The Routine That Will Help You Close More Referrals

Former president Barack Obama and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have something in common: they both wear the same outfit every day. Why? Because not having to worry about what clothes you’re going to wear is one less thing you have to worry about. And, to those two — and many others, having one less thing to worry about frees up bandwidth to worry about something else.

Developing routines is a key strategy to accomplishing goals. Goals, like, for example, growing a business. So, let’s say you are lucky enough to get a referral from one of your happy clients. Woo hoo!

Now what? Do you have a routine in place to help close referrals? Or do you just reach out and hope for the best? Maybe that referral turns into a client. Maybe it doesn’t. If you had a routine, you’re going to increase the chances of success, because you will follow the same steps every time. You’ll never have to worry about what to wear again.

Here is a process we set up for one of our clients:

1. Upon receiving a referral, an entry for the new company (we’ll call them the prospect) is created in the client’s CRM and associated with the appropriate groups (for communication purposes).
2. An opportunity in the CRM is created, but we also take the extra step of linking the individual who made the referral to the opportunity as well.
   1. Creating the opportunity automatically generates a reminder 90 days out for the client to reach out to the individual who made the referral and update him or her on the referral.
   2. Another task is automatically generated to remind the client to handwrite a think you note, include token of thanks (like a Starbucks gift card), and mail it out ASAP.
3. A task is created to have the client introduce himself to the prospect, and follow the talking points you have already created for your Referral Warm Call.

What is a Referral Warm Call? It’s the call you make to a prospect after having been referred to them. Here is how it should go:

1. Introduction.
2. Set the stage. This is where you might say something like, “We might not be the right fit for you, but since (insert name of referrer here) introduced us, I wanted to take some time and see if there is something we can help with.
3. Explain your company. This is where you talk about your values, your mission, and what your company stands for. The goal is to establish that you are the right fit, that they want you as a partner – regardless of what their issue is. Be confident here; someone referred you.
4. Inquire about them. They will, of course, dump all of their problems and concerns on you. You were referred highly AND just established why someone would want to work with you
5. Schedule next steps. Whatever that might be for you.

If you want help building a similar routine that will help you close more referrals, please reach out to me at [email protected].