The Secret of Getting All the Referrals You Could Ever Hope For | Jeffrey Gitomer | Sales Tools
Everyone in management will tell every salesperson to “ask for referrals” or “don’t forget to ask for referrals” or “as soon as you make the sale, ask for a referral.” These strategies are not only wrong, they also jeopardize the future of the relationship. First of all, why are you “asking” (begging) for a referral? Second of all, why are you asking when you haven’t earned anything? REALITY: Asking for referrals makes EVERYONE feel awkward. And usually results in a turndown, or a delay. A delay that goes on for months. A referral is the second strongest lead in sales. The first is an unsolicited one. MAJOR CLUE: Referrals are not asked for – referrals are EARNED. SCENARIO: You get a referral from a customer without asking for it. You make a sale. Your boss asks you, “How’d you get that referral?” And you respond, “I earned it.” Your boss will NOT know what to say next. Give to get. There are all kinds of names applied to the process of “giving” a referral to a customer. Pay it forward. Netweaving. BUT the salesperson will forever live in darkness if he or she expects something in return. Which brings me to this PRIME example of what not to do. I got this email “request for an answer” today: Hey Jeff, I can’t seem to ever get any referrals! I go back to the customer after the sale, I give them an appreciation gift and ask them for some people and they say they don’t know anybody or don’t think anybody else can afford it?! What to do? The guy didn’t even sign the email …
Video Rating: 5 / 5
If you aren’t asking for referrals at some point (after properly serving the customer) then you are not getting all the referrals you deserve!
While we would all love to believe that everyone will love us so much that they will offer up their friends and relatives of their own accord, this is simply not true, you have to first earn it, and then ask, period.
Well done as always… “Give to Give” I think I need to make a Tshirt out of that!