The ABCs of Automatic Referrals: C is for Client-Centered Mindset

Do you feel like the Cowardly Lion every time you think about referrals?  Does the mere thought of asking make you feel uncomfortable ?  If it does, chances are you think that referrals are about YOU and building your business.

Ironically, not only does that mindset make many advisors reluctant to ask for referrals, it also makes the requests less effective. That's why one of the first keys to referral success is adopting a client-centered mindset.

What does that mean?

When you adopt a client-centered mindset, you begin to recognize that referrals are not all about YOU. In fact, a referral is an opportunity for you to help someone ELSE—a new client—as well as the person who referred you.

Here's an example, a true story we heard from Laura, an independent CFP. One of her clients mentioned in passing that he had a friend who was sick and had to go on disability. A week later, Laura was meeting with the client, and because she’d read the Automatic Referrals report and was wearing her referrals detective hat, she thought to ask after the disabled friend. She asked how he was doing, then mentioned to the client that she has a lot of experience helping people with disabilities, and perhaps she could help his friend.

Laura's client got on his cell phone right then and there—still sitting in Laura's office!— to call his friend and tell him he must IMMEDIATELY call Laura and schedule an appointment.  The friend took the advice. It turned out that he and his wife were quite wealthy, and became clients.

This is a textbook example of the client-centered mindset. But it doesn't have to be about disabilities. Whatever your specialty or target market (free registration required) happens to be, remember that your job is helping your clients overcome certain challenges and achieve certain goals.  Their friends, family members, and colleagues most likely have similar challenges and goals with which you can help.

So, instead of thinking of yourself as scrounging for new clients when you ask for introductions or referrals, realize that what you are really doing (or should be doing) is offering guidance and expertise to the people your clients care about.

You're not asking for help. You're OFFERING it. That's the client-centered mindset in action.

By the way, asking for help is fine too.  It's all in how you do it.

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Golf your way to more referrals

The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana reports on a new company called Gain Referrals "with a simple business model: for a fee, area residents can be partnered with three other players to network over nine holes of golf twice a month. The idea is to allow local business owners to promote their business, learn about other businesses and get leads, all while enjoying two to three hours of golf once every two weeks."

Interesting idea.

Golf can also work as a pleasant way to facilitate introductions from clients and centers of influence. If you use network mapping to determine that your client has a friend or family member who might be a good prospect for you, you can offer to treat them all to a round of golf as a way to get to meet the prospect and build good will too.

If you've had success using golf to build business relationships—or if you'd like to improve your business golf skills—ask a question or post a comment on Horsesmouth's latest discussion board, Golf: Playing to Win Clients! (free registration required) featuring business golf expert Suzanne Woo.

By the way, Suzanne has a business golf blog too. Check it out.

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Center-of-influence referrals require energy and patience

I was struck last week by this passage in Jeff Thorsteinson's Horsesmouth article A 5-Step System For Building Centers of Influence (free registration required):

Some advisors fail to maximize their referrals from professional sources because of their inability to stick with a referral strategy. The fact is, it takes four or five times longer to secure a referral from a professional source than it does from an existing client. If you don't secure a referral from a given source within 12 months, don't give up. Conversely, if you've had some success at first, but then referrals have dropped off, that's not necessarily a reason to change your strategy.

Thorsteinson goes on to explain that you've got to treat COIs like your most important clients. He recommends 20 contacts a year, including a monthly COI-focused newsletter, as well as quarterly events just for COIs.

Is all that effort really worth it? You'd better believe it. For example, take the story of an advisor who started his own business networking group (free registration required). Peter Reuss invested $5,000 and hundreds of hours to get the group of the ground... and his perseverance paid off: he grew assets from $18 million to $55 million in just two years, mainly through referrals from members of the group.

If you understand that referral marketing requires time, patience, and strategic thinking, you can harness its tremendous power. The results will come. Just develop a strategy and stick with it.

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The ABCs of Automatic Referrals: B is for "Back Door"

Let's talk about initial conversations with referred prospects.

I hope you'll agree that where referrals are concerned, protecting your relationship with your referral source is of paramount importance.  It trumps establishing a new relationship with the referral.  That is, in the best of all possible worlds, you'll do both, but if it comes down to one or the other, you care more about keeping your existing client than about getting a new one.

That prioritization should inform the way you approach your conversation with a referral.  You want to make a good impression and get them interested in working with you, but not at the risk of pushing too hard.

