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Are You Referral Worthy?
| Guest post by: Christine Corelli |
Article Overview: Referral business is the least expensive way to win new customers. In addition, it has the highest possible leverage and the best potential payoff. Most importantly, a prospect whose name you received through a referral is much more likely to listen to your pitch and less likely to seek out other sources to meet his or her needs. You come to them with a built in reference.
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Free Download - The Best Questions to ASK Customers, Employees, Coworkers and Kids! By Christine Corelli |
Are You Referral Worthy?
Be honest now. How often do you
ask for and/or receive referral leads? If you do
make the
“ask,” you probably need to step up the pace.
If you don’t, you are not
alone. It
is truly amazing how many sales professionals and business
owners
are uncomfortable asking for referrals. Some don't know
how to ask.
Most, even if they know how, simply won’t do it. They’re
just not
comfortable doing it. Asking for referrals is probably the
most
important aspect of generating new business and most
professionals
leave it up to fate.
Why are referrals
invaluable?
Referral business is the least expensive way to win new
customers.
In addition, it has the highest possible leverage and the
best potential
payoff. Most importantly, a prospect whose name you
received through
a referral is much more likely to listen to your pitch and
less
likely to seek out other sources to meet his or her needs.
You come
to them with a built in reference.
Before acquiring the methods
and techniques
that will enable you to obtain business from referrals,
you first
need to determine whether you and your company are
“referral-worthy.”
To do so, respond to the following questions to give you
some insight
into your customer's experience with you and your company.
The Referral-Worthy Assessment
• Do you come to your customer with a level of expertise,
product
knowledge, and industry knowledge that exceeds your
competitors?
• Have you developed and memorized a list of questions
that will
uncover your customers’ needs, determine any problems they
may be
encountering, and will elicit conversation?
• Do you LISTEN more than you talk? • Do you provide your
customers
with ideas and solutions to their problems? • Do you
conduct yourself
with the utmost professionalism?
• Do you demonstrate the values of honesty, integrity,
accountability,
respect, safety, and the importance of values?
• Do you make sure your customer do not see any errors or
find
any unexpected surprises when they get their invoice,
contract,
or reservations?
• Do you return their calls within 90 minutes?
• If a problem occurs, do you immediately apologize,
rectify the
situation, and provide compensation if you made an error?
• Do you call after the order to thank them, tell them
how much
you appreciate their trust in you, and make sure they are
happy?
• Do you ask if there are any additional questions or
concerns
they might have?
• Do you always make a customer feel as though they are
VIP’s?
• Do you demonstrate how much you appreciate their
business by
sending them a handwritten thank you note and, if
appropriate, a
small but meaningful gift?
• Do you work harder than your competitors to develop a
strong
relationship with your customers?
• Do you establish strong connections with them on both a
business
and personal level?
• Do you exceed your customers’ expectations and work
hard each
time to get them to say, “WOW?”
• Do you end every call with, “Is there anything more I
can do
for you today?”
• Does everyone in your company that has customer contact
think
and act as a brand ambassador and display the highest
level of professionalism?
• Does everyone on staff treat your customer
exceptionally well?
• Does your staff demonstrate consistently to YOU that,
without
your sales, no one gets a paycheck?
• Do they always ship or deliver on time? • Is customer
support
available 24/7?
• If your customer calls to ask a question, do they speak
with
someone who is knowledgeable about all the issues involved
with
your products and services?
• Do they sound friendlier and more caring than the staff
at your
competitors?
• Do they treat your customer as though he or she is a
VIP?
• Is it easy to do business with your company? • If they
walked
into your place of business, is it immaculately clean,
regardless
of the type of business or time of day?
• Would they be greeted in a friendly manner?
• Is a problem-solving team standing ready in case a
problem occurs?
• Has your company gone through the points of customer
contact
to make sure your customer’s experience is always
flawless?
• Does your company consistently demonstrate a higher
level of
service throughout the entire customer experience?
