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About the Author

  • Horsesmouth director and resident referral expert Miriam Lawrence is the primary author of the Automatic Referrals action research report and has been helping financial advisors hone their marketing, prospecting, and business planning skills for more than 10 years.

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About Horsesmouth

  • Horsesmouth, the premiere business-building resource for financial advisors, offers new feature articles and tools every business day that help advisors excel in sales, marketing, investment strategy, client service, practice management, business planning, and more.

referral reading & resources


  • Grab CPA Referrals

    How To Grab CPA Referrals by the Dozens
    Daryl Logullo


  • Get More Referrals Now!

    Get More Referrals Now!
    Bill Cates


  • Building Your Multi-Million-Dollar Practice

    Building Your Multi-Million-Dollar Practice
    Peter and Katherine                  Vessenes


  • Endless Referrals

    Endless Referrals
    Bob Burg


  • Grab CPA Referrals

    Attract High Quality Referrals with Distinctive Events
    Michael Brizz

Add a Context of Value to Referral Event Follow-Up

Hosting an event for clients and their friends, no matter how small the affair, can be an arduous task. There are reservations to make, invitations to send, and not to mention the time and effort taken up by the event itself! But along with throwing an event that is fun for all those involved, it’s important not to neglect an often marginalized part of the process that is absolutely crucial for turning attendees into new clients: the follow-up. It’s during the follow-up that you begin to bring up business, but this can be awkward if you don’t know how to handle it.

During a recent teleseminar for Horsesmouth members called, “Client Events That Work,” Horsesmouth Senior Editor Nicole Coulter fielded questions. One, from an advisor named Shawn in Bethlehem, PA, was focused on the challenge of follow-up: “We have a client event scheduled for two weeks from now. It’s a baseball game. Clients are bringing friends. How do we follow-up with these friends in a way that is professional but not pushy?”

Nicole answered with a creative idea that adds value to the follow-up process and creates context:

“Baseball is an awesome idea, Shawn. I’m a San Diego Padres fan, myself. First off, I would recommend that you have someone there that could take digital photos. Maybe that’s you. But have a checklist of attendees to make sure they get nice portraits of each guest. And if they came together, make sure they get their picture taken together. And you can ask them for their email to send them their picture after the game. Or if you really want to impress them, put it in a frame that has the logo of their team.

We’ve seen this done. Other advisors will put pictures of their client events up on their websites and invite guests to check out the pictures. Or you can upload the pictures to Flickr.com and do the same thing. Send an email out with a link. This is an easy way to initiate follow-up.” 

Using a system like the photo-idea above, you can reach out to event attendees without the awkwardness or pretentiousness of coming from nowhere. Give it a try the next time you get clients and their friends together.

If the topic of referral/client events interests you and you'd like to know more, make sure to check out these articles on the topic (free registration required):

How to Turn a Client Event Into a Referral Event
In a recent Horsesmouth discussion forum, Michael Brizz dished up tips on how to throw a client event that will also attract high-quality referrals.

10 Tips for a Grand-Slam Client Event--Take Them Out to the Ballgame
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks--it's opening weekend in Major League baseball. Here's how financial advisors make their best pitches with the national pastime.

9 Steps to a Blockbuster Client Appreciation Event
Hosting a client appreciation event is an effective way to boost client morale and prospect, but an ill-conceived or poorly executed event can do more harm than good. Learn how to throw a bash that will have clients raving about it—and you.


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"Burn the Boats" to Achieve Referral Success

Burning_boat_smaller I recently saw a blog post by John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing that takes one minute to read, but can literally transform your business and even your life.

Here's the core of it (click here to read the rest):

Sometimes knowing and doing have a hard time intersecting. I learned years ago one of the best ways to get something done is to give myself no choice.

There is a fable that tells about a captain coming ashore to conquer a new land and finding his forces outnumbered 10-1. Seeing this a sergeant asked what they should do, to which the captain replied, "burn the boats."

For example, he says, if you want to do more public speaking, get yourself booked for a speech.  If you want to get in shape, enter an upcoming 10K.

