5 Ways to Showcase your Integrity and Win Referrals

With all the financial fraud that has been exposed in the past year, and with many investors having lost so much money in their portfolios, people want to know that the advisor they are working with is trustworthy—that you are looking out for their interests and wellbeing first and foremost. Likewise, they're certainly not going to refer you in this environment unless they are absolutely able to see and experience your credibility. Longtime clients know they can count on you, but with new clients and if you're a rookie advisor, you need to think about protecting and projecting integrity and credibility, now more than ever.

Bill Cates of Referral Coach International has some helpful reminders on maintaining integrity with clients so that you can keep their business and increase the likeliness that they will recommend you to those they know:

1. Be careful what you say you will do. Be thoughtful with how you give your word. Take an extra moment to look at your schedule or think through the situation. My clients have become accustomed to me making careful decisions. And since I follow through on my word, they appreciate my thoughtfulness. If you say you will have information to a client by 4 p.m. on Monday, get it there.

2. Be proactive when there's a hitch. If there is a good reason why you can't, don't wait for the client to call you. Call him as soon as you know you won't be on time. Keeping promises is essential to maintaining your integrity and building trust-and earning referrals. I guarantee that if the commitment time passes and you don't call, he will remember it. He'll withhold his trust until you prove yourself.

3. Do better than you promise. When you think through the commitments you make to your clients, you'll often have the opportunity to promise a deadline knowing you just might be able to deliver sooner. Give yourself a "save" delivery time, and then come through.

4. Tell the truth. Never lie to a client. Keeping track of the truth is hard enough. With that said, when to tell the truth in certain circumstances is something of an art form. Situations may come up in which the client does not need to know every detail all at once. When all is said and done, though, you should never misrepresent anything to your clients. Always tell them the truth.

5. Clarify—don't assume! When clients give you "fuzzy phrases," don't assume that you're both on the same page about whatever the issue is. Clarify! For instance, if clients say they need something done "as soon as possible," stop and find out exactly what that means to them. When your internal clients (staff or home office personnel) say, "I'll try to get that done," press them to make a clear time-frame commitment. Let them know that in order to keep your word to your clients, you must be able to rely on the word of people who support your team.

See Bill's entire article for more on the topic of integrity (free registration required).

It's Never Too Early to Pursue Referrals

When you have a sizable book, you have the advantage of existing client relationships you can draw on to launch and propel a referral strategy. Clients know and trust you, and they may be more comfortable recommending you to friends and associates.

But what about if you're just starting out or getting back into the swing of things and don't have many clients yet? Jim A., a rookie advisor, had this on his mind when he asked Bob David, leader of the Automatic Referrals Jumpstart Program, “I have only been in the industry a couple of months and I don't have any clients yet. Is [a referral strategy] going to help me start building my client base?” Without a big book to field client advocates from, is it worthwhile to pursue a referral strategy?

The short answer is, absolutely. Just because you don't have a large client base to leverage, doesn't mean you're bereft of resources.

“Remember,” says Bob, “while you don't have a client base yet, you probably know far more people than you think.” Additionally, he offers three methods new advisors can use to build their books and increase referral potential:

• 1. Research tells us that the most important factor in a new client choosing to do business with an advisor is not level of experience—it’s chemistry.
• 2. While you don't yet have a "track record,” you do have a narrative of some kind based on your own life story that can be just as compelling. Why did you get into this industry? What have you done in the past that can translate into success as an advisor?
• 3. Focus on your strengths. What can you do better than the competition even though you have less experience? Clients tell us that listening, for example, is extremely important in their advisor relationship. How about specializing in helping a specific niche based on your past experience? I know a very successful advisor that parlayed his experience with selling surgical products to surgeons to being a FA to surgeons.

It's nice to have a book of clients and strong relationships to draw on when pursuing referrals, but it's far from necessary. Don't wait for future conditions to grant some kind of credibility you think you need. You have your own strengths and knowledge to offer clients and their associates right now.

