One "Secret" to Closing More Business and Getting More Referrals

Is this really a "secret" or just an under-utilized strategy? You decide for yourself.

When someone decides to become your client, there is a huge emotional component to that decision. As they make their decision they are thinking (and feeling) "I think I can trust her" or "I feel I can trust him." A "buying decision" is always emotional at its core. Therefore, in your efforts to convert a prospect into a client, you have to address the emotional aspects of the decision process.

I believe the same is true for getting referrals. When someone, a client or Center of Influence decides to give you referrals, it's just like a "buying decision." There is a huge emotional component.

Therefore, it is important that you employ a strategy to make sure you trigger this emotional component in a very positive way.

"Why Do You Do What You Do?"

In past newsletters, I've mentioned the work of my colleague Leo Pusateri. Leo is the master at helping financial professionals identify and articulate their value proposition.

One thing I learned from Leo is the power of the "why" you do what you do. This simple conversation will activate the positive emotional reaction necessary for someone to decide to work with you or give you referrals.

Therefore, it is imperative that you bring this topic up early in your conversations with your prospects and Centers of Influence. Since most people will not ask you why you do what you do, I suggest you insert it into your conversations. For instance, you could be describing your process or client service promise to a new prospect or COI and then say, "Let me take a minute to tell you a little bit about whyI'm in this business."

And, of course, if someone does ask you this question, I suggest you have an immediate, confident, and succinct answer. With any hesitation on your part, credibility could be lost.

Sample Script

As promised, here are two sample scripts as to how you might describe "the why." There are as many variations to this answer as there are financial advisors. Use these to stimulate your thinking.

Sample Script 1

"George, that's a little bit about what I do and how I do it. I'd like to tell you why I'm in this business. I've found that - for most people - there is a gap between where they are and where they'd like to be in terms of their confidence toward their financial future. I enjoy helping my clients close that gap in their confidence, so that they feel more organized and in control of their financial lives."

Sample Script 2

"Sue, allow me to tell you why I love my work. When I first got into this business, I did it because I enjoyed working with finances - investments, insurance, and such. I also knew I could have a little more control over my time - so I could go to my kids' activities. But it didn't take me very long before I realized how much I truly helped my clients. I saw so many people getting bad advice or no advice at all. You see, money intersects all aspects of our lives. Because of this, I've found that the work I do has a positive impact on all aspects of my clients' lives. This is a very rewarding profession."

Do I expect you to use all or some of this wording? Of course not! Use what you like, if anything and discard the rest. Better yet, write your statement from scratch and from your heart.

Please don't finish reading this issue and say, "That's a good idea, I should do this at some point." Rather, block some time on your schedule - right now - to get this done. Try it a few times and feel the energy in the room change. You'll be sold on this strategy - as I have.

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Narrow Your Focus to Get More Referrals

1. You bring more value to your niche prospects and clients. Niche prospects see the value more quickly and want to work with you. Niche clients experience your value and you become more referable.
2. You can create a reputation more easily in a niche. Most niches/affinity groups have formal and informal ways of communicating with each other. The more referable you are (the value you bring) and the more they know you are targeting their niche, the easier it is to grow your reputation and get your phone ringing with great prospects.
3. You can identify all the players. In many cases, it's easier to identify potential prospects in a niche. For instance, using today's internet search tools, you can easily identify all the owners of a business in a specific industry. You can identify all the high-level executives in a specific company.

Now back to the question.

While women in general may not be a very good niche, you can build a great business staying with woman, but being more specific. For instance, I have met several - very successful - financial professionals who have had great success targeting divorcees and widows. This is not ALL women, but a subset that usually have a great need for a good financial professional.

Because there are no associations or clubs (that I know of) for these women (maybe some support groups, however), it's a bit harder to identify and contact this type of prospect. If you're lucky enough to have a client of this type who belongs to some sort of organization that is populated by divorcees and/or widows, then you might be able to speak at some meetings, create some seminars, and write for their publications.

