The secret to asking for referrals more frequently

Let’s start with the truth: not all clients like to give referrals. For some of your clients, you could run into a burning building and save their children, and they still wouldn’t give referrals. And you know what? This has nothing to do with you. It’s their fear, guardedness, or a past bad experience that keeps them from playing the referral game. It is not a reflection on you and your relationship with them.

What does “no” mean?

When a prospect or client says no to you, what do you take it to mean? The thing that gets a lot of advisors in trouble is that they attribute too much to that little word. They make “no” mean too much and then do everything they can to avoid the word.

You have a choice. You can live your life and your career afraid of rejection or you can make a decision to not let it control you. Whenever I get rejected – myself, my idea, whatever – I say to myself, “Ouch. I didn’t like that.” Then I move on with my life. If I find myself dwelling on the rejection, I snap out of it. I change my pattern of thinking and/or my “state” – by doing something like exercising or listening to some upbeat music.

You have to stop taking “no” so seriously. In most cases clients are really just rejecting the idea of giving referrals. I know from years of experience that by using our VIPS Method(TM) for asking for referrals, you can ask almost every one of your clients for referrals. Some will give them to you right on the spot – on your terms. Some will not give them to you then, but will give you referrals later – on their terms. And some will never give you referrals at all – ever! And, you’ll never hurt a relationship by asking. If they say “no,” you simply back off and move on.

When to back off

We’ve found that when people know when and how to back off from their referral request, they have the confidence and courage to ask more often. Knowing how to back off in a professional manner will not only keep the relationship on good terms, it will often make the relationship a little bit stronger. The secret to asking for referrals more frequently is not just knowing how to ask for referrals, it’s knowing how and when to back out of the conversation in a confident and dignified manner.

Here’s my simple rule of thumb: ask for referrals. If you get a little resistance or concern on the part of your client, your instinct should guide you to explore their perspective. Sometimes you will learn that their perspective contains unfounded fears that you can alleviate. But you must hear them out first, before you share your perspective. If at any point in the conversation you hear a second objection, they repeat their first objection, or their body language or tone changes, it is time to back off. You can’t push them for referrals. If you do, then you run the risk of hurting the relationship or, at least, hurting the chances for referrals later.

How to back off

I believe that you want to back out of your referral conversations in a way that maintains your feeling of confidence. Do you remember the deodorant commercials that used to say, “Never let them see you sweat”? That same concept applies here. You go into the referral conversation with confidence. You explore their concern with confidence. And, when necessary, you back off with confidence. When you maintain your confidence, your clients will feel much better.

The best way to illustrate this concept is with a sample conversation:

YOU: “I was hoping we could brainstorm for a couple of minutes to see if we can identify some people who should know about the important work I do. Could we try that for a minute?”

CLIENT: “I don’t give referrals.”

YOU: “I understand. I know that some folks don’t like to give referrals. Can I ask you a quick question about that?”