Kensei Partners

This is something most sales professionals do not do nearly enough of.  Some professions are built off this approach 100%.  If any of you have bought life insurance you know exactly what I mean.  These guys are relentless about asking for referrals from everyone they know and every time they see you.  I have known my life insurance guy for about 5 years and to this day he asks me for referrals every time we talk (which is why I try not to talk to him all that often…sorry Mike .  We don’t have to take it to that extreme but asking for referrals, regardless of what you’re selling, is something we all need to do far more of because it is the easiest way to get to talk with someone.  We talk about this in our training – executives respond to internal referrals (someone inside the company) 84% of the time and external referrals (someone from outside the company) 44% of the time.  They respond to cold calls or cold e-mails less than 20% of the time (and I think this is being extremely generous).  Regardless, the referral is always more powerful than going in cold.  That’s why Linked-in is such an unbelievable tool to use for prospecting.

You can ask for referrals to almost anyone.  Ask you best customers if they know any other peers int he industry who might value your services.  Ask points of contact within your existing accounts for referrals to other departments.  When you have a good conversation with someone over the phone about your services but there doesn’t seem to be a fit, ask them if they know anyone who would be.  When you are at an event don’t hesitate to ask people who they know who you should be talking to.

Start by setting a simple goal for yourself of getting 1 referral a day and see what happens.  If you set some goals and start to incorporate this into your daily routine it will eventually become a habit and therefor much more natural.   And we all know, once it becomes natural it starts to click and gain momentum.

Also, make sure you have something to offer in return when asking for referrals.  It doesn’t have to be a referral.  It can be information, ideas, insight, whatever.  If nothing else, always ask someone what you can do to help them and make sure you remember and thank the people who help you.  This is a small world and the old “what goes around comes around” philosophy couldn’t be more true in my opinion.  The next good conversation you have with someone ask for the referral and then ask what you can do to help them and see what happens.   Good luck selling!