The 7 Deadly Sins That Destroy Referral Business

Are you sabotaging your own success? Horsesmouth contributor Matt Anderson, president of the Referral Authority, recently shared his list of the top seven worst mistakes advisors make around referrals.  See if any of these sound familiar.

1. Don't know who is giving them referrals. Many advisors don't know where their referral business comes from or why their top referral sources like them so much.

2. Don't know when to ask for referrals. Many FAs ask at the wrong time.

3. Have an unhealthy mindset about asking for referrals. Many avisors develop a negative attitude about referrals, or even outright fear [free registration required].

4. Don't know what drives referral conversations. There are six steps to an effective referral conversation, but many advisors do not know them or consistently follow them.

5. No niche. For FAs, there are enormous advantages to concentrating on a focused demographic. Do you know the five qualities of a good target market?  (By the way, more referrals are just one reason for having a niche!)

6. No strategic referral relationships with other professionals. Advisors must deliberately build reciprocal referral partnerships with other professionals.

7. No system in place for keeping in touch with clients year-round. People think about themselves 95% of the time; they don't sit around brainstorming ways to refer more clients to their advisor.  If you want to get referrals, you've got to stay top of mind.

Are you making any of these mistakes?  Read the entire article, "The 7 Deadly Sins That Destroy Referral Business," (free registration required) and stop missing out on all of those referrals you could be getting!

Touch Referral Sources with a "Thinking About You" Call

One of my favorite prospecting experts, Art Sobczak of Business By Phone, recently gave some terrific advice for anyone trying to cultivate referral sources: "Call people and tell them you are thinking about them."

Simple, right?  Well, yes—and no.  As Art points out, people love to hear they're on your mind, but you can't just call or show up on their doorstep with no good reason to take up their time. He asks if you've ever been guilty of these very poor methods of staying connected:

The Probation Officer Approach: "Just checking in with you..."

The Baseball Opening: "Just wanted to touch base with you..."

The I've Got Too Much Time on My Hands Call: "Thought I'd give you a call to see how it's going..."

Ugh.

The point is, if you're not adding value, you're wasing their time, and yours. 

What you want to do, Art writes, is:

"...call with some news, an idea, something you heard or saw that could benefit them, a sale or promotion they could take advantage of...anything that would cause them to say, 'Oh, that's interesting stuff.'

For example,

'Hi Jim, it’s Pat at Universal Services. I was reading some new performance reports, and I started thinking about you. I realized that you might be interested in what these reports had to say, because of what you mentioned on our last call about...'"

When you read a newspaper or a magazine or a blog, be on the lookout for items that might be of interest to the potential referral sources in your network.  Share snippets of conversation or things you learn from clients and prospects that you think might be valuable to them. 

Better yet, offer the other guy some referrals first: "When Mrs. Jones mentioned this problem with her father's estate, I immediately thought of you and your expertise with this type of situation." 

Find value-added ways to let people know you're thinking of them, touch them regularly, and be patient—and watch the referrals start to flow.

Read Art's complete post, "I'm Thinking about YOU," here.

Five Great Times to Ask for Referrals

One of the referral questions we hear most often from advisors is, "When should I bring up the subject?" Referral expert Matt Anderson tackled this topic in a recent Horsesmouth article, suggesting these five excellent times to talk about referrals:

1. During a formal client meeting, after you've confirmed the value that you've brought to the client thus far.

2. Just after the meeting. For instance, you can casually ask while you're walking to the door of the office or to your cars. Matt says he likes this time because the other person is more relaxed. You're most likely talking about something informal, such as what the client is doing over the weekend. Then you can pivot back to business by asking, "Oh by the way, when we were talking earlier, you mentioned"... and now you get specific:

• Speaking at a company event
• That your parents live nearby
• That you thought your business partner might benefit from doing the kind of work we've been doing

Then ask:

• What would be a good way to organize that?
• Would you mind seeing if they'd be open to a quick conversation with me?
• Do you think the three of us should have lunch sometime?

