The referral generation process we are about to share with you can transform your month, your quarter, your year, and your career. It should be at or near the heart of your prospecting plan. Learn it! Practice it! Use it! Share it with your organization!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Step 1: Pick Your Referrers.<\/strong> Identify five people, five centers of influence, five clients, five friends. Pick the label that works for you. Whatever you call them, you want five folks you can see yourself having this discussion with. Write their names down. When you\u2019re done, move on to Step 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Step 2: Identify Value Transactions.<\/strong> Salespeople bring so much value to their current customer base. The big (and often unanswered) question is, how do they leverage that value? Starting the conversation about referrals can begin with laying the groundwork for a value transaction. Maybe you\u2019ve heard of something called the law of reciprocity: If you do something for them, there\u2019s an implied obligation they should then want to do something for you. So you look for situations where you\u2019ve already done something for the person. When somebody says, \u201cOh my gosh, Rory. That was so darn helpful.\u201d That\u2019s the start of a value transaction. By the way, if you know you\u2019ve provided value and people haven\u2019t proactively mentioned it, you can always say, \u201cJade, let me ask you. Was this helpful?\u201d When they say, \u201cOh my gosh, it was tremendous. Thank you so much,\u201d that\u2019s an acknowledgment of a value transaction. Don\u2019t limit yourself to the value that\u2019s been created after six months, a year, two years, where you\u2019ve already delivered all the results. In many cases, just by leading others through a sales process and discovery, you\u2019ll find you can start that value transaction. Our guess is that you have a whole lot of these to choose from. Look for the areas where you have served and overserved each of the five people on your list. Write the examples down for each, and put a star by the example of highest value you delivered for each individual. For instance: Did you shorten someone\u2019s time to market? Did you reduce their employee turnover? Did you help them identify an inefficiency or an example of waste in one of their processes? Did you introduce them to someone who was able to help them achieve an important goal? Only people to whom you\u2019ve delivered significant value should show up on this list. If you need to revise your list to get it back up to five, do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Step 3: Plan Your Referral Approach. <\/strong>In our experience, it\u2019s the lack of a written outline for this conversation that is the primary reason salespeople either don\u2019t start this discussion or execute it badly. Consider the following approach. Review it closely, then use it as your model as you write one that feels natural to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You: Jade, if you\u2019ve got an extra minute or two, I\u2019d like to ask you about something that\u2019s important. Do you have an extra minute or two?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Note that you\u2019re not saying, \u201cOh, by the way, do you know anybody who I might sell to?\u201d That\u2019s a throwaway. You don\u2019t start a conversation that you want the listener to give full investment and attention to with \u201cBy the way.\u201d You\u2019re introducing a topic, identifying that it\u2019s important, and getting a time commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s next? Think back to that value transaction. You\u2019ve got this great relationship. You know you don\u2019t want to impose, but you do want to have the conversation. The thing to do is set up an agenda for the conversation you\u2019re about to have that leverages the value transaction in a subtle but unmistakable way. Establish an agreement about the purpose of the conversation, an agreement that references what you\u2019ve done for this person. Again: This is not a hit-and-run, not a \u201cby the way,\u201d but an important discussion that\u2019s worth setting up mutual understandings around. What it could sound like is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You: Jade, I\u2019ve been thinking. I know we\u2019ve had a great relationship, and you\u2019ve always been appreciative of the work we\u2019ve done. If you\u2019re open to it, I\u2019d like to take those few minutes to brainstorm with you and even perhaps create a short list of people who are in your network who you think may be open to our work and could be a good fit for the kind of things we do. Is that something you\u2019re comfortable with?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The beauty of starting the conversation in this way is that if they say, \u201cHonestly, Rory, it is not something I\u2019m comfortable with. I just don\u2019t like to get into other people\u2019s business,\u201d you don\u2019t lose any relationship juice. You then get a chance to say, \u201cHey, Jade, that\u2019s why I asked. I appreciate you, and I appreciate the relationship. No worries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But you know what? If you\u2019ve actually delivered value to this person, that\u2019s probably not<\/em> what you\u2019re going to hear. It\u2019s much more likely that they\u2019ll say something like, \u201cSure, that makes a whole lot of sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Step 4: Paint a Picture. <\/strong>Continue by saying something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You: Would it be helpful, Midori, if I painted a picture for you of the three to four types of people who typically are the best fit?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Good news: We predict a 100% yes response to that question.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prospect: Sure.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You: Great. As I\u2019m describing these types of people, if anyone comes to mind that fits these criteria, just jot the name down. That doesn\u2019t mean it makes sense to introduce me. You and I can decide that later.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This takes all the pressure off. Again, notice that you are not holding a gun to the person\u2019s head and demanding names. Why are you offering criteria rather than just suggesting that the person recite a list to you right now? Let\u2019s answer that question by posing another one. What are you having for dinner next Thursday night? Maybe you\u2019re struggling to answer that question, as most people would. That confusion, that uncertainty, that disconnect, is what people feel when we ask them, \u201cHey, do you know of anyone I can talk to?\u201d They don\u2019t know. It\u2019s not on their radar screen. So they\u2019re likely to say, \u201cI really don\u2019t know. Tell you what, let me give that some thought, and I\u2019ll give you a call.\u201d Those are calls that never come. What you\u2019ve got to do is tap into their brain by painting a picture and giving them some time to think. Here\u2019s how the conversation might proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You: [Briefly outline an observable characteristic of your ideal client.] Anybody come to mind? Anybody who it may make sense to talk to?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t rush it, slow down. Let them work on it. The key to making this a productive conversation is taking your time. If you do that, the conversation might proceed as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n