Written by Wayne Davies - This article provided with permission of Online Success Magazine


In an ideal world, your first client will tell two people about you.

These two people will quickly become your second and third customers. They'll go on to each tell two more people about you, and they'll become your fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh customers.

These folk then each tell two people, and so it continues. Before long, you find yourself having to employ staff simply to meet demand.

Pull the other one

Of course, this doesn't happen to most people in business.

Left to their own devices, most of our clients are not going to get refer new business to us. It may not even occur to a client they can help you find more business.

If it's going to happen, you have to make it happen. Here's how to do that...
Getting referrals

Here are the things you must do to get referrals...

* Ask
* Give referrals
* Stay in touch

Ask

It's self-evident, isn't it? Your clients are thinking about their own lives and businesses, and will tend to think about you in terms of what you can do for them.

To get a referral, you're going to need to ask for it.

Some times, the person seeking a referral will ask for names and addresses. This puts the client on the spot, and isn't conducive to a good ongoing relationship. I'm not talking about that kind of referral.

I'm simply suggesting you ask your client to keep their ears peeled for anybody else they come across who needs your service. And when they do, to ask that person whether or not you can phone them.

This ensures the person being referred retains the ability to say no, and your client doesn't put his/her own relationship with the referee at risk.

It also means you're only phoning people who are expecting you to do so. As a result, the entire business relationship starts from a far more positive place.

Give referrals

Find out what type of customers your clients are looking for. Then keep your own ears peeled. Go out of your way to find somebody who needs their services.

When you do, tell them you know somebody who can help. Offer to have that person call them. If they accept, you can now pass on a great referral to your own client.

This strengthens the relationship, and vastly improves your chance of getting referrals back.

The more referrals you give, the more you'll get.

Stay in touch

Asking for referrals, and leaving it at that, is likely to result in zilch. Your clients are busy people, and will quickly forget.

It's vital you stay in touch. For example, the day after your client agreed to send referrals your way, follow up with a phone call. In the phone call, explain you forgot to say what kind of people you're looking for. Outline your ideal referral.

Make sure you describe your ideal referral in less than 40 seconds or less.

This will vastly improve the quality of referral you get.

Email the client after a week, and tell them about a great new product or service you're offering. It only needs to be new to them. It can be something you've offered for years, as long as they don't know about it. Ask the client to keep their ears peeled for anyone in need of the product.

The objective is to gradually build the client's awareness of your business. And gently remind them to keep on the lookout for referrals.

Continue to find reasons to stay in touch. These should be legitimate business reasons. Find a way to include gentle reminders that you're looking for referrals with each contact. Ideally, these reminders will give the referrer new ideas about how they can help you.

It's about empowering your clients to refer new business to you. This means they need to...

* Know the products/services you offer
* Understand the kind of referral you're looking for
* Know how to go about asking
* Remember to ask when they find someone

Don't tell them too much in a single contact. Limit yourself to a one minute conversation about referring new business per contact.

And yes, I really did mean one single minute. This forces you to prepare, and focus on one specific thing you want to communicate at that meeting.

The more you say, the less they'll remember. So keep each contact short and simple.

About the author

Wayne Davies is a web site designer based in North London. He specializes in creating (or converting) web sites that make money. You'll find him here.

** While Builder99 did NOT write the above article he is pleased to include it in this growing list of Power-Blog Directory articles

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