7 Ways to Get Specific Referrals.

Date: August 27, 2007
Word count: 2062
Reading time: 5-6 minutes
Benefits of Taking Action: One of three things that's a must to get referrals consistently

Apart from getting comfortable asking for referrals and hearing that you have brought value to your client, getting specific is the next most important piece to getting referrals and to your Referral Tool Kit (my metaphor of choice). According to Horsesmouth.com research in Automatic Referrals (2005), "Specificity may well be the single greatest key to getting quality referrals on an ongoing and consistent basis."

You must do your absolute best to be specific about your referral request.
In other words, you want to narrow down who you're looking for to 1-3 specific people if at all possible if you want consistently positive results. WHY?

TWO Reasons You Need to Get Specific.

Reason #1: The average person knows too many people and they need your help to think of someone specific (200-250, whether they realize it or not). Well, who comes to your mind when I ask you these questions?

Do you know anyone who might benefit from my services?
Do you know anyone who likes sports?
Do you know anyone who likes to grill out?
Do you know any small to medium-size business owners I could help?
Do you know anyone that would like to reduce their stress?

So, are you tripping over names left and right and scrambling to write them down?
Or were you overwhelmed by a fog because so many people fit that bill that you've no idea where to start?

Reason #2: Everybody is BUSY and if they don't leave their meeting with you with someone in mind, very few of them are going to spend any more time trying to think of someone. We think about ourselves 95% of the time. If you like to think you're different and that your clients do think about you frequently, consider these questions:

The last time you left your dentist's after a teeth- cleaning, did you spend the rest of the day fretting over whether they'd be in business in 6 months when you returned?
After you're done reading this, how much time did you plan on devoting to recommending sales managers and trade association directors to me?!

7 Solutions to Getting Specific:

1. Avoid at all costs saying; "if you can think of anyone who might benefit from my services, please have them give me a call."
Since 2002 I have only ever met one person (in New Mexico) say to me that she had consistent success saying that.

In general, avoid using the word 'anyone'. Why? Because typically most people's minds will go blank automatically when they hear that word, ex. "Do you know anyone else I should be talking to in a similar situation to yours?" It's too vague.

2. The best scenario: you know who you want to ask for ahead of time:
"In the past I know that you've mentioned that you know Ron McNeal/Megan Gibbs well.
"I would really appreciate you introducing us"
"Would you be open to setting up a lunch for the three of us some time?"
"I think I could really help him/her in similar ways that we've worked together"
"Do you think s/he might be open to talking with me about (ex) his/her financial goals/this kind of planning process?"

3. Listen for specific individuals they mention.
Most people need to write these names down because clearly you want to find the right time to bring them up again - after value has been acknowledged. Do you do this??

Doing this sounds so simple and obvious BUT what I've found is that it is not obvious to everyone. Many sales people are so focused on what they are explaining that they are not listening for what some could mistakenly consider to be irrelevant asides.

I used to think everyone listened out but one day I was making this observation to an insurance agent and he gave me a completely blank look. In his mind, if he was explaining homeowners policy coverages to a customer, he was doing it 100%. He did not have 20% of his radar out should they mention other people = potential business opportunities.

Now when I mention this to audiences, EVERYONE gives me a blank look because those who do it think everyone does it and those who don't do it have no idea what I'm talking about!!

Let me give you two examples of our selective hearing from seminars I've given recently. On one occasion I made reference that I was single (I can't for the life of me remember why I mentioned this). I had two date opportunities as a result, while I'm sure for 95% of the audience it went in one ear and out the other. Last week I was speaking at a national convention in Kansas City and mentioned a village in Wisconsin where I had once attended a networking event. Well, one of the attendees had grown up in this little suburb and told me so afterwards. She was amazed. To everyone else it was an unimportant detail.

If I mention in passing that I'd like to relocate to either Denver, Arizona or California in the next 1-3 years, I would expect somebody reading this to email me and say, "Matt, I could probably help you with something like that!" For other readers it would be trivia. To them, what difference does it make where I am in an age of email and airplanes? Others hear a business opportunity.

Step One is start to personalize your client database with tidbits about people in your client's life and hobbies of theirs.

4. Educate your clients on what a Qualified Referral is so you are not in the awkward position of being referred to someone you can't help. **Phrase it as "the people I can help the most".

This avoids the me me me approach of talking about how you want to grow your business when most people don't care about this.

a. Have a clear picture of your ideal client so you can educate your prospect/client. Describe the specific qualities slowly to allow time for your audience to think of specific people.

