Referrals can be a valuable tool to fill the pipeline. Referrals are often given from a place of trust, respect, and character. Therefore, this can shorten the length of the selling processes because it makes the initial conversation easier to generate and the referral will listen more intently. Because referrals often come from a place of confidence, it is essential not to abuse the referral and threaten future referrals.
Here are a few things you definitely want to consider doing with a referral.
Be Referable
Customer satisfaction and customer service is key to being referable. It is not just about meeting the customer's expectations but exceeding them. When a client refers you to another business, they are attaching their name to yours. You can do everything right when asking for the referral, but if you and your business aren't exceptional and worthy to have their name attached, you won't be referred.
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Respect the Referred
You have been deemed noteworthy and received a referral from your client. However, this does not suggest that you can spam the referred individual with phone calls, emails, or other methods to create a conversation. The goal should remain the same: to build a relationship, create trust and close the opportunity.
The new customer’s experience will encourage them to give you a referral. Remember, the worst thing that can happen is this new referral tells your client never to refer you again because of the way you approached the situation, ending this relationship and future referrals.
Focus on Educating
When engaging with a potential contact, do not over sell. A Referral is not a slam dunk. They want a solution to their problem. Therefore, sharing knowledge and offering valuable guidance in solving their problem will produce far greater results. Implementing a prospecting approach aimed at providing your expert proficiency in the market, is informative, and geared towards teaching first will allow you to close later.
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Referrals aren't easy to come by and you want to take advantage of every opportunity presented. Contact Science has years of experience mastering the process of designing the perfect pursuit plan to maximize every opportunity. Many often mistakenly believe that referrals are a slam dunk. Thus, they give little thought to the process of reaching out to these individuals. However, while certain leads such as referrals are often easier to generate conversations, they are certainly not slam dunk.
A well-designed best practice geared specifically towards referrals will increase efficiency and create a higher success rate.