Hopefully, you answered
"yes"
to all of these questions. If you did, then you're
definitely referral
worthy. If you didn’t, then you need to make the necessary
improvements
in customer service that will guarantee your company is
referral-worthy.
Without it, your company will fall short in
performance…especially
at a time when leads are vital to maintain your bottom
line.
The art of asking for
referrals
Challenge yourself to make it a habit to ask for
referrals. There
is no magic bullet to approaching customers for that all
important
referral. It just takes good instincts, honesty, and
professionalism.
Timing is everything
When should you ask for a referral? The ideal time to ask
is simple--whenever
your customers tell you how pleased they are! Depending on
what
you sell, it's often best to ask:
- within three days after a service
has been delivered.
- just after a project has been
completed.
- when they say they have received
the benefits you promised.
Use your professional judgment
Asking for referrals is just one aspect of doing business.
You do
everything else well, this should be no exception. A
face-to-face
request is best. A phone call is the second best. In this
manner,
you're more likely to receive quality leads. Always ask
for referrals
graciously and not in a pushy manner. However, if asking
directly
for referrals makes you uncomfortable, you can send a
letter or
e-mail to your customers.
The three-step
approach to
tapping your customer base
To obtain a substantial number of referrals, you will need
to focus
first on your existing customer base. Use the following
three-step technique:
2. Reply to their response with a statement.
3. Ask for the referral professionally and let thm know how much you would appreciate their help BEFORE they reply to your request. Be sure to use their name—it makes your appeal much more personal.
The following examples of referral questions will help you to phrase your request.Think of your product or service as well as the appropriate words and phrases you can apply (PF = Positive Feedback from the Customer).
"How's the equipment performing for you?" (PF) "I'm really glad to hear you're happy. John, do you know others who might have interest in the equipment?”
"Sally, are you pleased with our products and the level of service we’ve provided to you?” (PF) "Needless to say, that's good to hear. Sally, do you know other dealers who might benefit in the same way?”
(PF) “Is there anything more I can do for you? (PF) Mary, my business is largely based on referrals. Is there anyone you might suggest I contact who would benefit from my help in planning for their future? I'd really appreciate any referrals you might be willing to pass along."
"How's the new line selling? “(PF) “I'm really glad it's doing well for you! Susan, would you be willing to put me in touch with your national buyer, so I might have the opportunity to present the line to him? I'd really appreciate it if you would."
"How was the feedback on the new model?" (PF) "I knew it would be positive and I'm glad you're pleased. Sam, is there anyone you might suggest I contact in your other divisions who may also have interest? I'd really appreciate it if you would be kind enough to put me in touch with them."
"How did my crew perform for you?" (PF) They are a great group, aren't they? I'm so glad you're pleased. John, I really appreciate your kind words. Is there anyone you might suggest I contact who may also benefit from our work? I know you belong to the Retail Builders Association and your CFO belongs to the Construction Financial Management Association. Do you or Jack know other GC’s who might benefit from our contracting services? I'd really appreciate any contacts you may be willing to share with me."
"I'm calling to obtain your feedback. Are you pleased? (PF) Frank, over 75% of my business comes from referrals. Is there anyone you might suggest I contact who may have interest—perhaps your suppliers?"
"It is very gratifying when we hear positive feedback on the quality of our product. Randy, is there anyone you might suggest I contact who has application for our product?"
Who to Ask
You’ll get the best referrals from your 'A' clients. 'B' clients usually yield 'B' prospects. 'C' clients usually yield 'C' prospects. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, but if you want the best customers, then you need to play the odds.
Pay attention to people your customers know
Be genuinely curious about your customer’s business, personal life, and important relationships. Staying in touch with your best customers creates strong business friendships. Then, when you ask for referrals, ask for an introduction. The best way is to be direct and unassuming. Say something like--“Would you be comfortable introducing me?”
