How to Ask for Referrals
Friday, September 10, 2010 at 12:33AM 
A good friend of mine recently asked a very good question.
"What are some of the best ideas you have seen for acquiring customer referrals."
If you attend any professional development or sales workshops you will be told, over and over again, that you must ask for referrals. I have been on the giving and receiving end of "the big ask" countless times and here's what I've learned.
When you put someone on the spot by asking them for a referral without any warning or prior notice you get what I call a "deer in the headlights referral." In that instant your customer freezes. The following dialog begins in your customer's head
"Wow I wasn't expecting that! Who can I think of?....Who?...I've got to think of someone. JOHN! John needs this guy, they might really hit it off...No, wait. John might be pissed if I give out his name without asking first....Who else?....Who?...I've got to give him a name or he'll think I don't appreciate him....There's that guy I met at the last chamber function...what was his name? Rick?...He might want to talk....If he doesn't, big deal...he probably won't even remember who I am."
Returning to the conversation your customer says, "You should call Rick. He's a great guy and we were talking just the other day and I'll bet he could use your services."
These are not the referrals you want. But it's exactly what you will get if you don't give your customers time to think of someone who will be a good fit for you. I hate it when vendors do this to me and I've vowed never to treat my customers this way. Think about it. You are asking your customer to help you build your business. You are also asking them to entrust one of their relationships to you. Wouldn't you rather have a well considered, thoughtful conversation.
When you ask for referrals paint a clear picture of exactly what you are looking for and if possible relate it back to work you have just successfully delivered to the client. Instead of asking "Do you know anyone else that could use our service?" try a more intentional approach like the one outlined below.
"Can we talk for a minute? We've just finished this project and it turned out pretty well. You seem to be pleased with what we've done and frankly, we would like to do more of the exact type of work. Do you know of any other restaurant owners that might be having the same types of inventory control and labor issues that we've just helped you solve? I'd just like to take them to lunch and see if some of the same approaches might work out as well for them as they have for you."
Or you could try something like this.
"Your business is similar to several other businesses we work with and it looks a lot like businesses we'd like to find as new clients. Can you think of any friends or anyone else you might know in the business world that has a company with revenues in the $1 million range, around ten employees and pretty much stagnant growth over the last couple of years? We're looking to identify someone we can help get back on track, very similar to what we've done for you."
Do your customers a favor. Get specific about the types of referrals you are looking for and paint the picture for them. The clearer the picture the more likely they are to give you a high quality referral.
Reader Comments (6)
I do agree with the article above, I have had pretty similar experience with getting referrals, good advice, will implement it definitely.
Thanks for the comment. I appreciate it.
I agree with this appraoch and would only add to have a couple of people in mind that they may know you would like to be introduced to. If they seem open to it all, ask them to give the person a call and let them know you would like to introduce yourself. THEN MAKE SURE YOU DO!!!!!
Don't let anything stop you from being timely on this next step. It is critical to continuing a good relationship with the person who was willing to give you a foot in the door.
I look forward to many referrals as the years go by. Thanks, Joey for all you do.
Great advice. Thanks for the comment Michelle
This is an excellent article, but I would add two strategies:
First, in some cases, offering an incentive to both the referrer and the referral can generate more warm leads and benefit all parties. For example, telling the person making a referral that you'll offer a discount, added service, etc., to anyone he/she refers to you, "and I'll tell them they're getting the discount because you referred them," can boost referrals. As part of that, offering an incentive to your client is a nice incentive and thank-you.
Second, I always ask, "May I call them and mention your name, or would you like to call them first?"
Thanks! What a great article, I am going to put this into practise straighaway!