I’m back with another insight to share from Dan Kennedy on getting referrals for your business.  As I’ve mentioned before, I subscribe to Dan Kennedy’s NO BS Marketing Letter and it’s always full of ideas that I can implement in my own business as well as with my clients.  This month, he’s written an article about how to ask your customers for help in getting the right kind of referrals. Happy reading!

The Secret Key To Getting Referrals

There has never been any argument in advertising circles that the most effective business advertising is word-of-mouth advertising.

That’s why direct selling is so dramatically successful as a method of marketing every imaginable product and service, and why direct selling is such a great business in which to be.  As a direct salesperson conversationally telling another person why you like a particular product, you are much more convincing advertisement than any TV commercial or magazine ad.

The tremendous persuasiveness of your personal endorsement of a product is what word-of-mouth advertising is all about.  Much to the chagrin of professional ad agencies, such word-of-mouth advertising cannot be purchased.  But you, as a direct salesperson, can put this special type of advertising power to work for your business.

Because you are fortunate to be on friendly, personal terms with your customers, you can enlist their aid in promoting your services.  You can actually turn your present customers into a personal advertising department.  All you need to do is master the right way to ask for their help.

Getting ReferralsDevelop Personal Relationships

If you learn how to properly ask for their help, your customers will enthusiastically go to work advertising your business.  This will help promote your services, lead you to scores of new services, and give you all the valuable benefits of word-of-mouth advertising.  There are two types:

  1. The customer actually becomes an advertising agent and tells others about you and the service you provide.
  2. The customer gives you referrals to people who may be good prospects and allows you to use their name as an endorsement.

Either type can be extremely valuable in multiplying your customer list.  The key is to learn how to ask for help and be specific about the kind of customer you’re looking for.

Let’s imagine you’re a business coach and you work with clients to help them set up systems in their business and have had a positive experience with a client.  Just saying: “If you like coaching with me and can think of anyone who might need my help, feel free to pass on my name” isn’t as effective as saying: “I’m happy to hear that you’ve had success with setting up an automated marketing system.  If you know of anyone who needs help creating automated systems for their business, I would appreciate the referral.”  See the difference?  You’re asking for a specific type of customer that is looking for the exact type of service you provide.

Avoid Pressure

The most important thing to remember is that this kind of help cannot be bought from your customers.  It must never seem like you are offering a bribe in exchange for a list of names.  As a rule, people will not “sell” their friends to you.  Offering an “inducement” also might raise doubts about the quality of your services.  If you are as good as your customers say you are, why should you bribe people for their recommendations?

Remember two very important things about human nature: first, people usually enjoy telling others about products they try and like.  Second, people like to be appreciated.  One way they get appreciated is by being helpful to others.  Another way is covered in the next point.

Show Appreciation

Remember, the goal here is thank them for their referral, not bribe them.  They’ll be pleased and will be more willing to refer someone the next time you ask.

The next time you call on that customer you should remember to again thank them for their help.  Report to them on the reactions of the prospects they suggested.  Again, be specific.  Let them know that yes, you did call Mr. Smith and he did become a client and purchased such and such, and that Mrs. Jones was interested but wished to purchase at a later date.

In many cases, after reporting these results, you can obtain a couple of additional prospects from them.

Prospects are the lifeblood of your business.  Your greatest asset in in any type of business, whether offline or online, is your inventory of prospective new customers.  And there is no better way to maintain that inventory, converting prospects to customers, than by using the power of word-of-mouth advertising …with recommendations from your present, satisfied customers.  Put this power to work now and watch your profits and your list of customers multiply.

DAN S. KENNEDY is a serial, multi-millionaire entrepreneur; highly paid and sought after marketing and business strategist; advisor to countless first-generation, from-scratch multi-millionaire and 7-figure income entrepreneurs and professionals; and, in his personal practice, one of the very highest paid direct-response copywriters in America. As a speaker, he has delivered over 2,000 compensated presentations, appearing repeatedly on programs with the likes of Donald Trump, Gene Simmons (KISS), Debbi Fields (Mrs. Fields Cookies), and many other celebrity-entrepreneurs, for former U.S. Presidents and other world leaders, and other leading business speakers like Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy and Tom Hopkins, often addressing audiences of 1,000 to 10,000 and up.  His popular books have been favorably recognized by Forbes, Business Week, Inc. and Entrepreneur Magazine. His NO B.S. MARKETING LETTER, one of the business newsletters published for Members of Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle, is the largest paid subscription newsletter in its genre in the world.