Generating Referrals

Hasn’t that week flown by! I’m so excited to share Key #6 with you because it can make a HUGE difference to your business.

We all understand the power of referrals. They are high leverage, they allow you to skip the time and financial investment involved with sourcing new leads and fast forward the sales process with most of the selling been done for you. They allow you to speak to more qualified people who have a genuine need and interest in your services and they come with implied trust, giving you a head start in winning their trust and business.

While we can both agree on the power and necessity of referrals in our businesses, you might be wondering how you can generate more? You aren’t the only one! In fact, many of the clients I work with have this same pressing question, and here’s what I tell them.

Ask

It seems obvious, but you would be surprised at how many people are too shy or embarrassed to ask! While some clients and referral partners will refer to you without you having to ask, others will need prompting and if you are great at what you do – just ask.

If you feel strange about asking for referrals, build it into your processes.

Get your timing right

I’m often asked, “Is there a good time to ask for a referral?” The answer is yes! You don’t want to ask for a referral at any given point; you want to ask after you’ve provided value.

So the next time you have saved a client money or time, solved a problem, eliminated headaches or provided peace of mind – that is the time to ask for a referral.

How do you ask?

I believe it should be the last step, after you have provided great service, helped the client with what they came in for and more. Although it’s the last step, it’s the smartest step you can take at the end of a successful appointment.

If the client is happy with the strategy, service or solution you have provided they will see your services as valuable. So with this frame of mind, they will be open to think about who else you could help. I often get Planners to ask clients if they know anyone else in a similar situation to them. As most people can relate more to this question, it’s easier to think of friends and family to refer.

Establish referral partners

If you want to increase the number of your referrals significantly, then you need to establish referral partners. Referral partners are the people or businesses who will supply you with a stream of referrals – not just one or two every now and again.

To find a great referral partner you need to share a similar target market. Ideally, you want to partner with a person or business your client will go to before or after you (think lawyer, accountant, real estate agent, banker, to name a few).

Keep in mind that it can take time to build trust and confidence with your referral partners. But when you do invest in a relationship with them and prove to them that you will take care of their clients, it can open up a stream of new business to you. And finally don’t forget to refer back to them…building referral partners is a two way street.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the 6 keys to high performance financial services email series and that you’ve taken away lots of easy to implement tips to improve your performance.

Our Online Financial Advice Sales Framework will be launching in just a few short weeks! As a special thank you for being a loyal subscriber you can access the Ignite program (find out more about it here) for the  special rate of $399 (including GST) – but be warned, it will only be this price for a limited time only! PLUS! As a bonus you’ll also receive a full diagnostic which establishes the baseline of where you are now, gets you crystal clear on your future goals, looks at the potential performance of your planners and what you as a business can work towards.

If you have any questions about generating referrals for your business or want to have a chat about the Ignite program and how it could help your business, please feel free to contact me on the details below.

Have a great week!

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