Another way to get more focused with this niche is with women business owners. There are many things I like about targeting women business owners. The main reason is that woman, in general, and business owners, in general, usually play the referral game more willingly and more frequently. I know of one successful financial professional in New York who says he averages 2.5 referrals per male client and 27 referrals per female client. Now that's some pretty good numbers.

Unlike widows and divorcees, it's much easier to identify your business-women prospects. There are many associations of woman business owners (like NAWBO - National Association of Woman Business Owners - they have local and regional chapters). In addition, they have many types of gatherings, events, publications, causes, etc., that you can leverage to build your reputation.

Many Kinds of Niches

Of course, there are many great niches. I've seen what I'd call "micro-niches" that can be great and even a fun way to build a business. Here are a few standard and creative niches:

1. Physicians
2. Surgeons
3. Dentists
4. Small Business Owners within a narrow industry group
5. Owners of Corvettes, Porches, BMWs, etc. (they have clubs)
6. Horse owners (they have clubs and associations)
7. Dentists that ride Harley Davidson Motor Cycles (Yep! They exist! A narrow and fun niche.)
8. Employees (or executives) within a certain large company in your area
9. Retired individuals from a specific company or industry
10. Teachers
11. Salespeople

Some Action Steps to Get Started

The 4th section in my new book, Get More Referrals Now!, I lay out an entire plan for how to leverage a niche. Here are just a couple of those tactics:

If you've been thinking about creating a niche to target, one way to start (among others) is to look at your existing client base. You may have 2-3 clients in the same grouping. Could this be the start of your niche? You may have a client with whom you really like the type of work you do. Could he/she the first member of your niche?

1. Meet with some of these clients and tell them you are thinking about working with more clients like them. Compliment them by saying something like, "I really enjoy the type of work we've been doing and truly believe I can help other people like you. Can I take you to lunch to learn more about the association you belong to and if your industry (substitute words as necessary) might be a great match for my work?" These are informational interviews designed to help you understand the niche and how to approach it.
2. When you ask these types of client for referrals, get them to think within the parameters of people like themselves. Let them know you are focusing on people like themselves. Ask if their group, club, association, ever brings in speakers. Do they have a newsletter you might contribute to from time to time?

If you want more referrals, simply target a niche or affinity group. If you're a veteran advisor, you may already have a kind of niche working and you just need to formalize your approach. If you're new in this business, going after a niche can be a great way to kick start your referrals.

Most financial professionals - and small business owners in general - are afraid to go after a niche. The fear is that if they just focus on this niche, they'll miss all the other opportunity. While they may miss other opportunities, they'll be so successful they will never notice.

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7 Ways to Make 2011 Your Best Year Yet with Referrals

I'm going to give you a check list of seven things you want to do ASAP to get flow of new clients coming your way - through referrals and other relationship-marketing methods.

1. Set a Goal for how many new clients you want. Okay, nothing new about this idea. Set a goal for how many new clients you want to acquire by being proactive with referrals. Keeping the score raises the score! This goal should be a stretch, but achievable.
2. Determine your behavior necessary to reach this goal. Set some weekly behavioral goals you can track that you know will help you reach this overall goal.
3. Make 2 lists. One list of clients you know you will ask for referrals, and another with those you think you can get the courage up to ask. Start with the first list. Gain confidence. Move to the second list.
4. Determine or refine your client service promise. Have a concrete plan and honor that plan on how you will be staying in touch with your clients in 2011. Keep bringing value in various ways and keep building your business friendships.

5. Attend our F*r*e*e teleseminar on February 1 or 2 with Maribeth Kuzmeski and me. Get your 

    referral strategies refreshed and gain some new ideas as well. www.ReferralCoach.com/teleseminar. 

    6. Make a list of current and possible Centers of Influence. Every week 

   - as best you can - schedule a meal with a prospective or current COI to build your relationship. 

