Having a Referral Mindset

Having a referral mindset means that everything you do on a daily bases revolves around the goal of generating referrals.

No matter what type of business your run, if you are trying to get yourself more clients then getting referrals is by far the greatest way to do so. It is the cheapest form of marketing and usually has the highest “closing ratio”. Oddly enough it is also the most difficult and time consuming way to get new clients.

There is no secret behind getting referrals, but I’m going to list four things I do every day in hopes that they will help generate referrals from clients and/or prospects families, friends and co-workers.

1. Create a WOW EFFECT!!

The first thing you should ALWAYS do is provide your clients, prospects, friends, family, strangers, and friends of strangers with the greatest service you can possibly offer……. ALWAYS.

I run into cases every day where I do a quote for somebody’s insurance and I can’t beat the price they are currently paying. I still treat them as if they are my client, and do anything and everything I can to make sure they are paying the lowest possible premium with the company that insures them or to make sure they know which questions to ask their insurance company. Helping somebody save a buck or two even when they are not your client is sure to make you stand out in the crowd of the many others who offer the same service as you.

If you’re lucky, although it won’t happen often, that person will appreciate the honesty and customer service so much that they will be willing to pay the extra couple of dollars every month to you to keep getting that quality of service. More likely though, you will not get the client, but they will refer others to you.

Treat everyone equally important and do your best to help them without worrying about making a sale. Getting a single new client is okay, but having somebody out there telling others how great your service is, that is what you really want.

2. Show Appreciation.

I used to give my clients a $2.00 Tim Horton’s rechargeable gift card. This did not help me get referrals. Why didn’t help generate referrals? It didn’t create a WOW EFFECT (refer to point #1). $2.00 was a nice gesture, but really almost next to nothing.

I just recently came to the conclusion that the idea is good, but needed to stand out a little more. This week I started giving out $10.00 Tim’s Cards to every new client as a thank you for signing up with me. Along with the Tim’s card are a few business cards and a little note thanking the client for their business and kindly asking them to refer anyone to me if they think I may be able to save them money.

I’ve been doing this for less then one week now and it has already generated me more referrals then two months worth of $2.00 Tim’s cards to clients.

You are probably thinking “$10.00. That is way too much money!!” Well that depends what business you are in. I don’t want to get in to how I am paid, but I will say that I only give the card to new clients, which means I’m only spending the $10.00 if I’ve already the commission. Think of it as the cost of doing business.

When was the last time your insurance company gave you a gift card to Tim Horton’s? Most of you will say never. By doing this, you are standing out from the crowd. This however is not enough. You need to always be doing point #1. Giving a gift card is great, but if you suck at what you do, people won’t tell their friends to come to you regardless of whether you offer them free coffee or not.

 

3. Ask For Referrals and Thank for Referrals.

Ask!! It’s as simple as that. People are afraid to ask for referrals out of fear of looking like the stereotypical sales person. I know when I am the consumer, I prefer to buy my services or products from somebody I know trust, and I’ve always found my customer experiences to be better when I go to somebody I’ve been referred to then when I pick up the yellow pages and randomly pick a name.

Also, look at it from the point of view as the person who is referring business. You will always get the greatest customer service from that person you referred business to. Not that you should get anything less, but you know that person will go the extra distance to keep you happy as a thank you for past referrals, and as a thank you for future referrals.

Thank anyone who gives you a referral, no exceptions. Pick up a phone and say “Thank you” every time, regardless of the outcome of the referral.

 

4. The Useful Business Card

I spent a long time trying to find a way to try and make sure my clients kept my business card on them at all times. I finally found the answer in a book on how to generate referrals. It’s such good info I wanted to share it with you.

This works great if your clients have something unique they need to remember, such as a customer number or a 24 customer service number they may need at any time. It depends what your business is.

As an Insurance Broker, it is important for my clients to have their 24 hours claim services phone number on hand. Since I deal with over 15 different insurance companies which means there are 15 different 24 hour claims services phone numbers, I use stick on labels. I place a label on the back of my business card with the claims phone number. The front has my information, and the back has the important information they need on hand.

Every client I have ever given this to has put it in their wallet right away. I’ve just guaranteed that when that client is at work and somebody says “I just got my insurance renewal and they are ripping me off”, my client will have my information on hand to give them right there on the spot.

There is no trick to generating referrals. You just need to do a great job, let people know you want referrals, and make people feel good for giving you referrals.