So what are some referral-related "boats" you can burn?  Here are a few ideas:

  • Schedule a referral event and start getting the invitations ready.
  • Book an evening at an exclusive restaurant for a client advisory board meeting.  Then, you can actually set up the client advisory board (free registration required)!
  • Make 5 lunch reservations for two over the next 30 days.  Now find top clients to fill those slots, and then figure out who they know so you can ask for introductions over lunch.
  • Really want to challenge yourself?  Make those reservations for three. Now you need to ask the clients to invite the people you want to meet.
  • Get up from your desk right now, walk into your branch manager's office, and tell him or her that you are going to commit to getting at least 2 referrals per month, starting this month. (Don't have a manager? Call a mentor or close friend whose opinion of you matters, and commit to that person.)
  • Book a lovely vacation for yourself and your spouse for a year from now, with a nonrefundable deposit. This will be your reward for meeting your referral goals and increasing your production.  If you don't meet the goals, you're going to eat the deposit!

As Jantsch writes, it's funny how your priorities can change when you have no choice. Stop choosing NOT to get referrals. Instead, choose success—even if you have to force it on yourself.

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How Do I Get Clients to Bring Friends to Events?

Kvessenes Brie, an advisor in Fort Worth, TX, writes:

We are holding monthly educational dinners and suggesting clients bring guests. We are getting the same clients and no guests. Everyone seems to enjoy themselves, but the response is not what we were hoping for.

We asked Katherine Vessenes to tackle this one. Katherine is president of Vestment Advisors and the country's leading authority on building a multimillion-dollar practice.

This could be a good reason to have a client advisory board meeting. Or you could call a couple of them and run through some questions like this over the phone:

Jane, this is Katherine. I just wanted to get some feedback on our last educational dinner. (Pause and wait for a response).

How did you like the food? What where the top three ideas you got from the speaker? Is there anything we could do better?

(What you are looking for here is a rave review--if it is not a rave, the rest of this won't work.  If it's not a rave, take careful notes and use the criticism to improve your next event.)

Great, well I am thrilled you had such a good time, but can I ask you something personal?   You know the best way we can grow our business is with recommendations from happy, satisfied clients like you. We always ask our favorite clients to bring friends because we think that is the best way to meet them and introduce them to what we do. Unfortunately, none of our clients have been bringing friends to these dinner parties! Now, we know each other pretty well, so I thought I could ask you: what am I doing wrong? What should I be doing to get our favorite clients to bring their friends to our dinner meetings?

Once again, shut up and just let them speak--you will learn exactly what you need to be doing. I suspect this little phone call with your top 12 clients will probably have at least 3 or 4 of them bringing guests to the next event. From there, it starts to snowball.  Good luck.

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Get Yourself a "Networking Buddy"

Public speaking expert Patricia Fripp has this sage advice for getting yourself some good PR at your next event: enlist a co-sales professional, friend, or even a client to form a duo. Attend meetings together, meet people separately, then come back together and introduce each other, like this: 

Suppose Natalie and Fred are secret partners. As Fred walks up, Natalie says to the person she's been talking to,"Jack, I'd like you to meet Fred. Fred has taught me nearly everything I know about sales and our product line. There has never been a sales contest in our company he hasn't won." Then, Fred can say, "Well, Natalie's being very generous. It's true; I've been with our company for sixteen years. But, Natalie's been here for only six months, and she's brought in more new business than any other person in the fifty-three year history of our firm, so she knows a couple of things too. I tell you, you couldn't do better than work with someone as enthusiastic as Natalie."

When you do this, explains Fripp, it lets you say great things about each other that you'd love your prospects to know, but that modesty prevents you from telling them.

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How Do I Get Clients to Refer Friends to My Seminars?

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Marc, an advisor in Durham, North Carolina, writes:

I conduct seminars on a monthly basis with most people coming from advertising in a local paper. I have been conducting these seminars for over a year and have had well over 200 people come through. I know that people get value but I very rarely get them referring their friend or colleagues to the next one. (I put everyone on my email newsletter list). How can I get more people referred to me and my seminars?

We've asked Ginita Wall, CPA, CFP® and CDFA of San Diego, California to answer Marc's question. Ginita is co-founder of the non-profit Women's Institute for Financial Education and author of eight books, including The ABCs of Divorce for Women.

Let me see, how can I put this politely?  Financial seminars are perceived to be boring, even by those who attend them. That’s why they don’t refer their friends.

How to get around this? Offer something wonderful for referrals, or offer something exciting in addition to the seminar. For example, we once did a seminar with a local department store where they provided a personal shopper to show how ten articles of clothing could create a number of different looks, and we showed how to construct a variety of portfolios with the same number of financial products. And of course, we presented first, so the audience couldn’t just see the fashion show and leave.