    See The Referral Minute from December 21, 2010 for how to do this. 

    7. Register today for RCI's Client Acquisition Boot Camp in Chicago on April 7. 

    This is one business-building event you don't want to miss. I personally guarantee 

    you will find this day to be one of the best investments in your time and resources you may 

   ever make. www.ClientAquisitionBootCamp.com

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3 Strategies for a Stronger Referral Culture

As you implement any training - use these three strategies as your framework. Stay true to them and maximize them, and you will be pleased with your results. It just so happens that the three strategies begin with the letter 'C.' Perhaps this will make these easier to remember. Of course, I'd love to visit your firm - live or via my video program - when you're ready.

Confidence

Any success we have implementing a new strategy or tactic boils down to confidence. In the absence of confidence is fear, doubt, uncertainty - lack of action. The more confident we feel about a certain action, the more likely we will take that action and have success. So, success with referrals, all aspects of the referral process, is about confidence.

Therefore, it is your job to continually improve the confidence of your advisors related to referrals. Here are a few actions you must sustain over time to build the confidence of your advisors, and the outcome will be a strong referral culture:

1. Script Writing - Require your advisors to write their scripts related to planting referral seeds and asking for referrals. Have them write them "conversationally" by imagining a real client in front of them. Have them read their scripts out loud and tighten them up.
2. Practice / Role Play - Practicing will refine their scripts; allowing the advisor to feel and sound natural when talking about referrals. When should they stop practicing? Not until they have mastered their scripts. Amateurs practice until they get it right. Masters practice until they can't get it wrong.
3. Role Modeling - To build the confidence of your advisors, make sure you and/or all of your managers master the art and skill of referrals. Demonstrate it to your advisors. Ask for referrals when you cover appointments with your advisors (unless you've agreed the advisor will ask).

Consistency

To build a thriving referral culture in your firm, promote consistency of action. You must resist distractions that keep you from the plan. You must help your advisors sustain consistent action.

Here are a few ways to help with consistency:

1. Set Achievement Goals - Ask your advisors to set an achievement goal of how many new clients they'd like to gain between now and the end of the year. This goal must be a stretch (not a goal that they'd reach anyway) and it must be realistic enough that it serves to motivate them. (By the way, I recommend your advisors have this sort of goal year after year, in their business plans.)
2. Set Behavioral Goals - Now that they know how many new clients they'd like through referrals, they have to determine the behaviors necessary to reach this goal. These become their daily/weekly/monthly behaviors designed to produce results.
3. Track Behavior and Results - Don't wait until the end of the goal period to see how they are doing. By then it's too late. Monitor their behavior on a weekly basis. See where their restrictions are. Coach them on how to remove those restrictions.

Accountability - Actually everything mentioned above contributes to holding your advisors accountable for the behavior necessary to generate a steady flow of referrals. Quite often, managers are uncomfortable holding advisors accountable. They take what advisors say at face value and don't probe more deeply to learn "what really happened" on a particular appointment. Give your advisors the GIFT of an excellent expectation. The more you expect from them - in a supportive manner - the more they will expect from themselves - and deliver!

Courage & Celebration

If you're going to create a "culture of accountability" I suggest you balance that with a "culture of celebration." At formal meetings and/or informal gatherings, celebrate the referrals that people are generating. And you don't have to wait for advisors to get referrals to celebrate. Celebrate the asking for referrals (and promoting referrals). Hold contests and other promotions - on going - to elevate the status of referrals and create an atmosphere of fun around referrals.

Help your advisors tap into their own personal reservoir of courage. Take success stories and turn them into teaching opportunities.

Building a thriving referral culture is not an easy thing. It requires a strong focus - sustained over a long period of time.

If you do not yet have a thriving referral culture, don't blame your advisors. It is the leadership team that creates the culture that will allow your advisors to thrive with referrals.

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7 Words to Help You Close More Sales

I have a very quick tip for you this week. However, don't let the brevity fool you. Use this tip regularly and you'll see your production rise. Send me your "thank you" emails when you do!

