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