Comments on: A Simple Way to Increase Referrals 300%

By: theinspiredsolo

theinspiredsolo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:32:28 +0000

Oh, no, no no … no disagreement here. But at the end of the engagement, a simple “I depend on referrals, and if you're happy with my service I would really appreciate it if you'd pass my name on to anyone you think might benefit from what I do, as long as you feel comfortable with that” works wonders. The key is that you have to ALSO have a very strong feedback loop with each client, established as early as possible (at intake if possible) whereby they feel totally comfortable telling you when something's not quite right, and you act on it pronto.

By: enrolled agent exam

enrolled agent exam — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:17:23 +0000

It is all about the way you ask. If you pull out a pad and pen and say
“Tell me 5 people you know that you think might be interested in doing
business with me” that is the wrong approach. Finesse is the key. Clients
love to help, you just need to tell them how without seeming needy.

By: theinspiredsolo

theinspiredsolo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:26:08 +0000

Also? ASK. I'm constantly surprised by how few of my clients actually do that, explicitly. But when they do ask for referrals, they get them in significantly higher numbers. (One lawyer client suggested a 40% increase in calls to her office for a consultation that specifically mentioned they were referral traffic.)

By: enrolled agent exam

enrolled agent exam — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:47:17 +0000

Clients are your best advocates. The best prospecting you can do is simply keeping your clients happy. Of course, if you have a strategy to get referrals “on purpose” that helps too.

By: ducttape

ducttape — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:18:20 +0000

Erroin – I agree – so before you consider this approach, go to work on creating the experience that stimulates that desire and then you'll never have to think about expecting referrals again

By: ducttape

ducttape — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:17:14 +0000

Before any of this tactical discussion makes sense you have to be referable and adopt a mind-set of expectation – that, I think is where Jonathan's article and tactics come from.

By: jonathanfields

jonathanfields — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:37:02 +0000

Adam, that depends on the business you're in. The beauty of doing this during the organic new-client window is that their own excitement is much more likely to serve as motivation to evangelize. But, as I mentioned, it will be different for each business. I've also done double incentives, where I incentivize the referrer (something like “when you refer 3 new friends who become customers in the next 3 weeks, you'll get X), along with offering some benefit to the person being referred. It's all about testing what will work in your specific industry.

By: Steinar Knutsen

Steinar Knutsen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:26:33 +0000

This is a great approach and something I'm going to implement right away. Seems like a modest investment for great return.