Guide to Understanding Referral Selling

The true sales superstars do business differently than most.  They don't relie on word of mouth, they don't spend 60 to 80% of their time prospecting by cold calling or sending out mass mailings, they develop a unique relationship with their clients and customers that result in getting a large number of highly qualified referrals from each client.

Unlike the referrals most salespeople, professionals and small business owners get, the referrals the mega-producers receive are not just some names and phone numbers, but are referrals to real prospects who need or want their product or service.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Don't let referrals be a surprise to the client

Traditional referral selling training has been to "do a good job and ask for referrals." That isn't the way the mega-producers generate their business. They know the traditional training doesn't work. Instead, they let the client know up-front that they will be expecting referrals once the sale is complete. They don't leave anything to chance and they don't let their client be surprised by a request after the sale that the client didn't know was coming. They let the client know what to expect and when to expect it. Not only does this eliminate taking the client by surprise at the end, it allows the client time to become comfortable with the idea of giving referrals and allows them time to think about who to refer.

I recommend: From the very beginning of getting to know your prospect, let them know that you are a referral based business and that you will be seeking referrals from them after the sale if you've met their expectations and priorities.At http://www.powerreferralselling.com you will find a page of referral selling resources, including scripts for introducing the subject of referrals to a new prospect.

Let the client know exactly what a referral for you is

Like everything else in their business, mega-producers don't leave to chance whom they might get as a referral. They define for their client exactly what a quality referral for them is and then make sure the client understands.

I recommend: Discuss with your customer/client who you are--that is, exactly who your ideal client is and then ask them to be prepared with referrals to that ideal client once the sale is complete.

At http://www.powerreferralselling.com you'll find a discussion of how to define your ideal client.

Remind Your Client of Your Expectation of Referrals

Mega-producers constantly remind their client of the referral meeting after the sale. They don't beat them over the head, but rather simply slip reminders in the conversation casually.

I recommend: Water the referral garden by with gentle reminders of the upcoming referral meeting.  See discussion at http://www.powerreferralselling.com.

Know exactly what your client wants

Although the current buzz phrase in sales and marketing is "exceeding the client's expectations," few companies and salespeople know what their client expects because they never ask. Instead, they assume they know. By assuming, the best they can do is exceed what they believe their client's expectations should be. Mega-producers don't assume. They ask. They discuss in-detail with their client exactly what their cient's expectations and priorities are--and then they do everything in their power to meet those expectations and priorities.

I recommend: Know your client.  Don't assume anything.  Have a serious discussion with your client about what they expect and then make sure they receive exactly that.  See the discussion at http://www.powerreferralselling.com about client expectations.

Get the referrals after the sale

After the sale, the mega-producer has a meeting with the client just to get referrals. A separate meeting emphasizes the importance of the referrals and allows the mega-producer to gather information about each referral. The mega-producer also has a list of potential referrals he/she wants to be referred that the client might know, insuring that if the client doesn't have referrals, they'll still get referrals.

I recommend: Know who your client knows and prepare a list of potential prospects you client might know.  At http://www.powerreferralselling.com you'll find an article titled "Know Who Your Client Knows" that details how to discover who your client may know.

Contact the Referred Prospect

Mega-producers don't just call a referred prospect. Since they are trying to build a relationship with the referred prospect based on the trust and respect the prospect has for their client (or the lack thereof), they find out from the client exactly what the relationship is and then use a contact method that best takes advantage of their trust or mitigates the lack of trust.

I recommend: Spend time getting to know the relationship between your client and the prospect.  The weaker the trust and respect relationship between client and prospect, the stronger contact method you must us to get a meeting with the prospect.  You got it, go to http://www.powerreferralselling.com for discussion.