If you arm yourself with the following not-so-typical
"rules of referrals," you'll soon be selling large,
without ever making a cold call again! That's because the
person you're being referred to will be forty percent more
likely to buy from you than from others in your territory. (By the
way, if you haven't yet read my last article, "The
Ten Commandments of Referral Generation," take a look at
it after you've read this column.)
There's no doubt about it: Your chances of getting referrals
go up exponentially if you start asking your current customers for
the following specific categories of names:
Typical
- Your customer's customers
- Your customer's suppliers
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Not So Typical
- Your customer's board of advisors
- Your customer's board of directors
- Your customer's owner, CEO and/or president
- Your customer's "line of business executives,"
also known as vice presidents, CFOs, CMOs, CIOs and CTOs.
As soon as you're given the referral name, I strongly
suggest you ask your customer the following questions:
- What is it about [Ms. Green] that makes you feel she may be
interested in my
[ideas/solutions/products/results/track-record]?
- Do you know what [products/services/etc.] she's currently
using?
- Can you tell me if [Ms. Green] has any of the following goals,
plans or business objectives for the balance of this [month,
quarter, half, year]? Then mention several ideas/areas/solutions
that you have a track record in providing.
- What can you tell me about [Ms. Green's] personality?
- What's her assistant's name?
On a roll? If your conversation is going well, you may want to
ask this $1 million question:
"Could you give [Ms. Green] a call and let her know
I'll be calling her at [9:00 AM] on [Tuesday
morning]?"
Or, if you're really willing to go for it, here's the
best option of all:
"Would you mind calling Ms. Green while I'm here and
introducing me to her?"
Maneuvering the Speed Bumps
By my count, there are two potential referral obstacles to be on
the lookout for:
1. If you notice that your customer--or anyone else--is
reluctant to give you a name or two after you've asked for a
referral, it's possible they're not clear about what you
can offer the other person. Don't be too compulsive: In some
cases, asking too soon for a referral will cause
greater-than-necessary delays in getting what you want. You can
hedge your bets by testing the water. Try this:
"Mr. Smith, let me leave you with this thought. Please
don't keep me a secret! If there's someone you know that I
might be help in a similar or even greater way, I'd love to
have you introduce me to them in the very near future."
2. Your customer--or anyone else--is concerned that they'll
hear something like "Why did you sic that salesperson on
me?" from whomever they referred. So try this:
"If you like, you can call Mr. Brown and let him know
I'll be calling. Or, if you think it would be better, we can do
a three-way call or all meet for coffee on Thursday or Friday
morning."
Understand in your heart of hearts that asking for referrals
will:
- Make the person you're asking a hero in the eyes of the
person you're being sent to.
- Create a deeper business relationship between you and the
person you're requesting the referral from.
- Create greater business loyalty between you and the person
you're asking for the referral.
- Increase your win rate.
- Totally eliminate the need to ever make a cold call again.
Use what you've learned here to lower your cost of sales,
and remember: The person you're being referred to is
two-and-a-half times more likely to give you the name of another
referral!
If you've got any questions about this or any other sales
situation, don't hesitate to give me a call during my Entrepreneur Sales and
Marketing Show on internet talk radio, Fridays between 9 and 10
a.m. PDT.
Tony Parinello is the "Executive Sales" coach at
Entrepreneur.com and has become the
nation's foremost expert on executive-level selling. He's
also the author of the bestselling book bearing the name of his
sales training program, Getting to VITO, the Very Important Top Officer, 10
Steps to VITO's Office.He is also host of Club
VITO, a weekly live internet broadcast.