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subject: Ask for Referrals at the Right Time by Bill Cates, CSP, [print this page]

Ask for Referrals at the Right Time by Bill Cates, CSP,

Do you ask a new prospect for a referral on the first appointment? Do you

wait until the second appointment? Do you wait a year into the

relationship? The answer is, "It depends." There are at least two things to

consider when determining when to ask: First, value must be given and value

must be recognized. Second, you must consider the personality of the

referral-giving candidate.

Not too long ago I had an insurance agent set up an appointment with me. As

we were about to hang-up, he mentioned that he built his practice from

referrals and that at the end of our first meeting hell be asking me for

referrals, So perhaps I could be thinking of some folks. Was I ready

for this aggressive approach? No! This is old style referral selling,

and it creates more bad will than good referrals. Oh, I might give him a

referral or two, but not very good ones. Two things must happen before a

prospect or client is ready to trust you with their friends and colleagues

(emphasis on trust).

Value Must be Given and Value Must be Recognized

Sometimes it's easy to know this has occurred, because your prospects or

clients will tell you. For instance, in the financial services world, an

advisor might hear, "This has been a very helpful meeting," or "I'm glad I

finally started working on this," or "Should have done this 20 years ago."

Thats it! Value recognized. Now its time to ask for referrals - but

not before.

What do your prospects or clients/customers say to you that make you realize

they are finding value from your products, service, or working relationship?

After someone says, This has been great. You have done a great job for

us, all you have to say is, Thats great. Im glad youre

pleased. I was wondering if we could brainstorm for a minutes to see if we

can identify some people (or businesses) who should know about the great work

we do. Who else might we help together? (Notice I made this a WE process

and not a ME process). Now you go about the business of brainstorming

(interacting) about who you can serve together (more on this brainstorming

concept in future articles).

Can you provide referral-giving value on the first appointment with a

prospect? Absolutely! In fact, I hope you do. Dont be there to sell, just

be there to educate, ask good questions, and find out what their needs,

values, and concerns are. Youll earn their trust as you learn their

story. Then, it will be time to tell your story, and move on toward the

sale.

Not Sure if Value Has Been Recognized Yet?

Then ask value-seeking questions. In fact, I strongly suggest that

near the end of your first appointment (with about ten minutes left to go)

you ask your prospect, Bob, of all the things we talked about today, what

do you find most important. Or you could say, Weve been through a

process over the last two meetings. Whats been the most valuable part of

that process? In most cases, it will yield a conversation that

demonstrates to both of you that value has been given and recognized.

Of course, you will have to modify this conversation to fit your

specific business. On occasion youll hear something like, Im not

sure what the value is yet. Wouldnt you rather know this before the

end of the appointment, so you can address it right at that moment?

Open Versus Guarded

This is one measure of personality we need to consider when asking for

referrals. Open people are much more willing to let you into their lives

through the referral process than guarded people. Therefore, you can (and

should) ask open people sooner into the relationship. Guarded people can be

great sources of referrals, they just need a little more time to trust you.

Plus, they like to be in more control of the process than the open types.

Ask value-seeking questions. If value has been delivered and recognized, and

you feel the referral candidate likes you and trusts you - it's time to ask

for referrals. The worst thing they can say is, No. (Ill teach you

how to turn that around in future articles.)

Bottom line, when your prospect or client lets you know that value has been

received, its time to ask for permission to engage in the referral process

not just to help YOU, but to see who you can help together a WE

process instead of a ME process.

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