How to ask for Referrals
Larry Sharpe: It's Larry Sharpe with Neo Sage here to talk to you about how to ask your customers for a referral.
We all want referrals, but the problem is we don't like asking for them. We don't like asking for them because it feels like we're asking for a favor. It feels like we're begging for business. It feels like we need business. If you ask for a referral that way and beg for it, yeah, it feels bad. So don't do that.
Instead, start your call like a regular customer service call. Call up your customer and say, "Hey, how are things going? That last thing we did for you, is it still good? Is it still working?" If they answer in a negative, like "No, it's not going well," or "I'm not happy with that," or whatever the case may be, good for you! Now you can fix it. So even if the customer service call goes badly, it's still an advantage for you. You can now fix that, better relationship, maybe later get that referral. Clearly if they say no, or something is wrong, don't ask for a referral. Fix the problem, make things right.
What if they say yes? "Yes, you did your so and so plan, and wow it was great, I loved it. Everything is great," you're going to say, "Great, I'm so glad you liked that. Okay, great, so who do you know who could benefit the same way that you did?" Note what I said. I didn't say, "Can you help me? Can you give me someone I can call and bug?" Yeah, that's not the right way. That sounds like I'm begging. Instead, I'm saying "Be the hero. Don't be my mercenary, don't go do my bidding. Instead, be my hero. You had a benefit, you just told me you did. You know what, share it with someone else. Be a good guy!"
I'm not saying those words, but I'm letting that come across, as if I'm saying, "Don't get something for me, give something to someone else." "It's great, who do you know who could benefit the way you do? The way you [inaudible 00:01:57], the way you did?"
If they say, "Ah, I don't really know anybody," great, move on. No worries. What if they say, "Yeah, I do know someone." Wonderful. Here's the best part. What if that someone is them? You just up sold. "You know what, I need more of your magic. It's me, I'm the guy who needs more." Wonderful. Boom, go into your sales process. You didn't even ask for more business, and you got it.
But what if they say, "I do know someone! It's my vendor, my cousin, my brother," whatever they say. Good. At that point, you have an access question, once they say that. "Oh yeah, I do, my brother. I think so."
"Great, do you think he'd rather be contacted via email, or phone?"
What I did just did is I was asking what this other person would prefer, without saying, "Give me his phone number, give me his email address." It's almost like I'm asking permission. I'm saying, "Do you think he'd rather be contacted via phone or email?"
If the person says, "Well, probably phone." You say, "Great, that's wonderful. Can you make an email intro for us?" Email intro is the easiest, simplest way for you to get a referral nowadays. He sends an email, she sends an email to that person, copying you, talking about you real briefly, boom. Easiest way to just ask for that. If he says email, "Great, email. Wonderful. Could you send a quick email intro?" No, no matter what, he says phone or email, I'm still asking for the email intro. The asking about phone or email, whether they'd like to be connected that way, is a way of asking permission. It's not pushy.
Now, if this person says, "Yeah, let me talk to him first, I really don't want to do that. I'm gonna call them first," here's what you do. You say, "Great, that'd be wonderful. When do you think you can call him by? Next week? Week after?" Get some type of timeline, because you want them in their head to have a kind of a deadline. You do not want to push this, because you'll ruin your relationship. Just get a deadline.
If the person says, "Yeah, by next week I think I could call Jane," or whatever the case may be. Great, in a week, put it in your calender, do a follow up, "Hey, were you able to talk to so-and-so?" If the person either ignores you, or says no, either way, never bring it up again. Let it go. It is not worth your relationship to push on this referral. Later on it'll come in, or it won't. It's okay.
If the person says, "Yes, absolutely I did, here's the result," obviously follow up accordingly.
Again, your referral call to your customers starts as a customer service call. If they say, "We're not happy, something's wrong," fix it. If they say, "We're happy, it's great."
"Good, who do you know? Who could benefit the way you do?
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Larry Sharpe
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