I’ve been getting Bill Cates’ “The Referral Minute” ezine for a while now.  His information generally focuses on financial planners but can often be applied to other businesses as well.  Yesterday he shared these 10 tips for asking for referrals.

10 ways to Get Referrals Without Asking

1. Reminder of Confidentiality. “George, there’s one thing I want to run by you. Many of my clients like to introduce me to others whom they think should know about the important work I do. I just wanted you to know that should that opportunity present itself to you, the work we do is always kept completely confidential. They will never learn about your financial situation from me and vice versa. Does that make sense?”

2. Who You Serve the Best. “George and Martha, there’s something I want to mention to you. Many of my clients like to introduce me to others whom they think should know about the important work I do. Should that ever come up for you, it’s good for you to know for whom our processes are best suited. These days, our practice is geared toward successful couples like yourself. They usually have children, but not always. Generally they have a combined income of over $100,000 - some of my clients are even in the $400,000 range and more. While I don’t expect you to know someone’s exact financial situation, you probably have a sense. Does this make sense?” [Note: Your profile range may be different, but you get the idea.]

3. How I’ll Contact Them. “Randy, quite often my clients like to recommend the work I do to others whom they care about. Should that ever come up for you, I thought you should know how I usually like to handle those situations. First of all, I don’t like to surprise people with a phone call from out of the blue. I’ve found that everyone seems to feel most comfortable when they know I’ll be contacting them and have a sense of why.

“So, if you identify someone you think I should contact, please come to me first. Together, we’ll figure out the best way for us to approach them. We’ll do it in a way that suits your relationship and feels comfortable and natural to everyone. If they are interested, we’ll likely meet for a no-obligation review - as you and I did initially. If they decide they don’t care to move forward, I assure you I won’t pressure them or become a pest. That’s just not my style. How does all this sound?”

4. “Don’t Keep Me a Secret.” I’ve been teaching this simple phrase for over a dozen years and I’ve been impressed with two things: 1) how many financial professionals are using this phrase with great success; 2) how often it results in a referral conversation right on the spot. It never hurts a relationship.

5. Willingness to Give Referrals. This is a great technique to get a referral conversation going with anyone who is a small business owner, salesperson, or anyone who needs referrals for their business. “Frank, you sound like you do pretty good work for your clients. Tell me, if I ran into a good prospect for your business, how would I know it and how would you like me to introduce them to you?”

6. Celebrate Referrals. Every time you meet a new prospect through a referral, celebrate it. Talk about the person you know in common.

7. Who Should I Thank? Put the following message on your voice mail. “This is Mike Smith. Sorry I missed your call. Please leave a message at the tone. And if you were referred to us, please let us know who we need to thank.” This sends the message to all who call you that you get referrals on a regular basis - you are referable, and that you have an attitude of gratitude.

8. Never Too Busy. Here’s a simple one. Just say to your clients “I’m never too busy to see if I can help your friends, family, or colleagues with the important work I do.”

9. Earn the Right. Tell your clients something like the following (early in the relationship), “One of the ways I know I’m doing a good job for my clients is when they tell others about me. I know the only way that happens is from me providing first class advice and first class service, and I hope that at some point, you will trust me and the work I do well enough to tell others. Fair enough?”

10. By Referral Only. Have “By Referral Only” printed onto your business card. When you hand someone your card, write those words on it. It sends the message of importance and exclusivity.

It’s important that you’re not obnoxious about asking for referrals, and it’s equally important that you find soft ways to keep the topic lively in your clients’ awareness. Promoting referrals in the above ways will do just that. You’ll never hurt a relationship, you’ll plant a very powerful seed that can bear fruit later, and you will often walk away with referrals on the spot.

These tips are from his new magazine, Referral Abundance.  You can get the complete article for free by downloading the magazine.

It’s a numbers game.
Networking for business is more about being a farmer than a hunter. While you may occasionally run across that perfect prospect and close a quick deal, more often than not, your network will be the gate keepers to a whole other world of people. Let’s do the math here.

Let’s say, as “they” do, that we all know, on average, 250 people. Now let’s say you attend a networking event and meet 10 people. Would you rather get immediate business from those 10 people by being a pushy salesperson, or would you rather nurture a new relationship, be a giver and gain access to 2500 people that you would not otherwise have access to?

Of course, meeting someone for 5 minutes at a networking event is only the start. Next week we’ll talk about follow up.

A recent SendOutCards user sent in this testimonial.  This is from a mortgage broker who had moved locations and sent out a notice to past clients.

“Your program has already gave us 2 new mortgages with only sending out a change of address notice. Soon I will be sending out more cards.”

1. I have to take a trip to the store.
2. Greeting cards are too expensive.
3. I can’t find a greeting card I like.
4. I don’t know their address.
5. I want my greeting card to be more personalized.
6. It takes too long to send out cards.
7. I forgot.
8. I can’t find a stamp.
9. There are too many people on my list.
10. I don’t want to harm the environment.

Did you know that services like SendOutCards can help with all of the above reasons? Check this out.

1. SendOutCards is all online.
2. SendOutCards offers greeting cards for as little as 62 cents per greeting card.
3. SendOutCards has over 13,000 greeting cards to choose from in 300 categories, more than 3 times the average greeting card store.
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6. The SendOutCards system is fast and easy to use. You can send out a greeting card in less than 60 seconds!
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8. SendOutCards prints, stuffs, stamps and sends your greeting cards for you.
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This information is from an article published in Success From Home magazine, Vol 4, Issue 10. If you would like a free copy of this article, please contact me.

I think, if you asked most people whether networking was more about building relationships with the end goal of accessing their  potential circle of influence or if it was more about closing an immediate sale, most people would agree with the former.

But there’s an old saying, actions speak louder than words.  I find it fascinating that a large percentage of people I meet with won’t return my calls or call back saying “not interested” if they don’t have a use for my product even when I make it clear that my goal isn’t to close them.  I’d rather just show them what it is I offer so they can share it with those they know if the need arises.  Honestly, isn’t that what we do when we give our 60 sec elevator speeches?

Next time you meet someone that tries to sell you something that you don’t need, let them know you aren’t interested but, if appropriate, building a relationship might be a long term benefit to both of you.