3. On the phone as you inquire about some value you added to the client. Give first, Matt explains... then receive. Send the other person some referrals or sales ideas.  Tell them about an event that might interest them (or even invite them to go along with you, if you have a membership or exclusive access).  Create an "emotional bank account," Matt explains, and get a decent account built up. Then you can start making some withdrawals in the form of referral requests.

4. While having lunch, coffee, or a beer—again, once you have provided value. 

5. When your gut tells you. Listen to your gut, urges Matt. Sometimes you just know you've established a good rapport and can ask for what you want. This sense usually develops with experience.

For the complete picture, read Matt's Anderson's article, The Best Time to Ask for Referrals, in its entirety (free registration required).

Bill Cates with "Nine Tips for Visiting Clients"

Today, we're featuring a guest post from Bill Cates of Referral Coach International. Bill works with financial professionals who want to build their practices by fully mastering the referral process and tapping into the lifetime value of their clients. 

Bill featured this article in his terrific "Referral Minute" e-newsletter.  I liked it so much, I asked his permission to share it with you... and he very generously agreed.  It seems that after Bill ran a piece about 7 simple ways to make in-office visits special for prospects and clients, many of his subscribers wrote to tell him that they couldn't really apply those ideas because they typically leave their offices to visit clients on their own turf. 

So Bill came up with the following list of ways to make those types of visits more special—which he notes is more challenging because you don't have any control over your environment. He also points out that several of these ideas were inspired by his readers.

1. Bring a staff member with you. As you already know, when people connect in person, their phone conversations are usually more cordial and more productive. If you talk about your "team" or "your support back at the office" give your clients a chance to meet them from time to time.

2. Pay attention. What I mean by this is pay attention to what's happening in their personal lives—health issues, children, parents, etc. Make a note to yourself. The next time you visit with them (or talk to them on the phone) ask them about this. "How is your mother doing after her operation?"

3. Bring them a treat to eat. You don't have to have clients come to your office to bring them a treat. I know one advisor whose wife bakes cakes for his clients. While you don't have to put your spouse to work for you, you can stop at a bakery and bring a treat. If they have a sweet tooth, bring something sweet. Maybe you know they like premium coffee. Bring them a bag of premium grounds. Our printing salesperson used to bring us fresh baked cookies. We always welcomed him.

4. Bring them a little gift. I remember early in my relationship with my current advisor, he brought me a Lexus coffee mug. I still use it. Come to think of it, he hasn't brought me anything lately! If your client or prospect has a favorite sports team, bring a little trinket. It's not the expense that impresses them, it's the thoughtfulness. When you find yourself browsing in stores, keep an eye out for little things you can pick up for your clients.

5. Get to them through their children. If your clients have young children, bring a little trinket for them (always have enough and make them safe and age appropriate). Just another way to show you care.

6. Bribe their pets. Many people consider their pets to be a member of the family. Bring a treat for their pet (premium quality only) or a trinket (breed specific) for them.

7. Bring them lunch. Very busy clients will appreciate this one. Make it a really special lunch. Find a high-level deli or nice restaurant with carryout.

8. Make a reminder phone call. Clients always appreciate a confirmation phone call a day or two before the appointment. Sometimes it reminds them and sometimes it reassures them that you haven't forgotten about your meeting.

9. Bring a maid with you. I was talking about this article with my staff and my Marketing Director said, "Bring a maid and have them clean my house while we meet!" While I doubt you would do this, it was too funny - just had to share it. For that matter, bring your 16 year old son and have them wash their car. The possibilities are endless (and quite silly).

Just as I was finishing this issue, I received an email from Marquise White who had some good ideas regarding last week's theme of "wow" office visits—with a fun perspective. I thought I'd pass his message along to you. Thanks, Marquise.

