How to get Referrals

People are always asking me of the easiest and quickest way of getting infront of warm potential customers. Without doubt the best, the cheapest, the highest conversion rates come from sales to a warm referral. So this week I have listed below my top 10 strategies for actively getting referrals.

1. Set a target - you have to set a goal or target first before you can achieve it. So decide on your referral goal, how many people will you ask and by when. Remember its only when you have a goal will you have obstacles, so whenever you are aware of something getting in your way take it as a positive and a clear sign that your moving towards your goal

2. Birds of a feather flock together - people mix with people they feel comfortable with, or 'people like people that they are like' so focus on people that are already customers or people you have great relationships with.

3. Take responsibility - Its no use handing out hundreds of business cards if you're not going to take responsibility for getting the referrals to happen. If you want to move to the next level of achievement, you must start asking for names and phone numbers. Get their details!

4. Send an 'advance party'-if possible have a current client who thinks highly of you phone ahead to a prospective client before you meet them. All the existing client has to say is 'You'll really like her - she's very professional and calls a spade a spade' , and bingo, you're in.

5. Nothing succeeds like success - one of my clients, who is in the home loan business , said he obtained some of his greatest referrals after he sent a gift basket to a client on the completion of their loan. However, he made another jump in quality and numbers of referrals when he started sending the baskets to the clients' workplace instead of home. This was a stoke of genius because, as soon as the gift basket arrives, everyone in the office gathers around to find out where it came from. Suddenly you will here 'I wish my mortgage broker was that great'

6. Follow up with a thank you call or card - it may not be as grand as a gift basket, but a thank you call or card always impresses clients because most salespeople forget to make or send them. While you're on the phone, why not ask your client for at least one person they can think of that could use your product or service. You can also do this with a hand written card. Simply have some cards ready in your bag or car, quickly write one on the way out of your meeting and simply drop it off at reception. How about that for 'action'

7. Ask your clients to send a letter or email of introduction - when I first started whenever I completed a series of coaching sessions with a company, I would draft a letter that my satisfied client could send or email on to their associates. The letter or email was written in a way that praised me and my coaching and spoke of the positive feedback and , most importantly of the benefits my client had received from my coaching.

8. Centres of influence referrals - centres of influence are people who are well regarded among a group of people. For example, the head of your local BNI or Chamber of Commerce. They might even be the captain of your local footy team. Knowing a centre of influence could result in an avalanche of sales for you because instead of wasting your time seeing each person individually, a centre of influence can invite you to present your product or service to the whole group.

9.Join a group - Following on from centres of influence is creating your own centre of influence. Join or start a group. Perhaps a business breakfast or local club. Surround yourself with people who have the same interests as you. Perhaps start an online blog, where people begin to look to you for advice or to be influenced. Create credibility and trust and then people will begin to ask you for your service or product.

10. Manage your database for big results - without doubt one of your biggest opportunities is your humble database of past and current clients. If you haven't started a database or if your current one is in poor condition, make a commitment now to contact somebody to either help you set one up, or get in touch with me for a few easy steps on how you could start one with no or little cost.

Have a great day getting into action

Adam

Carrott verses Stick

Motivating Employees: Carrots vs Stick Approach

A recent news story said that if you want happier workers then you should drop the stick, and find more carrots....

According to a 10-year survey of 200,000 managers and employees around the world conducted by The Jackson Organization in Laurel, Md., organizations that consistently recognize excellence generate a return on equity more than three times higher than institutions that don't.

Sales Sales Sales

Cold Calling Tips

Cold Calling Is still by far the most effective sales tactic if done correctly.

The obituary for cold calling is premature. While in the perfect world, your phone would be ringing off the hook all day with clients offering you business, the reality is that if you want business, you need to go after it, be the cause, not the result, and cold calling is an effective sales tactic if it's done properly.

For most people however, I realise that they would rather spend an entire day in a dentist's chair than go cold calling. Does the thought of cold calling immediately make you think of that "other thing that you really should have got finished" These cold calling tips won't eliminate your fear, but they will help you make cold calling a more successful experience.

1. Focus on the goal when cold calling.

Beginners tend to think that cold calling is about making the sale. It's not. It's about getting the chance to make the sale. Specifically, the purpose of a cold call is to set an appointment to make the pitch.

2. Research your markets and prospects.

Which we spoke about last week. I know you all now know who your customes are

3. Prepare an opening statement for your cold call.

This lets you organize your thoughts before cold calling, and helps you avoid common mistakes that might give the person you're calling the chance to terminate the conversation. For instance, you should never ask, "Is this a good time to talk?" Don't read your opening statement into the phone, but use it as a framework to get the conversation off to a good start.

4. What should be in the opening statement of your cold call?

"Include a greeting and an introduction, a reference point (something about the prospect), the benefits of your product or service, and a transition to a question or dialogue. For example, 'Good morning Tony (I like to use first names if possible as it puts you at there level) This is Adam Palfrey from Cbi Coaching. Hope you don't mind the quick call but I've just read in the Courier Mail that you recently started ...........It sounds fantastic, Hows that going for you? Tony the reason for the call is to introduce myself and CBI. We're a group of business performance coaches and we're doing a series of free business diagnostics in the area, which I'd love to discuss with you....

5. Prepare a script for the rest of your cold call.

Next lay out the benefits of your product or service and the reasons your prospect should say yes. Write out possible objections and your answer to them. Without a script, it's too easy to leave something out or meander. Once again, it's not that you'll be reading your script word for word when you call, but that you've prepared the framework of the cold call in advance. so...

So Tony, the business diagnostic is a a great session, it takes 90 minutes, no selling I promise just some great value for you in the business. We'll look at all areas of your business, whats working and importantly whats not. I'll leave you with a visual plan of your business, so you have some actions and if we have time I can also show you what your business is currently worth. How does that sound? ...Great

6. Ask for an appointment at a specific time when cold calling.

Say, "Would Wednesday at 11 a.m. be a good time to meet?" instead of saying, "Can I meet with you to discuss this next week?"

7. Remember that gatekeepers are your allies not your foes.
Be pleasant to whoever picks up the phone when cold calling and develop strategies to get the gatekeeper on your side. Try asking, "I wonder if you could help me?" or " You sound like you're having a great day" will help you get them on side and then the information you need, such as the name of the right person to talk to or when the best time to contact the prospect is. Learning the names of gatekeepers and being friendly when cold calling helps immensely.

8. Do your cold calling early in the morning, if possible.

That's the best time to reach the decision maker directly, and for most people, the time that they're most energized.

9. You could also smooth the way for your cold call by sending prospects a small, unique promotional item. Not always necessary, just makes contact easier.

Just think carefully about this and my advice would be to get some professional help. Be clever rather than throwing budget away and don't use this as another excuse not to start in the first place.

10. Be persistent when cold calling.

"Eighty percent of new sales are made after the fifth contact, yet the majority of sales people give up after the second call"

And above all, practice, practice, practice. While cold calling may never be much fun for you, you can get better at it, and the more you practice cold calling, the more effective a sales tactic it will be. So get your script and your call list together and reach for the phone. The people who want to do business with you are out there - but you have to let them know about you first.

Have a great day getting into action...on the phone