You could offer a free something to the person who referred the most number of people to your seminars. Or give out movie passes at the seminars, so that people could win them by being there. Anything to cause excitement and get people to come back and bring their friends.

And that brings me to the final point. If someone refers you to a seminar, you probably won’t go. But if someone invites you to come with them, you probably will. So it would help if you offered a variety of seminars, so that people would want to come back the next month. That’s the first step in getting them to bring their friends.

Here are more ideas to help you put on seminars and other events that will inspire clients to bring their friends along (free registration required):

How to Turn a Client Event Into a Referral Event
In a recent Horsesmouth discussion forum, Michael Brizz dished up tips on how to throw a client event that will also attract high-quality referrals.

The ABCs of Client Education Workshops   
Tired of the same old seminars that don't yield much business? Client education workshops strengthen relationships with your best clients, often for a far lower cost than a typical seminar. 

4 Steps to Filling Seats at Your Next Client Event
Top-performing advisors follow this sophisticated, multi-step process in order to ensure successful client and prospect events. Print out this plan now so you can follow it during your next client or prospect campaign.

7 Ways a Unique Seminar Location Boosts Business
You wouldn't jump at the chance to spend an hour in a hotel conference room—why should your prospects?

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The Simplest Way to Get Referrals

In the most recent edition of his Referral Minute e-newsletter,  Bill Cates suggests the following "7 Simple Ways To Get More Referrals"—all of which have come from actual advisors who are successful referral-gatherers:

  1. Call clients 2-3 weeks before their birthday and offer to take them and a few friends to lunch.
  2. Valentines Lunch for women—especially widows, divorced, or single women.
  3. Print social cards for retired clients. They no longer have business cards, but could probably use them from time to time. You can put a graphic on it that reflects one of their hobbies.
  4. Host fun bi-annual or quarterly events for single clients and their referrals (focus on the fun, not finances).
  5. Invite women to "High Tea" at a fancy hotel.
  6. Become a Resource Center for your clients. Gather the names of CPAs, attorneys, painters, HVAC, plumbers, handymen (who actually return your call and show up on time), etc.
  7. When your client is in your office, have your assistant take their car for a wash. (Bill warns that you should be careful and always go brushless, because "some people are VERY particular about how their car is washed."

These are great ideas, but one caveat.  Most of them (the exceptions being those events where you invite clients to bring their friends) are NOT ways to get more referrals.  They are, in fact, ways to delight your clients. 

You want delighted clients, don't get me wrong.  But I don't want you to fall into that all-too-common trap of thinking that if you just do a good enough job at client service, you'll get all the referrals you could ever want without ever bringing up the topic.

Not true.

The truth is, only a small percentage of clients will refer proactively, even if they think you're the cat's pajamas.  Most people are busy thinking about their own problems and schedules. They're not walking around with you at the top of their minds, waiting to shout your name from the rooftops.  But nearly all of them WILL be more than happy to introduce you to their family and friends... IF YOU ASK.

So first and foremost, YES, delight your clients!  (Here are nine more creative ways to do that... free registration required.) But make sure you also learn to identify great prospects in their networks and ask for introductions.  Because THAT is truly the simplest way to get more referrals.

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How do I Get Clients to Refer "Up"?

We're continuing to revisit some of the great questions we received during our Referral Clinic and Blogathon in May and June.

Ginitawall Ginita Wall will be responding to today's question, which was sent in by Caragh, an advisor in Syracuse. A CPA, CFP® and CDFA practicing in San Diego, California, Ginita is co-founder of the non-profit Women's Institute for Financial Education and author of eight books, including The ABCs of Divorce for Women.

Caragh's question: My client has quite a few friends and associates who are much wealthier than her, but she is more comfortable introducing us to people closer to her worth level. How do we get her comfortable with referring us up?

Ginita Wall's answer: Well, let’s look at it from her perspective. "Who am I to give advice to people who are more successful than I am?" she is probably thinking. And in a way, she’s right. So the trick is to move it from a professional referral plane to a more social one.

Here’s an idea: When her birthday rolls around, tell her you’d be happy to host a celebratory luncheon in her honor at a local eatery for her and five of her friends. And you might even suggest some names of her friends (if you know them) that include the wealthier ones, as well as those nearer her income level. You are looking for an introduction, and a social context is great.