Create referral partnerships
Create alliances with business contacts or associates who do not compete with the product or service you offer. Share leads and create mutually beneficial relationships. Better yet, agree to introduce each other to potential clients. Whatever you do, make sure your partners do right by you.
A word of caution: Customers are hard to come by. Be very selective about the people you refer. If they do not share the same values, and operate with the same level of professionalism and integrity as you do, don't align yourself with them. If they turn off your customers, it will not only be a bad reflection on you, but you may never be able to do business with that customer again. Also, your alliance should be mutually beneficial. If you find you are referring more business to your partners than they are to you, you may want to rethink your partnership.
Call on past clients
In addition to your existing clients and network of personal and professional contacts, do not forget about your past clients. They can be a substantial resource in building your business and obtaining referrals. First, ask them how they have been doing, if there is anything you can do to help them, and how have they been faring since you last saw them. Then, ask them for referrals.
Follow up FAST
Not long ago, one of my clients was seeking the services of an expert in negotiation skills. I told my client about a colleague who was superlative in his field; I recommended this person call him. My colleague was busy and didn't get around to calling him for two weeks. By that time, my client had engaged the services of someone else.
In my eyes, this colleague made me look bad to my client. When I asked him why he didn't call quickly, he stated, "I have so many referral leads sitting on my desk, I can barely keep up with them." While I was happy for my colleague's obvious success, I made the decision not to refer business to him in the future.”
This should be common sense: Don't let referral leads sit on your desk or in your database without acting quickly. Your referral source may have told them about you. Like you, customers have a great deal on their minds. Call quickly or they may have moved on.
If you know you're going to be busy and you may not have an opportunity to call quickly, take their number with you to call from your cell phone in between appointments or from the airport.
The more you ask, the more you will get
If you are too proud or uncomfortable to ask for referrals, you will lose out on some great possibilities. To build your business, you have always had to take on challenges and move out of your comfort zone. Getting in the habit of asking for referrals is just one more challenge to meet. Interestingly, the more referrals you ask for, the more referrals you'll get. If customers know you want them and will act on them professionally, they will be inclined to watch out for you. After all, your good future is theirs as well.
Getting Referrals
More on Referrals
Business Marketing No More Cold Calling
When Good Referrals Turn Bad by Keith Rosen, MCC
Referral Program
How to get referrals
Stress-Free Selling® - Go After the Easy Sales First
Why Do People Refer?
Karma Keys to a Referral-Based Business
Meeting with people- What are the next steps?
Revealed: the Ultimate Lead Generation Tool
Simply Speaking Increase Sales By Remembering Qualified Sales Leads Are a Two-Way Street
The 4 Keys to Referral Success
The same cigarette as me
Ten Major Reasons Why You Are Not Getting Referrals According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
When to Ask for Referrals
What's Better: A Lead or a Referral?
On Success
Stop Begging for Referrals
Three Referral Strategies
Article Tags: leverage, pitch, referral business
Related Forum Posts
Re: Win Prizes - The Triple Crown Contest!
- Hi GT - if you log into your author account you'll see Referral Program as one of the options on the left side. If you click on that you'll get the link that will tie people to your account.
Picking a corporate lawyer
- Hi Everyone,
I was just curious to know what's the most important criteria a small business owner should look at when choosing a corporate lawyer?
-Cost/hr?
-Location?
-Reputation/Referral?
-Experience?
-Personality?
How did you pick your lawyer? And what's a fair price to pay per hour?
Thanks
Re: FREE Toronto Referral Workshop
- Hi there,
Indeed, I have never heard of a Referral Seminar. What a good idea. I guess being offered for free, there must have been a great deal of people attending.
It is another way of saying: Do you want to increase your customers. Come along and we help and teach you. It has been said, that even in downturn of business confidence and consumer's caution, business will not come to a grinding halt.
Please Andy, can you let us h ave these 14 ways of getting referrals. Thanks.
Re: How to develop sales contacts?
