Relieve Your Referral Sources of Their FEAR (Part 2)
Why DON’T people refer?
A firm understanding of why people DON’T refer is one of the keys to getting your customers to refer business to you.
There are a host of reasons for not referring. Maybe your product or service is no good. Maybe your staff is rude. Maybe your customers literally don’t know any other prospects.
Let’s suppose for a minute that none of the above is true - yet people still don’t refer to you. Let me suggest that you have not put their FEARS of referring to rest.
Let’s face it. We are all at least a little anxious about referring friends to most vendors. Unless we’re getting a commission of some kind, most of the time, we have more to lose than to gain by making a referral. Even if we were happy with the product or service we received, the fear of a friend being stalked by a salesperson (or unhappy for some other reason) is often overwhelming.
So what can you do to put your customers’ minds at ease so that they can feel comfortable referring friends to you?
Why not start by telling your customers what will happen when they refer a friend? The conversation may go something like this:
“Tom, as you know, most of our business comes to us by way of referral. And we have every expectation that as our relationship unfolds, there will come a time when you feel inclined to refer someone to us. [REMEMBER THE POWER OF EXPECTING REFERRALS]
When you do, I want you to feel comfortable that you know exactly how we will handle your referral.
First let me assure you that I will personally work with anyone who you refer. And if the timing isn’t right for any reason, I will absolutely never harass or pressure them. We haven’t gotten to this point in our growth by pressuring people, and I don’t intend to start now.
And needless to say, when we do connect with a referral, they will experience the same courtesy and integrity that we have tried to deliver to you.
Lastly, without disclosing anything confidential, I will make it a point to keep you abreast of how my conversations with your referrals are progressing.” [PEOPLE WHO REFER LIKE TO BE INFORMED OF HOW THE REFERRAL IS PROGRESSING.]
This is a pretty simple and generic explanation, but it addresses directly two concerns - the potential that a referral will be pressured, and second, that the referral source will be left in the dark as to the final result.
Clearly, the more detail you can offer on your process for handling referrals and the care you take to ensure a wonderful experience, the better your customers will feel about referring business to you. But the fact that you do this at all will cause you to stand out from the crowd of businesses that invest no thought at all in how to empower and motivate customers to refer.
Tags: sales | referrals | lead generation
Expecting Referrals, Lead Generation, Lead Management, prospects, Referral Marketing, referrals, refer a friend
December 17th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
I had a client tell me he won’t refer others to me because he views me as a “proprietary strategic weapon.” It’s flattering that he values my services so highly. However, it leads to one dead end referrals-wise. Do I write him off as a referral source and just appreciate his business or is there a way to encourage him to think differently?
December 17th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
Meredith,
This is a great question. I would first encourage you to reflect on whether your client is being completely honest. Or, is she more likely to be attempting to escape by way of flattery?
Remeber, there are plenty of reasons why happy clients may not refer to you, and this one may or may not make sense. Do you provide services to firms that don’t compete with this client? If so, what’s stopping her from referring outside of her own industry?
Not knowing what you do, if I had to diagnose this scenario, I would say you probably groped your client for a referral (see my previous post on this subject). What I mean is, you introduced the concept of referring you business too late in the relationship. Generating referrals starts before the sale is even made.
Alternatively, as this post suggests, your client may have unresolved fears about referring to you. You need to discover them.
So here is my suggestion. There is nothing you can do about your timing at this point. But you can address fears. You might consider doing something like this the next time you have the chance.
Mention a recent referral from another client. Then take the opportunity to say something like, “I know you feel like you have strategic reasons for not sharing what I do with others, and I certainly respect that. But in the event that you ever find yourself speaking with someone outside of your market and you are inclined to discuss my service, I want you to know exactly how I handle referrals….”
Then go on to describe your philosophy and process for managing referrals. It is very possible that you may remove the fears that are keeping this client from referring.
I hope this helps.