Referrals
Why some happy clients do not refer you
Part 2
In the previous blog, I spoke about the importance of communicating (to your clients), your desire to receive referrals from them. I mentioned 2 tips – establishing your desire to receive referrals upfront (when you sign a new client) and shifting your focus from the benefits you receive from referrals, to the benefits your clients receive by working with you.
It’s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day running of our businesses and roles, but if we can take a moment to reflect and think about our marketing strategy, we can make some significant leaps in how effective we are in attracting more of our ideal types of clients.
So today, I would like to share with you my take on the next reason why happy clients may not refer you.
#2 – Your clients do not know who to refer to you
If your clients do not know who to refer to you, they are likely to avoid setting up introductions for you or will be likely to refer you to unsuitable people.
This applies to many other situations in our lives, for example if you are looking to date a new partner, you might ask a handful of friends to set you up with people they know. But unless you provide your friends with some criteria of the type of person you feel most compatible with, they will instead of set you up with people who they assume you’d like to meet instead of who they know you’d like to meet. When you provide some insight into who you’re most attracted to and who you want to date, the chances of you being setup on a date and actually hitting it off with that person, will greatly increase!
In our businesses, we all have a picture of who our ‘ideal’ type of client is. There are a certain set of characteristics that our ‘ideal’ clients possess, for example, a client of mine who coaches corporate team performance is ideally attracting leads that match these parameters:
Action-takers
Decision-makers
Human Resource Directors OR Heads of Human Resource Departments OR Senior-Level Learning & Development professionals
Working in large organisations
Based in Sydney
If he were to ask his clients to refer him without providing them with this criterion, he knows he will be referred leads of varied suitability and varied compatibility when it comes to the services he provides.
This can cause a lot of headaches because of the time, effort, energy and resources that he allocates to helping his leads and nurturing his leads, on their way toward becoming a client. Preferably, he’s only allocating resources to those people that he’s best suited to working with and those that are existing clients. Thus, it is of great benefit to both he and his clients, for him to be clear and forward in communicating his ‘ideal’ client criteria when discussing referrals.
Stay tuned for part 3
[3-Dec-2020]
Why some happy clients do not refer you
Part 1
The right types of high-quality and high-value referrals are absolute gold! When you compare referrals to the types of leads that you attract via your advertising, website or other forms of marketing – you know there’s a considerable benefit to attracting more referrals to your business.
The constant need to attract leads who match your picture of an ‘ideal’ type of client, is a very common challenge. So, in this 4-part series I’ll be helping you by talking about the 4 core reasons why a happy client may not be referring new business to you.
If the 4 reasons are not addressed, the likelihood of you receiving a referral decreases significantly.
#1 - Your clients don’t know you want referrals
If you have reluctance to communicate with your clients that you have a desire to receive referrals, then you’re facing a common challenge. It may seem simple, but when your clients are given the green light to refer you, they instantly become more inclined to actively match you/your services with the problems/needs of their family, friends, colleagues and associates etc.
When your clients know you want to be referred, they become more forward in endorsing and recommending you.
Why is it that we can shy away from talking about referrals with our clients? Understandably it can feel a bit icky or awkward to ask your clients to help you generate new business, but the key is to shift your focus from the benefits you receive each time you are referred, to the benefits your clients receive from working with you.
Another important tip is to establish your desire for receiving referrals, during the onboarding process when you initially sign a new client. So that way, not only are your clients thinking about referring you from the get-go, but they are also anticipating that you will discuss referrals with them, and you won’t be breaking new ground when the time comes.
Stay tuned for Part 2…
Referral Marketing
A referred client will buy faster, spend more, be easier to deal with, stay with you longer and be more likely to refer you forward.
Referrals are the lifeblood of many businesses and realising how impactful they are, it makes sense to take a deliberate approach to adding referral programs to your marketing activities.
Often the time spent advertising and promoting your brand, can be better spent bolstering the support you provide your existing clients. So shifting toward a referral based business, can make an enormous impact to your bottom line.
Earn your referrals, don’t just expect them…
Ask yourself - have I earned the right to be referred? Ask your clients - have I earned the right to be referred?
This is the very first step. You need to deliver on what’s promised and become the person that your clients want to refer to their network. This will not only make asking for referrals easier, it will bring about more willingness to participate and a sense that your clients are gifting their network and doing their network a favour by recommending you.
How to view referrals
When asking, use the term “introductions”. It’s more friendly and personable, and it’s exactly what you want.
Aim to have your direct referrals delivered via an email introduction - but be mindful that not everyone is on top of their email inbox. But, you need to promptly respond and be right on top of your inbox especially when it comes to referrals. This demonstrates commitment to helping them moving forward.
What to ask?
When asking for referrals, make sure you paint the picture of the exact type of person you want to be referred to. Don’t leave it up to your client to guess who you want to be introduced to, otherwise you’ll likely be disappointed. Their job is to match-make you with your ideal type of client.
Think about it this way for example, if you’re looking to purchase a new vehicle and you approach a car dealer without sharing the context of your situation, the purpose of the vehicle, why you’re buying it, your budget etc, they will recommend a vehicle to you based on assumptions, guesswork and their own feelings.
And typically, you wouldn’t be satisfied with the outcome. So, to match you with your ideal vehicle that you want to buy, they’ll ask you questions and find out (for example) the car will be used to transport a family of 4 to and from school, weekend sport and occasional holidays up the coast, before recommending an SUV to suit your budget.
So, write out a sentence or two that describes your ideal type of client and clearly communicate this to your referrer.