When you get on the phone with a prospect or a client - or meet with them in person - do you have a desired outcome for the call or meeting that is very clear? Clear intentions tend to produce clear results. Vague intentions tend to produce vague results.

For the rest of your career, before you get on the phone with a prospect or client, before you meet with them in person, think of these 7 words, "What's my desired outcome for this meeting?" (Or phone call.)

Would you agree with me that when you have a clear desired outcome for a phone call or meeting you're more likely to make that happen? The key word is "clear." Do you know exactly what you want your prospect or client to do as the result of your interaction? And if you do, do you create an agenda for the call/meeting that is likely to get you the result you desire? Do you craft the right questions that will get your prospect or client thinking in the ways you desire - and that are in the prospect's or client's best interest?

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One Simple Strategy to Get Referrals

One truth is a standout above all others: Advisors who give referrals tend to get referrals. Advisors who don't give referrals, tend not to get referrals.

Are you a connector? Are you looking for ways to make connections for others and for yourself? It's possible some of your clients could be doing business with each other or just might enjoy each other's company. Do you present yourself to your clients (and others) as a "resource"? Are you paying attention to other consultants, advisors, professionals, and small business owners who represent services and products that you may be able to bring to bear on your client relationships?

Give Referrals Properly

How you give referrals has a direct impact on how others give referrals to you. Here are two "rules of thumb" to follow when giving referrals:

1. Give referrals carefully. Make sure the service/product provider you are referring is a competent and trusted resource. Take a little time to insure a good match.
2. Make strong connections. Don't just give out names and phone numbers and hope the parties connect. Make sure the connection goes through. Giving out names and phone numbers is a nice gesture, but no value has been transferred until the connection goes through. When I give a referral, I always create a reminder that pops up in Outlook a few days later to make sure the parties have spoken.

When you take the time and effort to make sure the referrals you give get connected, others will do the same for you. How you give referrals models how others should return the favor.

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How to Build a Referral Network Utilizing Social Media

Social media is a great medium in which to build relationships, trust, friendships, business contacts and most important to the readers of this blog, referrals! The best marketing for your business is other people saying good things about your business, thus referring them to you. This is why building referrals is key.

How do you best accomplish this utilizing online social media?

Your first step is to start by being social. You need to talk to people and then add something of value to their lives. Do not try to sell them your product or service. Once people get to know who you are and find you trustworthy, they’ll be more likely to be interested in what you have to offer. Make them want to find out more.

Where are the best places to build referrals in social media?

• Twitter
  Talk, share, add value
  • Update
  • Communicate
  • Find more people
  • Wash, rinse, repeat. In that order.
• LinkedIn
  Answers, join groups, be social
  • Join groups and share your expertise.
  • Answer questions in LinkedIn Answers. Show you know what you’re doing, create a solid track record, and create a desire to find out more of you.
• Online Communities
  Message boards, forums, Ning social networks
  • Add a signature that says one sentence about what you do and a link to your website. Fill out your profile completely.
  • Add value to these communities, make people want to come to you instead of you chasing them down.

• ReferralKey
  It should be obvious that since I’m writing here on ReferralKey, that I would recommend their system. After all, it’s free and helps you build referrals off of each other where you all have the same goal in mind.

The common theme that I preach here in social media is that you must add value to your network. If you aren’t adding something, what can you take away? Leave the members of your network with the desire to tell others about you and your business. Create raving fans; don’t be a sales man, be a service man.

This article was written by Kim Fenolio. Kim Fenolio is the Interface Monkey and New Media Super Hero at America’s Best Companies (ABC). ABC is a national-level small business association offering hundreds of discounts, advice, information, tips, and other resources on small business issues that can be used right away to start, grow, and manage their businesses more successfully. Kim has been personally working successful social media strategy since the 1990s and is helping ABC realize success in that medium as well.

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