One way to accomplish this is to use the concept of a "back door" when you first start talking with the referral.  You explain that you think you might be able to help them, but emphasize that you are simply feeling out the situation and have no expectations one way or another. 

Here's an example of how this type of follow-up conversation might go (with a tip of the hat to Bob Burg).  Key phrases that emphasize your relationship with the referring client and reduce pressure on the prospect are highlighted in red:

You: Mr. Saunders, this is Pat Caruso. Your name came up in a business conversation yesterday with Skip Peterson. I believe you know Skip from the hospital board?

Referred Prospect: Yes, I've known Skip for a couple of years. What can I do for you?

You: Skip didn’t assume you’d be interested, but he was very enthusiastic about a succession plan I helped him set up recently—I specialize in succession planning for privately-held businesses—and he thought you might be interested in doing something similar for your own business, so I told him I would contact you.  Maybe we can meet for a quick cup of coffee and I'll run it past you.

There are two reasons for this approach. One, it keeps the pressure on the prospect super-low. As Bob points out in his article Referrals: How to Set More Appointments (free registration required), most of us automatically get defensive and resistant if we feel someone is trying to "sell" us—and when we're feeling defensive and resistant, we're not open or listening.

Two, providing a "back door" makes you more attractive to prospects, because your credibility and desirability increase when you sound like you don't need the business. You're animated and friendly, of course, but without pressure or urgency.  Burg calls this lack of attachment to the results "posture."

Obviously, you should find words that fit your personality and style.  Just remember that the goal is to generate interest without applying pressure.  Assure prospects they're not cornered, and they'll be much more likely to listen to what you have to say.

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Take a walk and get some referrals

Here in northern Vermont, we endure about six months of winter every year. Sure, we get to ski... but that doesn't help much in March, when the ground is muddy, the trees are bare, and the thought of having to bundle the kids up in a snowsuit yet again is enough to send everyone who can find the time and money packing off to Florida for a few weeks.

That's why, when you go for a walk on a glorious spring day like today (68 and sunny), complete strangers nod and smile knowingly at you, and you return the grin. Maybe you even say, "Great day, isn't it?" and strike up a conversation.

Yup, days like today are absolutely perfect for cold-walking. And what does cold-walking have to do with referrals, you ask? 

Plenty.

If you follow the rules of networking during your constitutionals, you can learn a tremendous amount about your community by cold-walking—and, over time, build some very strong referral relationships. That's what Henry, an advisor in Ontario, Canada, discovered when he started cold walking in his community of about 14,000.

One of the four case studies in the Automatic Referrals report lays out Henry's success strategy in detail—but in a nutshell, he started walking up and down Main Street, "looking for things that piqued my curiosity." One day, he struck up a conversation with a nicely dressed man on the street, who turned out to be an undertaker.

The two had lunch, one thing led to another, and Henry ended up as a regular at the undertaker's monthly seminars for widows and widowers. Soon, the undertaker began referring business his way. In 18 months, Henry doubled his production from $300K to $650K and brought in $35 million in new assets, including three multimillionaires and seven millionaires—half of whom are referrals from the undertaker he met on Main Street.

Oh, and a side benefit: walking will help you reduce stress and get in shape (free registration required).

Got spring? Take a walk!

New networking organization for women

Periodically, I like to highlight new or interesting networking opportunities for readers who may be looking for something off the beaten track.

If you're a female advisor (or know one) who enjoys getting new ventures off the ground more than joining established ones, Team Women International might be worth a look.  This year-old networking group for women has a number of established chapters in the Western states (especially California) and is looking for members to start new chapters all over North America. 

If you know anything about Team Women or would like to recommend other networking groups, share your intelligence via the "comments" link below.

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Automatic Referrals wants your comments

In case you're new to the world of blogs, I want to make sure you know that you can comment in response to any Automatic Referrals post... or respond to the comments that others make. 

What did we say that made you nod your head, or start fuming?  What did we say that no one has said before? What did we neglect to say? 

To tell us what's on your mind about a post, just find the link that says "comments" below that post, click, and fill in the blanks. 

Your comment will appear for others to read as soon as it's been approved (and we approve pretty much everything, as long as it's not profanity or spam).

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A referral a day keeps the cold calls away

According to Brett Coffman of Matrix Wealth Advisors in Charlotte, N.C., physicians may be among the more challenging clients to serve, but they make up for it by also being among the most loyal.  "They tend to appreciate our advice more than any other demographic," he said in a recent Investment News article. "They tend to be our best-referring clients."