Here are some other social events that have been successful:

  • charter a boat for a ride around the lake
  • take a special group tour of the local Wild Animal Park
  • sponsor a spa day in a local hotel
  • afternoon tea at a local hotel

Anything that will get her off the plane of thinking of introductions being in a strictly business context is great.

Good luck!

Editor's note: One advisor, Phoenix-based wealth manager Becky Gaylor, actually used an idea like this as a full-on marketing strategy. For one year, she hosted birthday parties each month for top clients, at a budgeted cost of roughly $1,000 per event. She phoned the clients a month in advance and offered to host a party for them and 10 to 12 guests as a way of saying thanks for being one of her best clients. Five years later Gaylor says she's still getting referrals from these events.

You can learn more about Gaylor's strategy and other great marketing ideas in Nicole Coulter's Horsesmouth article The Best Marketing Money I Ever Spent (free registration required).

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Meeting "Ivy League Moms" by referral

Mombabywork_2 According to HNW Wealth News, researchers have uncovered a brand-new demographic niche: "Ivy League Moms."   These are highly educated women who have left high-powered careers to stay at home with the kids for a while.  They're affluent, they are quite involved with the finances in their households—and guess how you need to find them? 

Yup.

Direct mail "won't work" to drum up business" in this niche, according to consultant Ekaterina Walsh, the author of the study. "Ivy League moms tend to use referrals to pursue most of their needs, whether for hairdressers, doctors or schools."

Walsh goes on to explain that special events can be quite effective with this demographic segment,

"but they have to be 'made over,' Walsh says. Going to a local restaurant will work if it's painted as a night away from the kids, and providing childcare for the event is a plus. These women crave adult conversation, so tacking on a cooking class, book discussion or even a second workshop based around their issues, such as re-entering the workforce, can draw their attention."

Take a glance at your client list. Do you have any "Ivy League Moms" in your book?  If so, you can bet they know others just like them.  If you have even a few, consider a special "invite a friend" event. Think about holding it in a unique place (free registration required), and/or partnering with another businessperson (what about a spa owner? High-end hair stylist?  vineyard owner?) to make it special and memorable and make your guests feel pampered. That's something stay-at-home mothers also crave!

You can also try a daytime event at a location where children can come along, but make childcare available.  Partner with the owner of a high-end toy store or children's clothing store, for example, or a Gymboree franchise.

The article describes some specific financial topics that may appeal to this demographic.  And don't forget that many "Ivy League Moms" have started part-time businesses from home, too, so this niche could still work for you, even if small business advice is your real area of expertise.

Finally, while you should always acknowledge client referrals, Walsh's research found that a nice "thank-you" is especially important with this group.

"Any referrals these moms send the adviser's way must be rewarded. 'Send a thank you card and maybe offer them a free trial of an ID-theft protection service or waive fees on the account for three months,' Walsh says. 'Any client would appreciate that, but it's a short cut to the heart of Ivy League moms.'"

Interested in this niche? Here are some additional resources that you may find useful (free registration required):

Case Study: Wine Tasting—How to Attract Affluent Clients
This top producer is sipping the rewards of a recent dinner and wine-tasting campaign, which yielded more than $15 million in new business. Not bad for a couple of hours of networking and less than $1,200 in marketing expenses.

Rookie Case Study: How to Build a Niche Serving Women Investors
When this successful insurance advisor made the leap into full-fledged financial planning, she focused on building a specialized practice for women. Here'show the rookie is making it work.

Money Clubs—A New Way to Reach Women Investors
Looking for a way to tap into the women's market? The new Money Clubs could be the resource you need. Here's how to get involved.

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Competing with Other FAs for CPA Referrals--How to Be First Among Equals

Welcome to Day 9 of our Referral Clinic and Blog-a-thon.  We asked advisors to send us their toughest referral challenges. Now we're featuring the best, along with solutions from top referral experts and veteran financial advisors. 

Today's winning question was submitted by Leslie B., an RIA from Houston, Texas. Way to go, Leslie!

DaryllogulloDaryl Logullo, founder of Strategic Impact, will be answering Leslie's question. Daryl helps advisors attract more clients using direct response, strategic alliances, and client referral strategies.




