5 little words that yield big referral results

Many advisors swear by a simple and subtle phrase that seems to work wonders in generating referrals. The magic words? "Don't keep me a secret."

This success story from an advisor in Princeton, N.J. demonstrates how effective this little conversational add-on can be.

An elderly client and his son came in to handle the affairs after his wife had passed (she had been the primary contact in the relationship and the CFO of their marriage). The son was overwhelmed with the help that we provided with not only the assets that we managed but also outside assets. We made our laid back comment at the end of the meeting about not keeping us a secret if they knew someone that we might be able to help. Within a few weeks we sat down with the father's niece and we're in the process of bringing in about $500,000.

Bill Cates explains that this phrase is a way of "planting referral seeds" (Horsesmouth, free registration required) with your clients. It lets them know that you are interested in referrals and also lets you express confidence in yourself and your value in a lighthearted way.

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