Ask a business owner or high-level executive of a company that doesn't employ an outside sales team (and even some who do) how they garner new business, and the odds are you will hear them say "by word of mouth" and/or "we get a lot of referrals."
Sounds admirable, right? Wrong.
Any company that relies heavily on word of mouth and referrals is a company that is hoping the phone will ring. Even if they are growing, they are missing out on some of the easiest business to close, and they don't even know it. The savvy businessperson knows they can increase their opportunities for new business dramatically with minimal effort if they would follow a simple formula for asking for personal introductions.
Generally speaking, the chances of obtaining an appointment from a straight referral ("Bob, you should call my friend Nancy. Here is her number and email address. I think she can use what you sell") is about 25 percent. That means you will need four referrals for every appointment. You can more than double that to 50 percent. Here's how:
"Bob, you should call my friend Nancy. Here is her number and email address. I think she can use what you sell"
You: "Thanks! Would you mind doing me a favor and ask Nancy if she would be open to taking my call?"
"Certainly! No problem"
You: "I really appreciate that. Just let me know if she'll take my call, OK?"
Then, stay on top of your referrer's progress in contacting Nancy, because often Bob will forget, or he'll call Nancy and get her voicemail, then not really try to be diligent in following up. Bob is not intentionally being neglectful, he's probably just busy! But if you remind him a day or two later, the trail will stay warm.
When Bob gets back to you, whether or not Nancy is open to taking your call, make sure you thank Bob for his efforts. Then, if Nancy will take your call, simply call her and ask her what Bob said that caused her to be open to taking your call. It is a simple question that gets right to the heart of the matter – Nancy's "pain." More often than not, you will soon be booking that appointment with Nancy.
A straight referral is really just a cold call in which you can refer to a common acquaintance. But a personal introduction, such as described above, yields consistent results. Most people who rely on referrals never think to ask for them. So how much more could you sell if you not only asked for them, but asked for the introduction as well?
Simply be intentional about asking for introductions from clients, alliances, prospects, networking contacts, even unsuccessful cold call contacts. If you are thinking "that sounds so pushy," relax. Professionalism means using appropriate body language and tonality when phrasing your questions, and do not pester people. Only ask the same person for introductions every 12 months or so, never more often. Most of them will secretly wish they had the guts to do that themselves.
All you have to do is ask them "If you were me, doing what I do, who do you know that you would make the first call to, to see if they were interested in buying?" Then when they suggest the name of someone, respond with "Would you do me a favor and ask that person if he/she would be open to taking my call?" And then execute the rest of the strategy as indicated above.
Ask for personal introductions, and turn referrals into appointments. You will soon be seeing your sales numbers skyrocket!
Al Simon is president of Simon, Inc., an authorized licensee of Sandler Training. He can be contacted at www.SimonSaysSell.net