Question: "I have a CPA who is willing to refer her clients to me. She would give them my business card and suggest that they call me. I think she's at least talking me up a little bit. The other day she said that she gave a client who had just inherited some money my name. Of course the client hasn't called, but the client called the other advisor she also referred to. The CPA says to me, "I'm really sorry my client hasn't called, but it looks like she's going with the other advisor. I told the client that she should really talk to two advisors, since she just inherited over one million dollars and has never dealt with money before."

I just wanted to scream!!!! If I had known that this was a million-dollar client, I would have offered to take the two of them to lunch or something. How do I get the CPA to let me call on the referral?"

Daryl Logullo's answer: Make sure whenever ANYONE mentions they gave your name or card to someone, you enlist their help in the follow-up process. Common cutesies and courtesies aside, handing out your name to people can do you more harm than good. So no cold handoffs, okay? Leave those for January NFL football games—not the "game" of referrals.

Here's how to handle this next time.

You first need to understand that there are certain trigger events that may cause a CPA to think of you. The key to this is making sure you focus on the process that would cause the CPA to think of you and, as you put it, "hand out your information." The name of the game is not the CPA "talking you up." It's about their having a raging desire to tell the client they need to do everything possible to meet with you. This is only accomplished by the CPA becoming a referral advocate on your behalf, so when they hear their client has a problem, they do all that is possible to literally insist the client meet with you.

Which begs the question: How do you transform a CPA from "safe-shaker" into assailing advocate?
One of the easiest ways is by a strategy that involves "T-F", or increasing your Talk Factor. People, including CPAs, are most apt to talk about events, activities and experiences that were memorable to them. But the problem here is that you haven't created such memorable events for the CPA.

No sweat.

Think right now about what can you do to perform an activity for a CPA—or group of CPA locally, in your city or town—in a way that they will always remember you. This entirely depends on your line of business, of course. For example, if you're in a small, rural town in Western Montana, you might not have a lot of options that involve coordination of events or activities, as you would, say, where I'm at, here in the seaside town of Vero Beach, Florida.

Nonetheless, some examples I have seen include serving as volunteer chair on a local CPA society's golf tournament, hosting an art tour together with charitable tax strategies advice at your local art museum, inviting a CPA to become a contributing columnist to your monthly newsletter, even co-sponsoring your own "Jane Doe's Money For Kids 101," in your local schools.

Can you see how these events could create T-F about you?

Now, I want to address this issue of a person, or in this case, a CPA, blindly handing out your name, business card, or whatever it was. Next time a CPA mentions any semblance of "talking you up" to others, you need to react by saying, "That's fantastic! That's great. Thanks for thinking of me. Tell me: What's your relationship like with this person?"

Assuming the CPA says it's good, ask him/her if he/she's willing to participate and perhaps even arrange a three-way meeting. If the CPA is willing to get involved, this signals a greater commitment to making the meeting happen. It's also a better introduction.

All of this supposes, of course, that you ingrain into the CPAs mind the need for them to contact you and keep you up-to-date on sources of new business for you. People don't always do this, which is why it's appropriate for you to make the rounds at least monthly.

Creating memorable events each month can do this for you, and boost your T-F.

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Got questions or thoughts about today's challenge or Daryl's response? Post a comment.

Golf your way to more referrals

Bizgolf 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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Get more referrals by being a "connector"

Connector_2  Chris Holman, the Prospecting Professor, posted a great item last week about The Interesting People Dinner, a brilliant marketing strategy devised by a Minneapolis law firm.  The firm used some very creative and slightly theatrical methods to invite a select group of "interesting people" to a dinner, with the express purpose of helping them connect with each other.  It was all about the guests; in fact, no attorneys from the firm even attended, although all attendees knew who their hosts were.

This type of event is something an advisor could easily adapt, which is of course why Chris posted it.  Financial advisor Cella Quinn of Omaha pioneered a different but equally successful dinner party concept of her own a few years ago.  Her goal: help C-level women executives connect with each other. 

Cella took a mental inventory of the biggest companies and institutions in Omaha. She then composed a list of the highest-profile women who worked in these organizations. "They had to be top decision makers at companies, universities, hospitals, or nonprofit organizations," she says, adding that only 10% were current clients. Then she brought the women together over dinner at her favorite country club (30 of 32 accepted the invitation) and helped them get to know each other.

The evening was such a smash, the women decided to do it again… and again… and again.  They've been meeting every month for five years now (and the members all pay their own way).  For an initial investment of $1,000 and some time, Cella Quinn has brought in 17 new accounts, five of which are worth more than a million dollars.  But she didn't do it for business, Cella says. "I reached out to them as friends." Get the details of how she put together that first dinner in Nicole Coulter's case study, "Create Your Own Elite Dinner Club" (free registration required). 

