This short article looks at how referable your business is. Only one in five clients are asked for referrals, reflecting a lack of confidence from the supplier. Written by Nathan Williams of Customer Return this article provides some though provoking commentary and ideas. (PDF file, 2 pages, 402 KB)

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Unformated preview of the document: 'Are you easy to refer clients to?' (Part 2):

about the value they're receiving – they need to articulate it
so they 'sell' themselves into the idea of referring you. If you try and tell them about the value they've received,
it will likely fall flat. It's a 'value discussion' not a 'value telling' seminar!
Do you make it obvious through your website, marketing collateral, email signature etc. that you are a referrals
based business? Or do your clients think that you don't need any referrals? Some people think they always
need to look busy and that generating a conversation about referrals makes them look desperate. Get over it!
If you don't make it obvious that you welcome referrals, then don't expect to get them from your clients.
When should I ask for a referral?
There are multiple opportunities to ask for a referral in the client lifecycle, all of which should be recognised as
part of your client contact process. These opportunities may include when you teach your client something,
when you get them thinking in different ways and when they buy from you. Each of these steps should be
associated with some common ideas on how to first foreshadow the idea that you may ask for referrals once
you've delivered value and 'earned the right.' This way, when the conversation does occur both parties will feel
more comfortable.
Delivering value and listening for 'value recognising statements' is the key concept here. Find a way to deliver
value early, sometimes in ways that may even be unrelated to your business that shows you are thinking
about them – sometimes prospects can be a source of referrals if handled correctly.
Importantly, continue to deliver value after the client has initially engaged you through an ongoing client
contact program that keeps you informed of what your client thinks about your service and provides with the
right to ask for a referral on an ongoing basis. You're not 'closing the sale,' you're just 'opening the
relationship' and the referral discussion should continue beyond the ongoing transaction.

Unformated preview of the document: 'Are you easy to refer clients to?':  Part 1, Part 2