When you earn an hourly rate and a small commission on something, you could probably care less who comes through the door (or calls your line) and what they purchase. But when you work in an industry where you earn fat commission checks when you close deals, these are the lead of all leads.
What better way to get a client than to have a friend, family member, or satisfied client RECOMMEND your service to someone?! The power of referral and recommendation highly outdoes any amount of marketing money and fancy advertising.
If someone has already used your product or service and puts their stamp of approval to someone says "hey, you NEED to work with _________ because they are the best at _______", it's a win-win situation. The family/friend/client sends you business and shows they trust you, the new client gets to work with someone that they have been pointed to as the expert, and of course, we, the salespeople enjoy the benefits of an easy sale!
There are many ways to earn referrals but there are 2 super important things you need to do in order to get referrals. The first is to go above and beyond expectations and send your client away happy as can be. But the most important and obvious, and of course thus the most overlooked, is to ASK for them. If you don't ask, your referral rate will be super low unless your giving your product or service away, which won't make you any money.
Here's an example: "Hey Mrs. Johnson, I'm so glad we could help you settle all of your debt in so little time. I'm sure it feels so good to have the weight of the world off of your shoulders. Here's a recommendation sheet, why don't you grab your cell phone and scroll through your friends and family and maybe think of 3-5 people who may need be able to benefit from my service, and with your permission, I'll say you sent me their way to offer my help"
It works to get referrals and it works when you call referrals! Also, an alternative would be to have your clients send people directly. Write out 5 business cards with your personal # hand written on the back along with "Referral from: Mrs. Johnson" that way when you meet or talk to this person, you can acknowledge the work you did for Mrs. Johnson and get another fist pump to the finish line.
If you skip this step of asking for referrals, you are only cheating yourself out of extra money and cheating yourself out of helping more people.
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