"I loved the most recent list of 'office wows.' It really is about the little things. You'd be surprised how far these simple things go to making the client feel special: $7 water carafe and nice glasses (with some weight to them); a nice service tray; and some real (not paper) napkins. We need to pretend that our clients are our newest love interest and DATE them. Get to know them, like if we wanted to marry them (at least be with them for 10 or 20 years)."

Here are some other ideas (free registration required) for making yourself memorable with clients and prospects:

10 Tips for Distinctive Client Service
Distinctive client service separates you from everyone else who talks about professionalism but doesn't deliver on it. Take action with these 10 tips from a recognized, distinctive financial professional. 

Case Study: How an FA Doubled Revenues by Systematizing Client Service 
After letting client contact slide for years, this veteran made the commitment to more consistent communication—and in the process saw a huge surge in his take-home pay.

Set New Standards for Service, Part 1
Inspire loyalty by developing creative ways of providing top-quality service to your clients.

"Burn the Boats" to Achieve Referral Success

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.

The ABCs of Automatic Referrals: L is for Listen

  Have you ever noticed that the best conversationalists are the people who let YOU do all the talking?  You know these folks. They ask you question after question and seem genuine interested in the answers. They pay attention.

These are the people most of us most like to be with, because they make us feel special and important. Well, your clients are no different, except perhaps that they are paying you, and therefore deserve your full attention even more than someone you just met at a cocktail party.

Advisors who listen well are more likely to have happy, satisfied clients—and that's the first step on the road to more referrals.

It's also important to remember that listening is a mission-critical skill in the Automatic Referrals process.  Remember that detective work is a big part of that process.  Give people a chance to talk, ask some simple probing follow-up questions, and you'll be amazed what you'll learn that can help lead you to great prospective referrals.

Here are a few tips to help you fine-tune your listening skills:

• Clear your mind. We all have a multitude of thoughts going through our heads at any given time. However, it is important that clients be given the full attention they deserve. Mentally put everything else aside. For the time you are together, your conscious self belongs to your client or prospect.
• Make eye contact. Show the client you want the business and have nothing else on your mind or agenda.
• Signal that you are listening and watch your cues. Don't let on that you have more important things to do. Checking your watch or pager implies your time is more valuable than your client's. Use affirming non-verbal cues such as smiling, nodding and attentively leaning forward.
• Be comfortable with silence. People often make their most revealing comments when you allow a silence to persist for a few seconds longer than might initially seem comfortable. Let YOUR client's words be the ones to ring in your ears RATHER THAN your own.
• Don't interrupt. Pause for three seconds after your client finishes a thought before responding. People speak at different speeds. Some speak slowly and others may stutter. Allow them to finish what they have to say.

Check out these additional resources (free registration required) about how to become a better listener.

Do You Really Listen to Your Clients?
Or do you merely wait to talk? There's more to listening than not talking—and prospects and clients can tell the difference.

How to Get Prospects Really Talking
If you want to motivate prospects to act, you've got to know how to appeal to their emotions—and that means asking four important questions.

Shut Up! 8 Reasons to Keep Quiet With Your Clients
People will pour out an astonishing amount of useful information if you just give them a chance. Try this technique during your next client meeting.

Want More Referrals? Get a Niche.

There is a long, long list of reasons that you should consider narrowing your focus and choosing one or more niche markets to serve. On just about every measure you can think of, from production and assets to pure satisfaction and enjoyment of the job, Horsesmouth's research has found that niche advisors are more successful than generalists.  But for our purposes, there is one especially compelling reason to "niche up": you're quite likely to get more referrals.

In their survey of more than 2,100 advisors, Horsesmouth asked the question, "Are you getting more referrals since you started working in your niche?"  Check out this chart.

   

It's hard to argue with those results.

Read The Advisor N-Factor, a Horsesmouth special report, and learn more about why niche marketing is so powerful and how you can start marketing to your perfect niche—and rev up your referral results along the way.

How Do I Get Clients to Bring Friends to Events?

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.