Referrals

I never cease to be amazed at the number of people in our business that have no plan for cultivating referrals.  One successful Financial Advisor told me that their team increases their assets under management by about 15% per year just from referrals.  But he gave himself away when I asked him how he did it.  “I don’t know, they just call in,” he said.  The fact is that he is speaking for a large percentage of us.  We all have a referral or two that just “call in” from time to time.  

Every survey of referrals that I’ve ever seen indicates that as many as 80% of our customers would be glad to give a referral.  The same surveys indicate that only about 20% of them have ever been asked for one.  Something else to think about: Almost everyone I’ve ever asked has told me that the best account they ever opened was a referral……….

So here’s a quick math test you can do in your head.  How many “A-List” clients do you have?  Remember the 20/80 rule.  About 20% of our clients give us about 80% of our business.  By that same reasoning about 20% of our clients account for about 80% of our assets under management.  Want to have a great year?  All we have to do is get 1 (only 1) referral from each of our best clients in the next 12 months.  Now Behavioral Style tells us that the D’s and the C’s may not give us any referrals (because they just don’t know many people) but the people persons, the I’s and S’s may give us 4 or 5 each.

The exciting part of this is that we should be able to just about double the size of our “A-List” assets every year, just from implementing a planned referral cultivation program.  Remember, we find what we look for.  Start tracking, today, the number of times you ask for a referral.  And extensive research shows that the absolute best time to ask for a referral is when you are talking to someone.  There is one strategy for doing more business which is guaranteed to work every time.  That is to ask for bigger orders and ask more often.  It is guaranteed to work for you in your referral system too.  The more often you ask, the more referrals you get.  

If you haven’t trained your clients on the importance of referrals to your business, then a letter writing campaign is made to order.  Every letter does 3 things.  It’s a marketing contact, it’s an actionable idea, and it asks for a referral.  The letters are only sent to “A-List” clients.  This will help you take advantage of people’s natural tendency to refer up.  The first letter is a general thank you letter that closes with the request for 3 referrals.  Every time you open a really good account, that person should get your thank you letter within 10 days, asking for a referral.  After that your best clients should get a letter from you at least quarterly.  These letters focus on actionable ideas and then ask for a referral.

Ask and you will receive.  Seek and you will find.  Knock and it will open.  The key is:  You do something.  When you ask, you seek, and you knock, good things happen.  It’s a natural law.

MAKE YOURSELF A GREAT DAY!

Ron Keese