The Six Steps to an Effective Referral Conversation

The Six Steps to an Effective Referral Conversation
by Matt Anderson, The Referral Authority.

There are six steps to an effective referral conversation with one of your clients. YOU MUST PERSONALIZE AND MAKE THIS SCRIPT YOUR OWN as soon as possible.

After the six steps I have two example scripts: one for those in financial and insurance services and one for real estate professionals. However, it should not be hard at all to customize this for other sales professions. If you want ideas, give me a call.

Step One: ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR CLIENT for the work you have done so far:

Based on all the research and every study ever done of what it takes to be successful and fulfilled in our society, exceptional people – like YOU and those in our network – are either in the top 10% of their industry or moving that way. How do I know this? Because only people such as yourselves - the elite tenth - take the time to read sales literature like this and develop themselves professionally and personally. This isn’t just some clichéd sales advice: read almost any autobiography of a top performer from Serena Williams to Jeffrey Gitomer to Stephen King. They are students of their field AND they take action on what they learn. You already have one of the most challenging jobs in our society dealing with rejection and setbacks daily, so through your persistence, learning and action, you put yourself in the top 10% if not this year then in the next 3-7 years.

There. That’s me acknowledging you and I mean every word of it. Now develop equal acknowledgement for your client. This is not always easy but is always worthwhile. I learned this idea from a sales manager called Dutch. People love to be recognized for making wise decisions. Plus it builds a platform of creating more good feelings in the meeting. The more you say, the better, provided you follow:

Three rules: It must be sincere, specific and it must be true.

If you have statistics, consider using them, ex. “55% of Americans with 401K plans are receiving no professional guidance. Kudos to you for taking the bull by the horns and getting yourself out of a potentially perilous situation. Ignorance is not always bliss.”

Step Two: FIND OUT WHAT VALUE HAS BEEN RECEIVED:

This builds the feel-good factor several steps more. It’s an idea I got from Bill Cates.
“I’m always curious to find out: what has been most valuable about us working together so far?”

Feel free to use a word like helpful, useful or important but the question MUST be open-ended and focused on the most positive aspects. People do not know how to respond to a question such as “How am I doing?” other than to say ‘fine’ and nobody is going to go out to bat for you and recommend you left and right based on just feeling ‘fine’!

Provided you get an 8, 9 or 10 response, you have earned the right to have a referral conversation. (If it’s less than an 8, you should not be attempting to ask about others they would recommend. Find out how you can better serve this person, address it and most likely they will then become big fans because you actually cared enough to listen and respond.)

Feel free to ask, “Anything else?” after the client responds. The more value they can verbalize, the better. It also helps them develop the wording to talk about you to others.

If they seem a little uncertain at the question, it pays to take notes during your time with the client and make mental note of instances where you believe you brought value, education, and ideas because many of us will forget – especially if the relationship has been going on for a while.

Step Three: Get Specific With Your Referral Request!
Apart from getting comfortable asking for referrals, this is the MOST IMPORTANT step of them all. It needs its own ezine article. You MUST:
1. Narrow down your referral request to 1-3 people, no more. If you are broader than that, your client’s mind will fog over. This takes practice. It is your job to help your client think of someone not theirs!
2. OR teach your client what a qualified referral is = “What I’ve found recently is that the people I can help the most are” and then bullet point some specifics that jog their memory.
I like to recommend Doing the Columbo (playing a bit dumb) when it comes to generating their suggestions. Let them take the responsibility for thinking of the best way to get in touch with their referrals.

Step Four: Reassure Your Referral Source:

This is most important for insurance and financial service professionals, including mortgage consultants. Why? Because most people do not know what their friends, family and co-workers are doing in these areas and so are uncomfortable with bringing it up. You need to reduce their resistance and acknowledge that they may not know – and that you don’t know either!

For other sales professionals, it’s a case by case basis. Many people are more inclined to mention that they are thinking of buying or selling their home but may not necessarily ever raise the topic of buying and income property. This is where this step can help.

Another advantage to including this is it gives your client some time to think about people they know without you putting them on the spot – which typically causes our brains to freeze and think of nobody. It’s a bit like when you were day dreaming in school, the teacher noticed this, asked a question knowing you weren’t listening and THEN called on you. You weren’t ready, you had no time to prepare and you were made to feel stupid. The nice teacher would call on you first so you would jolt to attention, and then he or she would ask the question so you could start thinking. Guess which works best for getting referrals.

Lastly (and this is not in the example script), it is not going to hurt to reassure your client about how you follow up with those they recommend. This puts their mind at ease that you’re not going to be calling their good friend every day. Again, that one is a judgement call or possibly an objection to be aware of.

Step Five: Coach Them to Warm it Up

You don’t just want a name and number and a chance to mention your referral source’s name. That will only get you business 15% of the time (Sandler Sales Institute). You want them to warm up your referral so they are expecting your call to boost that likelihood to 50%.

The only key here is KEEP IT SIMPLE! Their only job is to open the door and say “Michelle is great. You’ve got to talk to her. I’ll have her call you.” They do not need to explain anything about the work you have done. It’s not their job and most people can’t explain it well. The more they try to explain, the more likely it is that the person they are referring will find an excuse or a flaw in their logic and decline. It’s your job to sell yourself when the door has been opened.

