Referrals - How and When to Get Them
June 21, 2008
Business referrals are one of the tried and true (but sometimes frustrating) ways to grow your small business. A few years ago I learned a fact about how the brain works that when I applied it, exploded my referral business. Below, I’m going to quickly outline it for you so you can start using it today.
The normal advice given is to prove your worth, make sure the customer is happy and then ask for a referral. While it’s sounds good, this is a really just a great way to eventually wonder why you get so few referrals. You understand if you’ve ever tried it.
The first meeting is the best time in the relationship to let people know how you work. To build your business with referrals, you advise people right away that referrals are how you do business. Here’s why:
Your brain is programmed to pay attention to what’s immediately of consequence. What just happened is already starting to fade. When you are in the middle of doing a task you can hold all the details in mind to a very exacting degree. A couple days after you have finished, many of those details have faded, because you are on to the next important things.
There is an area in your brain labeled the reticular activated system (RAS). It’s been called the attention center of the brain. One of it’s numerous jobs is to selectively direct attention to things that are significant to you right now.
Have you ever noticed how, once you like a certain car, you start to see them everywhere? Did they just suddenly appear or were they there all along? Your RAS responds to your interest by making the cars noticeable. They were there all along, before you liked them but they were not important so the RAS ignored them.
The RAS is a survival tool. Your ancestors had to notice the sabre tooth tigers hiding in the forest, so the RAS evolved to pay attention to the important and ignore what isn’t. How do you use that to your advantage with customers?
Referral System Example
Here’s how to do it:
When you’re talking to your customer for the first time… you can say something like, “Mrs. Jones, I only will take you on as a client if I am absolutely convinced that I can over-deliver exactly what you need.
“Mr. Customer, I’m confident that if we start together, eventually you will be pleased with the results you get. I don’t take on new business if I can’t deliver a great result and provide what they need.
So, if we do business together, there will be a time when you are thrilled with who we are and what we do. We actively set it up that way.
When this happens you will probably want to talk about us to your friends, colleagues and associates. This is a good thing. As I mentioned, our business grows by word of mouth, so it is important to us that you are happy enough with our services to pay us for our work. We also want you to be so thrilled that you become one of our biggest allies and fans.
A couple of things about that. First of all, if you refer someone to us, we won’t give you a free toaster or a trip to Mexico. We provide our clients with the best pricing possible, so we haven’t built in awards, prizes or cash back if someone refers us.
Part of the value that I provide is that I offer very good pricing on my services. So I don’t offer cash or prizes in return for referrals, just a firm commtment that I’ll provide you with the best service at a great price.
I will commit to acting professionally and with courtesy in all dealings with you… and I will offer that same level of service to your friends.
Of course, I will only work with them if I know that I can give them great results as well. No matter what, I will deal with them in a professional and caring way. I would only expect that you would send me someone if you have been dealt with professionally and with care. Right?
When you prime the pump like this, your customer’s RAS gets a chance to start looking for ideal candidates for your service, while you are important to your customer. Doing it this way, your referrals will be much more effective.
Give it a try!
Comments
