Referrals COULD be the life of your business.  Referrals SHOULD be –after a certain point — the largest source of leads / new prospects you have coming to your business.  And, while many CLAIM this to be true, for most business owners, they know they need / want / crave more referrals.  And most everyone I talk to is soliciting referrals ineffectively, inefficiently, and without a plan.

In fact, the #1 problem with referrals is that referrals are something most businesses HOPE for, but few businesses design a strategy around.

So, first things first: If you are HOPING for more referrals, take it a step further.  Plot and plan for referrals.  Put a strategy around it.  Choreograph your own referral process.  HOPING is not a business strategy.  Ever.   So, what should a referral strategy include?  We’ll get there.  But, first, a pitfall to avoid, from a filmed-long-ago, 3-minute video.  (btw, I HATE my hair here… but the content is good. ESPECIALLY if you’re offering your existing clients X number of dollars off… for each referral.

Okay, so we now know that the HEART of a solid referral strategy can NOT be asking our clients to give us referrals for a small portion of the money they bring us in new sales, new prospects, new patients back.  Moving on…

A solid referral strategy should include ALL  the following:

• A welcome packet for new clients/ patients / customers that begins to quietly set an expectation that their results will lead them to naturally refer to you;
• An answer to WHEN you’ll ask for referrals. (Often times, we ask only after we’re at the tail end of our work with our clients… or worse — only when we’re desperate for cash.  BOTH are wrong.  Ask when your clients are MOST excited about the work you’re doing with them.)
• An answer to HOW you’ll ask for referrals.  Literally, what will you say? And how? Will you do it via email? phone call? face to face meeting?
• An answer to how they’ll introduce you to their friends.  DO NOT LEAVE THIS TO CHANCE.  Choreograph this for them.  Make it easy. Make it fun.  Steve Burton is a financial planner in my area who I have not worked with… but he has this Ruth’s Chris dinner that he hosts for referrals. And who doesn’t love a dinner at Ruth’s Chris? I worked with a mortgage broker years ago who had a number of smart referral strategies… balloons at work after a closing, dessert parties / game night for new home owners.  How do YOU want to be introduced to new prospects? Via an email where both you and the referred are CC’ed? At a live event?  PRESCRIBE how you interact with referrals.
• An answer to what’s in it for them.  Don’t be lazy and just give them $20 or a starbucks gift card.  Think deeper.  What can you do for them? How can you reward them?  How can you make SURE they know they are making a difference by referring you?

Tell us what YOU do to solicit referrals? And what do you do for your referral sources? What will you do differently starting today?