The Art of Asking Recommendation (a proven method)
The business world is fast-moving and taking a quantum leap. Business models that worked in the past are less effective today. Previously we invested lots of money in multiple channels to reach the customer which delivered fairly good results. Today these channels are becoming more expensive if we want to reap the same results as in the past.
Marketing Budget
Marketing budgets are not always increasing so we need to find new or revamp old ways to connect with our customers and prospects. One of the ways that is getting a lot of attention is existing customers referring people who could be interested in our services.
Limiting Beliefs
Most salespeople are not at ease with asking a customer for a referral. Certainly not when the customer just bought a product or a service. What stands in the way is limiting convictions such as ” The customer just made a purchase, I cannot ask him for a referral, it is not decent” or ”I am not used to it, it’s not something I would do” or “You can only ask for referrals after the customer is super happy with our products or service.” So, the first thing to work on is changing limiting beliefs. That is not an easy one.
Our behaviour stems from our convictions, values, education, etc. You could run 50 training sessions on obtaining referrals, but not much will happen if we do not turn around these beliefs. But how? One pathway is asking yourself the question “If I do not request a referral, what will be the impact on my business?” Some call it the default future pathway, in other words, if you do not change your behaviour, where will it bring you in the end? I urge you all to perform this exercise also for other aspects of your life that you would like to change. In the case of referrals, it is an easy one. Your business will decline and will get stuck like a boat in a river without water. This decline will be silent most of the time and remain unnoticed until the day it really strikes you. Doing this exercise, we develop a sense of urgency which is needed to move forward. Once you reach that point, you need to find out the ‘how to’, how to get referrals.
Truth Telling
Personally, I believe that we need to prime the mind of our customers by stating that a big part of our business is brought in by our satisfied customers. As I am a big believer in the trust model of conversational intelligence, you can only use this technique when it is the way you get referrals. Telling fake stories will not work because your customer will feel it, rapidly. You need to be authentic. This is a sample of persuasion or even pre-suasion techniques.
Professional approach to obtain referrals
Once you have closed the deal with a customer, just ask him or her if you may ask some marketing survey questions about your company. Tell them that the mission of your company is to deliver outstanding quality on all fronts. Asking this will be much easier if you delivered a top sales visit, so you need to walk the talk. Meaning that you need to reflect high standards of quality to be credible.
People are much more willing to answer survey questions. Questions such as “What are your suggestions to optimise what we are doing today? We would love to hear your feedback” or “Is everything crystal clear now, can I help you with something else?” Now ask your customer the following question: “Dear Mr or Mrs, would you be willing to help me out?”
Most of the customers will say yes because it is human nature to help others, it gives us a great and good feeling. Then explain what you are doing in your territory (starting up, growing, expanding, etc.) and explain what exactly you are looking for so that the customers do not need to dream up what you really want as a referral.
The clearer the picture of what you are looking for, the clearer it will be for your customers to find friends who are confronted with the types of problems for which you can offer a solution in a state-of-the-art manner. Once you have asked for a referral, leave some time for your customer to reflect. Use the famous silence technique, with other words, shut up and listen. This is very difficult for most salespeople.
Sometimes it is highly recommended to show how you want to assist the referral. Show pictures, videos or other materials of your work to illustrate how they will benefit. Know that the mind is highly visual, and we need to put mental post-its in the mind of our customers.
Tell them that the people they refer will receive a free demo, free advice, a free situational analysis that has some serious value for them without any obligation. Doing this will motivate them more to give you names. Also, the fact that you state, ‘without any obligation’, will help you even more to get referrals, because some people are going to be afraid that you will be too pushy to make a sale and that this will impact their good relationship with their family or friends.
So again, if you demonstrate a professional approach, you will pave the way for more referrals. You will reap what you sow, so sow in a state-of-the-art manner from the beginning till the end. Set yourself apart from the pack. Demonstrate top level attention and care. When you are showing the pictures, please tell the story about that customer. What was the situation, what were the problems, how did this impact their life, what was the solution, and how did the customer feel about it afterwards? Create positive vibes for your solution.
Another way is knocking on the door of neighbours where you will be working and explaining to them what you are going to do in the next weeks, so that they are not surprised one day to hear a lot of drilling or other noises. Doing this shows respect for people, which everybody appreciates. Meanwhile, leave information materials about who you are and what you do. This will attract their attention. If you have other suggestions, please feel free to email me or call me now. Wishing you great success,
Alexander Nijs