Referrals: how often can I ask?

We got this email not long ago from Terry, an independent in Houston:

I have been trying to incorporate referrals for my business plan. However, I am not sure of two things: 1. How often can I ask a client for a referral and 2. What about clients I have not worked with for a long time (less than a year)?

We hear variations on these questions quite a lot.  Here's what we told Terry.

There is no hard and fast answer to how often you can ask a client for referrals. Like many things, it depends entirely on the client, your relationship with the client, and what types of referrals or introductions you're asking for. Some clients will have a helper mentality—either they'll be very interested in helping you, or very interested in helping the people they're referring. Those people can be approached with more frequency.

In general, though, it's better to be safe than sorry.  Target your referral requests very carefully, so you get maximum "bang for the buck," and don't ask any one client for more than a few referrals or introductions during the course of a year.

If you target your requests properly, you'll have a better chance of actually getting a client as a result. You'll also be raising the client's awareness that you're interested in referrals, so he or she may be more likely to start offering them proactively. Also, if you're focusing your efforts too heavily on any one client, that probably means you're not fully investigating and maximizing referral opportunities with other clients and referral sources. As with investments, it's good to stay diversified!

As for the second issue, it's critical to have a solid relationship with any potential referral source before asking them for something. Give first, get later, is a good golden rule.

If your business is mostly transactional and you've been in close contact with a client but not written any tickets for a while, it may be just fine to ask for a referral or introduction.  If, on the other hand, you literally have not spoken or met with a client for 6 months, your first conversation would not be the appropriate time to ask--unless you're able to deliver some serious value (free registration required) in that conversation ("Mrs. Jones, I just called to let you know your portfolio is up 20% since July") and feel VERY comfortable that they're feeling warm and fuzzy about you.

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