Why your referral fears are irrational

Does the thought of asking your best clients for referrals make you feel queasy? Do you avoid asking because you're convinced your clients will run screaming, convinced that you're, in the words of one advisor, "a greedy bastard?"

By far, the greatest fear among advisors is the concern that asking for referrals will erode their existing client relationships—that clients will feel put upon and burdened by the request. But this fear is unwarranted. In fact, multiple studies have been done establishing that some 85% of clients are happy to give referrals—if asked (unfortunately, most never are). And in all the years that my colleagues and I at Horsesmouth have been interviewing advisors, we've never once heard a story of damage to a client relationship from asking for referrals.

So, if you're afraid of asking, chances are you have a distorted view of how fragile your client relationships are. You can overcome this challenge with just a small set of mental adjustments. Step back and take an objective and realistic look at your client relationships. For the most part, you're delivering value, right? In some cases, you may actually have changed a client's life—literally. They can retire earlier, or care for their elderly parents, or send their kid to a better college, because of what YOU have done for them.

Unless you have serious problems in your practice, it's probably fair to say that most of your clients like you and trust you and think you're worthy of their friends, family, and colleagues.

After all—if they didn't, would they even be your clients?

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