The Secret to Getting Referrals
I appreciate there are two schools of thought when it comes to asking for referrals. I also know every salesperson is told to ‘ask for referrals’ or ‘don’t forget to ask for referrals’ or ‘as soon as you make the sale, ask for a referral’.
I read a great article by Jeffrey Gitomer and he said these statements are not only wrong, they could also jeopardise the future of your relationship. First of all, why are you ‘asking’ (begging) for a referral? Second of all, why 
are you asking when you haven’t earned anything?
I love that he said what I always believed deep down – referrals are not asked for, they are earned! I felt awkward asking for them and I know my staff did. And holding a stick or a commission cheque over their heads to get them to ask … I don’t think that is the solution.
Here are 5 questions Gitomer recommends you ask yourself:
- What have I earned so far?
- Have I done anything besides make a sale?
- On a scale of 1–10, how strong is this relationship?
- If I asked for a referral right now would it be or feel awkward?
- Why would this customer give me a referral? NOTE: If you can’t think of a reason, neither can your customer.
Then ask these 3:
- What can I do that will get me from where I am to where I want to be?
- Do I have a real referral game plan?
- What are the value actions I need to be (consistently) taking to begin earning referrals?
The questions above are the ones that need to be asked before you take ANY action on getting referrals.
Read our previous blog post ‘Top 6.5 Referral Strategies’
Justin is the Managing Director of Active Management, which he began January 2004. He offers coaching to businesses worldwide in everything from start up and design to marketing and sales systems. Justin also facilitates four Australian and New Zealand ‘fitness industry roundtables’ events, which allows him to see a huge cross section of business models.