If physicians are represented in your client base, try mapping their networks and asking them for introductions.  By the way, some advisors find that physicians respond very well to the "asking for advice" method.  So you might want to give that a try.

Then, let us know what happens. (If you've already had an experience with asking a physician client for referrals, good or bad, click on "comments" below and tell us about it.)

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Client comfort inspires more referrals

In a recent Duct Tape Marketing post, John Jantsch asked that all important question: could your business be more comfortable?

"Everyone just wants a little comfort in life," John writes.  "I will always be drawn to people and products and companies that just seem to make me feel better. I think really that the whole of the world is looking to do business with companies that aim to transform their lives—even if that transformation is found in the tiniest little thing."

Well, amen, brother.  Who hasn't heard the old saying: God is in the details.  Are you making your prospects and clients feel special and comfortable at every touch point?

In an article on Horsesmouth, advisor consultant Katherine Vessenes talks about how she taught one financial advisory firm to see itself through the eyes of its prospects and clients (free registration required), from the parking lot (where they realized their signage was poor) to the lobby (where the lighting was dingy, the receptionist was AWOL, and the only beverage available was water served in a styrofoam cup). 

If this firm just cleaned up the reception area, changed the paint color and improved the lighting, and ordered some better furniture, Vessenes suggested, they'd be well on their way to at least a par client experience.  For a slightly larger investment—a few hundred dollars for an Oriental rug at Home Depot and some $3 Mikasa crystal glasses—they could begin offering the kind of service that inspires client loyalty and, ultimately, more referrals.

Look around with fresh eyes.  Even if you have no control over certain aspects of the client experience (if, for example, you work in a branch office and can't make changes to the lobby), ask yourself what you can improve about YOUR workspace.  And of course, there's more to comfort than lighting and refreshments, so take a good look at your client service strategy.  These simple exercises can transform your business and amp up your referral flow. 

Here are some resources (free registration required):

Is Your Workspace Giving Clients a Negative Message?
If you've been letting that paperwork pile up, watch out.  A messy, disorganized office sends a negative message to clients and prospects—and saps your energy, to boot.  Here are some tips for giving your workspace a cheap and easy makeover.

A 6-Step Client Service Strategy That Works
A Horsesmouth member called recently and said he needed to create a systematic client service strategy—fast! We said we could help. Here's the action plan.

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The ABCs of Automatic Referrals: A is for Action

I am shamelessly stealing an idea from Thom Singer over at Some Assembly Required.  He recently started a series of posts called "The ABCs of Networking" (which I highly recommend, along with the rest of Thom's blog). 

The ABCs of Automatic Referrals... now that's an idea I just couldn't pass up.  So today marks the inaugural post.  And what better way to start than with the concept of action.

There's a reason that Nike's slogan "Just do it" became one of the best-known taglines of all time.   It resonates. We all know deep down that action is the cornerstone of success, and that sitting around wishing our clients would give us more referrals isn't going to get us anywhere.  We've got to take action and start asking.

The interesting thing, though, is that the very act of committing to improve your referral business can have a positive impact, even before you start making tangible changes in your strategy and tactics.  Marketing expert Robert Middleton alluded to this idea in a couple of very interesting articles in his More Clients ezine.  In "An Intention Experiment," Robert asked his readers to do a simple experiment: choose a positive goal or outcome and write it down as if they'd already accomplished it. 

Further, he asked them to reflect on this outcome each day for a week, all the while imagining themselves experiencing the feelings of satisfaction and happiness that achieving it would bring. 

"I got more email back from this than any eZine in memory," he wrote in his follow-up article, "Beyond Intentions." "People reported that they had received unexpected checks in the mail, gained new clients and workshop participants, etc.... When you finally get out of your own way with the endless stream of negative intentions (which include reasons why not, self-defeating beliefs, limited thinking, and lame excuses) you can actually get around to marketing your business." 

In short, simply forming an intention or making a real committment to get more referrals constitutes meaningful action.  Of course, you must then follow up on your intention with more tangible steps if it's going to have staying power.

We got validation of this concept from a top producer who started getting more referrals almost as soon as she began reading the Automatic Referrals report—to the tune of 10 referrals, each worth more than $1 million, all within a month of reading the report. 

"The remarkable thing is, it's kind of like writing down your goals for the year," she told us of the transformation in her business. "You write them down and you commit to them, and all of a sudden they start happening."

Referral success is within your reach. It's all up to you.  Are you ready to act?

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