Create 3-5 bullets that are specific and perhaps educate your client about one of your target markets:
"The people I can help the most are often" and then give examples:

business owners of companies with more than x# employees, couples with assets of over $x, newly married, residents of Sunny Pines neighborhood, Indian physicians, Lutheran men 50-65, dairy farmers, families with special needs children, employees at Xerox, newly widowed, also curious about income properties.

You might want to have these printed on an index card or in an introductory letter/email.

b. Create 3-5 bullets that are specific and educate your client about hot buttons that have brought in other top clients: "I would love to have more clients like you: people who" and then give examples:

Understand that all financial decisions inter-relate: their mortgage, real estate, insurance and investments.
Have had a bad experience with xyz
Are nearing retirement and have no idea how many assets they have
Are frustrated with the turnover at their current bank
Are recently divorced and don't have the time to study up on investments
Are frustrated with the service they're getting from their current web host
Know they don't have the time or expertise to work on this
Appreciate/see the value working with professionals who specialize in financial planning/health insurance/group benefits

5. Create a list of prospects to present to your potential referral source.

I think you need to be a bit careful about this one. Sometimes it's a great idea and on other occasions it can look a bit like Big Brother researching you behind your back.

Eric Heiting runs a financial planning practice called Physician Wealth Strategies. His clients are almost all doctors and are so busy that they are not going to make the time to call referrals and recommend Eric. He has great success showing them a list of other physicians in their department and saying: "Who do you like most that might appreciate a conversation about their financial planning situation?" He also inquires about the new physicians who may appreciate getting off on the right foot with their money management.

Chris Anderson used to specialize in helping teachers with their retirement planning and had similar success with that approach. Everyone has favorite co- workers and there are always new staff to help.

On the flip side, I have trained in companies where some of the sales people were uncomfortable about being asked to talk to a client and producing a list of their neighbors! I don't blame them. And it shouldn't be necessary. A conversation can elicit such information.

The list is helpful when there are a lot of people to choose from or as a last resort to jog someone's memory OR to say

"These are a number of local companies I've identified as ones I can really help. Do you have any contacts at any of these?" I recommend this highly if you're in a networking group that meets regularly.

6. If you're struggling to come up with specific names, do two things:

a. Have a repertoire of "generic" specifics ex. sibling, favorite person at work, fellow committee member. These help to narrow it down and work much better than the overly vague: friends, family members and co-workers. That list can add up fast. Nobody is going to talk to 15 co-workers but they might talk to 1 or 2. I urge you to try this.

b. Do the Columbo!

Apart from #2, this is my favorite. There are two ways to look at this: make the other person the expert by asking questions about who you should talk to and how you should go about doing that OR play a little dumb and ask questions.

Two weeks ago a financial advisor had talked to me about how he should approach a great niche opportunity with vet clinics. Last Tuesday he had lunch with the business manager and one of the vets. He had done a seminar for their clinic and had written some business with three of them. They had been very pleased. So during the meal, he revisited a conversation about the value they had gotten and then pivoted to a referral conversation.

His clients told him that other vet clinics would appreciate his help so he asked the manager if she would be open to calling them and recommending him to put on a seminar (this was Plan A). To his surprise she looked a little uncomfortable. So he decided to Do the Columbo (Plan B) and let them suggest the best course of action:

"Okay, so how would you recommend I go about helping them?" (note he didn't say 'do business with them') The manager said, "Well, you mentioned that you're having a booth at our next conference. I'll personally bring people over to you so they can meet you." A personal introduction!! That beats everything. He was wracking his brains trying to figure it all out and she had the best answer.

The advisor's next step is make sure he teaches this person something non-threatening to say at the event: "I want you to meet some people who put on a great seminar for our clinic recently."

Here are a few other example questions:
a) As far as your siblings go, what might be a good way to find out if they might be open to a quick conversation about xyz? OR
b) I know you work at ABC Company and it sounds like you got a lot of value from this. What would be a way to perhaps help some of the other people you work with get this (same benefit)?
c) Who would be the best person to contact first about something like this?
d) What would be the best way to get in touch with her?"
e) "Would you mind asking her or shooting her an email to see if she'd be interested in a quick conversation?"

7. You can also educate your clients about this in general conversations, in your newsletter, and in your marketing materials:
At present, I am able to take on new clients in two specific areas: business owners who are seeking the opportunity to sell or transfer their business, and corporate executives who are within five years of retiring. (Horsesmouth, 2007)

*Who else would get value from these ideas? Please forward this on!