaps days, making a financial plan for a good prospect. Now do the same for yourself. But, instead of a financial plan, make it "Your Referral Plan".
Where to start? As you would for a financial plan. With pen and paper, or your fingers and computer.
You want quality prospects like the top 20% of your present clientele. As they associate with people of similar tastes, income, and standards, this is where to seek your referrals.
Write down their names. If you have 100 clients, list the 20 that you want more like. Now write down opposite each one how you came to meet them. Were they referred? If so, you have a natural way to introduce your requests to them for referrals.
As you consider these clients think of the relationship you built with each one. Strong, loyal relationships are rarely built in a day. This is something else you can bring to the attention of your prospective referrors---that you want to develop the same long-term relationship you have with them.
Now you have to make it easy for them to refer you, without making it casual. It should not be an afterthought after a meeting about their affairs. It should be a meeting about referring you to some of their friends and acquaintances. You want them to realize its importance.
To make it easy for them to refer you, everything you want them to do for you must be planned so they have nothing to be concerned about. You're their tour guide arranging all the details for them to enter this new 'referring' country.
Show them how you plan to approach their friends. The best way to do that is to have a letter prepared---the letter that you will send to each of their referrals*.
Have another letter prepared for them to send each referral in which they introduce you. Present it as the "type of letter you may wish to use to introduce me". If they like it, offer to have it typed on their letterhead, ready for them to sign, for each person they refer.
This makes it easy for them, and for you. You've made it easy for them to refer you, and you don't have to cold call the referral to explain who referred you and why. Nor does your client. Also, it's easy for the referrals to follow up on your client's and your letter, or not, as they choose.
If I were doing it all over again, that's the way I'd do it.

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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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