- Everyone has the right idea here. Depending on your business, there are different techniques that you could use. For consultants and sales heavy businesses, there are three tactics that I have found especially useful in my business:
1. Attend Networking Events
2. Cold Calling
3. Referral Program
4. Affiliate Program (most successful)
The affiliate program was successful for me, as I hooked up with a franchise consultant, and he gave multiple unit businesses that needed my credit card processing services. I highly suggest you hook up with a sales partner, and give him a cut of the monthly revenue.
Re: A Tip to Increase Traffic
- I do believe that Link Referral is also a powerful way to increase your traffic, however, here are some tips that I have came across with the other day from Webblogs:
Write Well and Write Often
Frequently updating your blog with useful content is the first step to building your blog's audience. The content you write is what will keep readers coming back for more. Make sure you have something meaningful to say to them and say it often to maintain their interest and keep them loyal.
Furthermore, post frequently to increase the number of chances you have for your blog's content to be noticed by search engines such as Google or Technorati.
2. Submit Your Blog to Search Engines
Get on the radar screen for the popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo! by submitting your blog's URL to them. Most search engines provide a 'Submit' link (or something similar) to notify the search engine of your new blog, so those search engines will crawl it and include your pages in their results.
It's important to understand that simply submitting your blog to search engines doesn't mean your pages will appear at the top of a Google search results screen, but at least your blog will be included and will have the chance of being picked up by a search engine.
3. Use and Update Your Blogroll
By adding links to sites you like in your blogroll, the owners of those blogs will find your blog and will be likely to add a reciprocal link in their blogrolls. It's an easy way to get the link to your blog in front of many readers on other blogs. The hope is that some of those readers will click on the link to your blog on the other blogs' blogrolls and find your content interesting and enjoyable turning them into loyal readers.
4. Harness the Power of Comments
Commenting is a simple and essential tool to increase your blog's traffic. First, respond to comments left on your blog to show your readers that you value their opinions and draw them into a two-way conversation. This will increase reader loyalty.
Second, leave comments on other blogs to drive new traffic. Make sure you leave your blog's URL in your comment, so you create a link back to your own blog. Many people will read the comments left on a blog post. If they read a particularly interesting comment, they are highly likely to click on the link to visit the commentor's website. It's important to make sure you leave meaningful comments that are likely to invite people to click on your link to read more.
5. Syndicate Your Blog's Content with an RSS Feed
Setting up an RSS feed button on your blog makes it easy for your loyal readers to not just read your blog but also know when you publish new content.
6. Use Links and Trackbacks
Links are one of the most powerful parts of your blog. Not only are links noticed by search engines, but they also act as a tap on the shoulder to other bloggers who can easily identify who is linking to their sites. Linking helps to get you noticed by other bloggers who are likely to investigate the sites that are linking to them. This may lead them to become new readers of your blog or to add links to your blog from theirs.
You can take links to other blogs a step further by leaving a trackback on the other blog to let them know you've linked to them. Blogs that allow trackbacks will include a link back to your blog in the comments section of the post that you originally linked to. People do click on trackback links!
7. Tag Your Posts
It takes a few extra seconds to add tags to each of your blog posts, but it's worth the time in terms of the additional traffic tags can drive to your blog. Tags (like links) are easily noticed by search engines. They're also key to helping readers find your blog when they perform searches on popular blog search engines such as Technorati.
8. Submit Your Posts to Social Bookmarking Sites
Taking the time to submit your best posts to social bookmarking sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit and more can be a simple way to quickly boost traffic to your blog.
9. Remember Search Engine Optimization
When you write your blog posts and pages, remember to optimize your pages for search engines to find them. Include relevant keywords and links but don't overload your posts with too many relevant keywords or completely irrelevant keywords. Doing so can be considered spamming and could have negative results such as your blog being removed from Google's search entirely.
10. Don't Forget Images
Images don't just make your blog look pretty, they also help people find you in search engine listings. People often use the image search options offered by Google, Yahoo! and other search engines, and naming your images with search engine optimization in mind can easily boost your traffic.
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