Something like this doesn't have to be a women-only event.   The only key point is that the guest list must be exclusive, because that is the draw for successful people.  In that regard, Quinn's "10 Club" sounds a lot like the Interesting People dinner party.  Both show the power of facilitating valuable connections among important or influential people.  And both are designed expressly for social purposes—no sales pitches or marketing allowed.   

Which makes sense. When you're the mastermind who's helping others create abundance (free registration required) in their lives, there's no need to talk about yourself, because your actions and initiative speak volumes. The clients will flock to you. Referrals won't be far behind.  And you'll have a blast in the meantime.

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How to turn referral event guests into prospects

Wine Ronald, an advisor from Canada, asked a great question a few days ago:

I intend to have a nice client event, like a wine tasting event, for clients and guests. How do I convert the referral guests without turning it into a pushy sales event?

Another advisor actually asked a similar question a while back on a Horsesmouth discussion board called How to Turn a Client Event Into a Referral Event (free registration required). Here's what referral expert Michael Brizz had to say:

The transition begins with the background information you get on who is coming BEFORE the event. You want to be prepared with conversation starters and know something about their situation and ways you might help. During the event, initiate conversation that will allow you to follow-up. It could be a simple as talking about their golf game and you have a terrific article on some aspect of golf you can send them, info on a camp for their kid, or info on retirement. Use your conversation at the event to get a "hook" that will allow you to  follow-up. Find a way to do a favor for them. Do it, and then in your follow-up, ask for the appointment. 

You can take this a step further, too.  One way is to provide a simple informational packet to each attendee, including a financial questionnaire.  This strategy worked very well for advisor Ron Carson at his wine tasting event:

"Before the meal, Carson gave what he describes as 'the world's shortest commercial' for his firm. He'd left an informational packet, including a detailed financial questionnaire, on each chair, and he asked that guests review it and complete the questionnaire later, at their convenience. In return for an evening of fun and fine fare, he asked one thing from attendees: the chance to see whether he might add value to their financial situation."

Out of 19 guests, 18 completed Carson's financial questionnaire. Seven of the households set appointments, and six became clients. You can read more about Ron Carson's strategy in Case Study: Wine Tasting—How to Attract Affluent Clients (free registration required).

Do you have a strategy for making the leap from referral event guest to prospect?  Share it by clicking on "comments" below. 

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Hoosier networking group shares referral wisdom

If you happen to live in Indiananapolis or Terre Haute, Indiana, you might be interested in what looks like a pretty dynamic networking group, Rainmakers.  And even if you aren't a Hoosier or if you belong to another group, you can still get a lot out of their Shaman’s Guide to Being a Rainmaker.   Here's a little sample of their networking wisdom that highlights the importance of knowing your target market and having a strong elevator pitch:

Sharpen Your Focus

What exactly do you do and who exactly is your customer?  Other Rainmakers cannot refer you if they do not have a clear idea of both your clients and your services.

Bad: "I am a technology consultant"
Better: "I specialize in technology support for companies that do not have an IT staff"
Best – "I offer IT support for companies with no IT staff. My ideal client is an accounting firm with between 10 and 40 employees"

In the ideal scenario, Rainmakers will immediately think of the right connection between the right people, in the right businesses.

A cautionary note: having it doesn't mean you have to flaunt it.  It's best not to make every networking event a personal challenge to see how many times you can repeat your elevator pitch in an hour!  Treat your pitch like your business card; offer it sparingly and focus instead on asking questions and learning about the other people at the event, and finding a few good ones to follow up with (there's a great section on that topic in the Shaman's Guide too).

Let the existence of this upstart group also serve to remind you that you don't have to rely on existing networking organizations—you can start your own, tailored to your own interests and needs.  Here are a few case studies about advisors who have done just that (free registration required):

Case Study: Create Your Own Elite Dinner Club 
Dining with prominent members of the community turned into a networking sensation for this veteran advisor. See how a top producer parlayed a one-time $1,000 restaurant expense into a steady flow of million-dollar connections—and friendships.

Case Study: How to Start a Business Networking Group
Here’s how an advisor started his own business networking group, cultivated an association of lucrative contacts—and tripled his book in 18 months.

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