I recently decided to start a leads group in my community. I did it for a number of reasons but one of the main ones was I loved the idea of keeping my skills sharp and on the ground level with what’s happening right here and now in the networking world in this economy.
The two points I’m making here are not new concepts, just seldom practiced effectively.
1. When explaining your “great referral” request, pinpoint it down to 2-3 people who come to the minds of your audience.
Most of the time when I attend networking meetings and people talk about who they want to do business with, I hear a laundry list.
We tell people our laundry list because we figure that if we cover enough ground, one of the things we mention will stick. This does not work! What happens in fact is that our minds get fogged over with too much information and not enough time to process whether we know someone in the first example.
Bad example (The Laundry List): “I like working with business owners, high-net worth individuals and helping large companies with their retirement plans.”
In theory this sounds great. But stop and ask yourself: how many business owners do YOU know? How many large companies are there in your community?
Is that more than 2-3 people?!!
You’re not hedging your bets successfully because nobody is going to call every single person they know in these categories. (Nor would they know what to say to them so read on!)
Good example: “I’d like to meet the HR Director at ABC College.”
If your audience does not know this person, maybe they will know someone at the college not in HR who might be able to connect you to the person in HR; they might know someone in HR at a different college, and/or they might know someone in HR in a different industry all of which are likely wins for you and far more effective.
You continue: “Tell him or her that a good friend of yours specializes in managing the retirement plans of organizations like theirs, that you highly recommend that they at least have a quick conversation with me and find out if it would be okay if I give them a call some time.”
2. Cover 3 critical areas during your 1:1s held outside the meetings.
a) Educate your fellow members on your ideal client.
Just like in part one, the more specific you are, the better. The laundry list is acceptable only if you’re going to meet with the person regularly (monthly). Otherwise you will lose the attention of this person too with information overload. After all, what’s better: two good referrals right away or the hope that at some point in the future - should the person take a week off work to focus on helping you – you might get a bunch!?
b) Work with this person on how to start a conversation about you with their clients.
Usually a couple of simple questions work well provided there is some reasonable way for your referral source to transition the conversation.
If an attorney says to a client: “We’ve covered all the legal aspects to your estate planning. Who do you consult with on the financial pieces?”
The client says she met once with someone at ABC Company.
The attorney then asks: “How did that go?” or “What was your experience like there?”
If the response is anything other than ‘great’, you are ready for part c!
c) Teach them how to close the loop so that they know how to get permission for you to call this prospect
“I know someone who would be a great resource for you. Her name is Danielle Petrovsky. Would you like me to have her give you a call?”
A dozen variations work on this. The big thing is to get permission for your network partner to call.
Sometimes the wording you recommend will not be used by your referral partner because they are uncomfortable with it. It is unlikely that they will tell you this. So if nothing is happening, be aware that what seems like something normal to say may well not be to them. The solution: ask them!
Please forward this on to other salespeople you believe would benefit from this who are active in networking groups or developing centers of influence.