Step Six: Keep Control of the Process!

Do not just hand out a business card and ask them to pass it on. Do not just hope something will happen. You always want to have permission to make the next call to your referral source.
“Thanks for doing that. Oh, and when would be a good time for me to get back in touch with you to see if she would like me to give her a call?”
The ONLY reason not to do this is if you are seeing them again very soon and you KNOW you will remember to ask then. When I get a referral, I write it down in my prospect file and note the referral source. Once a week I go through this file so feel pretty good that I’m not dropping the ball. I share this not to brag but because I used to assume that everyone did this and over the years I have learned that they don’t!

Disclaimer: this script is one of many ways to get referrals. You may find that using only two of these steps will work for you although I urge you not to start there. How you word it and using Step 4 are the absolute keys – once you are comfortable asking (most people are not!). The best time to ask is always when people are at their most enthusiastic for how you have helped them – again that can vary. People very skilled at getting referrals know how to raise the stakes of a conversation to move people in that feel-good direction.

EXAMPLE SCRIPTS ARE NEXT:

Financial and Insurance Professional Example Script:

Step One: ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR CLIENT: “There are two or three things I’d like to touch on briefly before we wrap up.
Firstly, I want to acknowledge you for taking the time to meet with me. Most Americans are not prioritizing this kind of planning and they are experiencing all kinds of problems whether it’s having their property foreclosed or crazy credit card debt or simply not knowing where they are going with their financial future.
I want to congratulate for focusing on something important that is not urgent.”

Step Two: FIND OUT WHAT VALUE HAS BEEN RECEIVED:
“I’m always curious to find out: what has been most valuable for you about this planning process/us working together?”

(They respond.)

 “I appreciate that feedback. That’s great to hear.  My mission really is to help as many people as I can in situations like yours.”

Step Three: Reassure Your Referral Source:
“I am sure there are people you really care about that would get very similar value from a process/conversation like this. I am also guessing that you didn’t talk about this at your last family get-together and you probably don’t know whether your sister/friend/co-worker has any need for my services. I don’t expect you to know that. And obviously I don’t know either at this point, but the reason I do what I do is to help make sure people’s xyz needs are taken care of.”

Step Four: Get Specific (1-3 people, no more; perhaps teach client what a qualified referral is = “What I’ve found recently is that the people I can help the most are…”)
a) “I’m curious: if you were unclear about a lot of this at first, is it possible other people you work with might be equally confused?”
b) Well, what might be a good way to help them get this same value?
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?”
 (They say no problem)

Step Five: Coach Them to Warm it Up
“That’s great.  I appreciate you recommending Jennifer. The easiest thing to tell her is that:
a. You’re very pleased with the work we’ve been doing 
and/OR that I specialize in helping contractors
b. You highly recommend that she at least have a conversation with me and
c. Would it be okay if I gave her a call in the near future?” (keep this vague)

Step Six: Keep Control of the Process!
“Thanks for doing that. Oh, and when would be a good time for me to get back in touch with you to see if she would like me to give her a call?”

Realtor Example Script:

Step One: ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR CLIENT: “There are two or three things I’d like to touch on briefly before we wrap up.
Firstly, I want to acknowledge you for following the advice of a good friend/getting a second opinion/being open-minded to working with a professional real estate agent and being sincerely interested in learning about income properties. Most Americans have no idea what the benefits of this are. As you may or may not know, property values in this neighborhood have averaged an increase of x% over the last x years. A lot of people talk about doing this but you actually did it. And, I want to congratulate for being patient with this process”

Step Two: FIND OUT WHAT VALUE HAS BEEN RECEIVED:
“I’m always curious to find out: what has been most valuable for you about this buying process/us working together?”

(They respond.)

 “I appreciate that feedback. That’s great to hear.  My mission really is to help as many people as I can in situations like yours.”

Step Three: Reassure Your Referral Source:

“I am sure there are people you really care about that would get very similar value from a buying process like this. I am also guessing that you might not know whether even some of your brothers or sisters have plans to buy, sell or invest in any income properties in the near future. But it’s funny how many people do know someone once they stop and think or sometimes just ask others.

Step Four: Get Specific (1-3 people, no more; perhaps teach client what a qualified referral is = “What I’ve found recently is that the people I can help the most are…”)
a) As far as your siblings go, what might be a good way to find out?
b) Who would be the best person to contact first about something like this?
c) What would be the best way to get in touch with her?”
d) “Would you mind asking her or shooting her an email to see if she’d be interested in a quick conversation?”
 (They say no problem)

Step Five: Coach Them to Warm it Up
“That’s great.  I appreciate you recommending Jennifer. The easiest thing to tell her is that:
d. You’re very pleased with the work we’ve been doing 
and/OR that I specialize in helping women in transition
e. You highly recommend that she meet with me and
f. Would it be okay if I gave her a call in the near future?” (keep this vague)

Step Six: Keep Control of the Process!
“Thanks for doing that. Oh, and when would be a good time for me to get back in touch with you to see if she would like me to give her a call?”