Have You Earned the Right to Bring Up Referrals?

A big concern that we often hear from advisors is, "I'm afraid that I haven't proven myself enough to my clients to talk about referrals."

I certainly agree that until someone trusts you and believes in you, there is little point trying to position yourself as someone to whom they should refer their family or friends.   However, it's also fair to say that most of your clients would not BE your clients if they didn't feel this way about you.  Many advisors many advisors feel irrationally insecure about where they stand with their clients. This goes back to the whole issue of undervaluing yourself.

If you generally feel secure about your value to clients but have red flags waving about one client in particular, heed them! Hold off trying to get introductions from that client until you've uncovered what's going on, and if your uneasy feelings are justified.  If you have real reason to avoid discussing referrals with that client, you've got bigger problems than referrals—you've got a client at risk, and keeping that client should be your top priority.  Where they are concerned, worry about the referrals later, and focus those efforts on other clients about whom you feel more certain.

However, if you experience these insecure feelings about most or all of your clients, chances are very good the problem is in your own mind—and you need to do something about that.  In addition to doing some referral confidence-builders, another remedy is to start soliciting client feedback more actively.  You can survey your clients, form a client advisory board, or just ask some good questions at meetings and really pay attention to the answers.

When you do solicit client feedback, stay alert for positive comments. They are door-openers for you to discuss referrals.  For example, one advisor who went through the Automatic Referrals Jumpstart Program was conducting a quarterly review with her clients, a married couple who were both medical technologists, and they were marveling at how well their funds had done.  The advisor had been wanting to penetrate this industry and get more medical technologists as clients,  so she jumped on that opportunity and said, 'Do you know a lot of people you work with who maybe don't have this type of portfolio? What about your trade association?' And they said, 'Of course!  We'll send you the roster.'  The advisor got 50-something names and email addresses and phone numbers because she recognized the client's praise and gratitude as a referral opportunity—and because she knew how to ask for referrals in a targeted way.

The articles listed below (free registration required) are just a few of many resources on Horsesmouth that can help you figure out the best approach to getting more feedback from clients—and open more doors for referral conversations.

Survey Your Clients Now!
The benefits of surveying your clients are enormous, and yet less than 1% of advisors have ever sent out a formal questionnaire. Find out exactly what you're missing by not surveying your clients.

Ask Your Clients, 'How Am I Doing?'
If you're not sure what your clients think of you, ask them. Here's a step-by-step approach to using a client advisory council to elicit the most useful feedback from your top clients.

How Well Do You Listen to Your Clients?
Many FAs have no structured method for compiling feedback. Business practice expert Tom Olivo shares strategies for measuring client loyalty and alerts you to its significance for your business.